The document outlines key elements of customer contact skills in the travel and tourism sector, emphasizing the importance of understanding customer needs and improving service quality. It highlights the role of demographics in identifying ideal customers and offers strategies for enhancing customer interactions, such as effective communication and personalized service. Additionally, it stresses the need for businesses to be receptive to customer feedback for continuous improvement and relationship building.

1. CUSTOMER CONTACT SKILL
TGTA/DTM
TRAVEL & TOURISM DEPARTMENT

2. What is a 'Customer'
A customer is an individual or business that purchases the
goods or services produced by a business. Attracting
customers is the primary goal of most public-facing
businesses, because it is the customer who creates demand
for goods and services.

3. Analyze Customer
• Businesses often follow the adage "the customer is always right"
because happy customers are expected to continue buying goods and
services from companies that meet their needs.
• Many companies closely monitor the relationships they have with
customers, often asking for feedback to learn whether new products
should be created or adjustments made to what is currently offered.
• Virtually everybody in a modern economy buys products or services
from companies, and so almost everybody at least occasionally acts
as a customer.

4. Customers Are Consumers
• The terms "customer" and "consumer" are almost
synonymous. Customers are defined by their purchase of
goods, or their contracting for services, as the consumer, or
end user. As the term is commonly used, a customer is the
end consumer of a product. This distinguishes true
customers from resellers and vendors, who usually make
purchases to sell later.

5. Customers Can Be Studied
• Businesses frequently take a keen interest in knowing the sort of person
who buys their products as an aid to focusing their marketing approach
and tailoring their inventory to appeal to the most lucrative possible
customer base.
• Customers are often grouped according to their demographics. Age,
race, sex, ethnicity, income level and geographic location all go into a
customer's demographic profile.
• Knowing these things about the people who shop with a business builds
up a picture of the "ideal customer," or "customer persona." This
information helps companies approach the demographics where they
are already strong and deepen ties with loyal customers, as well as reach
out to wholly new demographics to cultivate a public where sales are
weak, thus creating a new base of customers for further expansion.

6. Strengthen your customer service skills
• Empathy, patience and consistency. Some customers will be irate.
Others will be full of questions. And others will just be chatty. You
must know how to handle all of them and provide the same level of
service every time.
• Adaptability. Every customer is different, and some may even seem
to change week-to-week. You should be able to handle surprises,
sense the customer’s mood and adapt accordingly. This also
includes a willingness to learn– providing good customer service is a
continuous learning process.
• Clear communication. Ensure you convey to customers exactly
what you mean. You don’t want your customer to think he’s getting
50% off when he’s actually getting 50% more product. Use
authentically positive language, stay cheerful no matter what and
never end a conversation without confirming the customer is
satisfied.

7. Strengthen your customer service skills
• Work ethic. Customers appreciate a rep who will see their problem
through to its resolution. At the same time, you must have good
time management skills and not spend too much time handling one
customer while others are waiting. Stay focused on your goals to
achieve the right balance.
• Knowledge. Ultimately your customers rely on you for their
knowledge of your product. Stay informed enough to respond to
most inquiries and know where to turn if the questions become too
detailed or technical for you to answer. But don’t be afraid to say “I
don’t know” either. Customers will appreciate the honesty and your
efforts to find the right answer.
• Thick skin. The customer’s always right… right? The ability to
swallow one’s pride and accept blame or negative feedback is
crucial. Whether your team works directly with customers or
looking for feedback on social media, they’ve got to keep the
customer’s happiness in mind.

8. Look at every touch point
• A bad customer experience at any point in the customer
lifecycle can ruin your relationship. In addition to making sure
the right skills are demonstrated, you need to be sure they’re
being demonstrated consistently. Pay the most attention to
key touch points, but make sure you have a full view of the
customer experience, or you risk lapses in service that can
really hurt business.

9. Improve your customer interactions
• Identify a common ground–like shared interests–with the people
they help. Having this point of understanding makes conflict easier
to overcome by humanizing the relationship, and it endears
customers to your company.
• Practice active listening so your customers feel heard. Clarify and
rephrase what the customers say to ensure you understand them.
Empathize with and reflect their feelings by saying things like, “That
must have upset you” or “I can see why you feel slighted.”
• Admit your mistakes, even if you discover them before your
customers do. This builds trust and restores confidence. It also
allows you to control the situation, re-focus the customer’s
attention and resolve the issue.
• Follow-up after a problem is solved. Make sure the issue stays
fixed and that your customers were satisfied with the service.
Sending an email, or even a feedback survey is an excellent way to
let the customer know you’re still on their side.

10. Enhance your customer service strategy
• Get personal. Your customers want to feel like they have access to
real people, not bots and FAQs. Offer more than just automated
email responses, and do not let your telephone prompts or website
send them down a rabbit hole. Take full advantage of social media
(such as Facebook, Twitter and Yelp) and write responses when
your customers post on your page. Post photos and bios on your
website. This shows your customers that you are real people
working on their behalf.
• Be available. Part of the personal touch is making sure your
customers can reach you. For example if your business is primarily
online, meet in person occasionally with local customers and offer
video calls (such as Skype) for those farther away. Work early and
late when needed, especially if your customers are in different time
zones. Even providing customers with your physical address helps
build their trust and reminds them that your company exists off the
internet as well.

11. Enhance your customer service strategy
• Cater to your customers. Make sure you are fully meeting your
customers’ needs. Consider assigning reps to specific customers so
they can build a relationship. Offer VIP treatment for your best
customers to let them know they are appreciated. What special
services might your customers like? Set up focus groups, interview
customers, or run a survey to get ideas.
• Create communities. Your customers will feel even more valued if
you treat them as important members of a community. You can
bring various customers together in numerous ways, including
webinars, interactive websites, social media, trade shows and
conventions. And don’t forget that while your customers come to
these forums to learn from you, you can learn as much–if not
more–from them.

12. Give your customers a way to provide feedback
• No matter how proactive you are, you’ll never be able to get
in front of every customer issue. To make sure you learn about
the good, the bad, and the ugly experience your customers
have, create an easily accessible way for customers to give
feedback.
• Whatever steps you choose to take, remember feedback’s
importance to customer satisfaction . Unsure what your
strengths and weaknesses are? Don’t know why the numbers
are dipping? Make an effort to get closer to your customers .
• Not only will you discover touch points and skills that need
improvement, but your customers will see that are dedicated
to providing top-notch, proactive customer service.

13. Customer Contact Skill
• The way in which staff communicates with clients is, together
with the essential product knowledge the display, the
essential ingredient of an agency's success. These
communications skill can be divided into three distinct
categories:
* Language skills
* Personal and social skills
* Sales skills