Posted 26 January 2015
by Northamptonshire based Travel Counsellor, Lisa Hillyard
When I joined Travel Counsellors just over 15 years ago I could never have imagined where the company would be today. There were just 100 Travel Counsellors in the UK at the time… fast forward and we now operate in eight countries worldwide, which means I have over 1,350 amazing colleagues who I can turn to for knowledge and advice any time of the day!
What is so important to me and has always remained a constant at Travel Counsellors is the truly unique ethos and values we have as a company. We are like one big family, always willing to help one another and genuinely caring about each other, both personally and professionally. And now this special bond extends across the globe, which has proved invaluable to many of our businesses over the years, especially when we need help with problems at times when many would be left without anywhere to turn.
An example of this for me is recently when I had an issue with some customers who were holidaying in Australia. They are a lovely couple who decided to rent a motorhome, taking in the fantastic sights driving from Perth to Broome. However whilst they were away they had a few problems and, realising it would be the middle of the night in the UK, didn’t want to disturb me. Knowing we are a global company and operate in Australia, the couple decided to find a local Australian Travel Counsellor to see if they could help. Cue Perth based agent Chrissie Shah to the rescue!
Chrissie really went out of her way to help my customers, resolving all issues and making sure my customers were happy and had the best holiday possible. More so she did all this unbeknown to me as she was aware it was my weekend and didn’t want to disturb me (although I must point out I do work evenings and weekends regularly as that’s the beauty and flexibility of running my business from home!). She only got in touch to let me know she had resolved the issues and everything was fine. How amazing is that?! The customers were happy, and they thought it was incredible that we were able to provide such a service, and that all our Travel Counsellors share the same passion and dedication to going the extra mile for their customers.
I was so grateful to Chrissie for her help. Even being a fairly new Travel Counsellor to the business she understood how we rally together and help one another, whether it just be some general advice over our internal messageboard system or dealing with another agent’s customers in a time of need.
My goddaughter actually lives in Perth, so I arranged for her to go round to Chrissie’s house with some flowers on my behalf. A small token of appreciation for her help. And I also made sure she got a thank you on the next TCTV broadcast in Australia.
That’s what it is all about here at Travel Counsellors. Caring – about our customers, about the company and about each other. And thanks to our global presence, and in particular Chrissie, I now have customers for life.
