Taking customer service to new heights with Corendon

After achieving significant growth in the past few years, tour operators Corendon wanted to support their progress by making big steps towards even better customer service. To do this they knew they needed to connect the dots between communication modes.

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“Normally when you book your holiday and the customer travels with a different airline, the other airline takes care of your customer and you’re no longer in control.

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“Because we deliver the services ourselves, we are fully in control,” says Corendon’s Marketing Director Debora de Roos.

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Corendon run a booking platform, customer contact centre and, uniquely, have their own airline as well as reps at the destination. But they all used different systems to log customer information, which meant that the high level of customer service that Corendon aspired to was hampered by technology.

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A single customer view for optimal customer service

That’s why they decided to implement Salesforce, as a CRM system that combines the functions necessary for a joined-up customer experience with the scalability and systems to support growth. With all agents working from the same system and able to view the same information in real time, there would be no delays, no confusion and complete visibility over customer needs. Staff could even predict challenges, such as travel sickness or meal requirements for customers in advance and take the necessary measures. 

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Custom in-flight app for optimal customer service

Gen25, with the expertise and flexibility to deliver unique solutions, were selected as implementation partners to build the platform that would support Corendon’s vision of providing the ultimate customer experience. A central part of the vision is an on-board app for flight crew, which is currently being piloted. Debora explains: 

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“The customer is on board with us for at least three hours, and during that time he can't go anywhere. So we thought it would be ideal for our cabin crew to see in the app who's on board, if there are complaints from the past, or if someone's on a honeymoon or has a birthday…and they can just surprise the customer on board. And when you surprise the customer in row five, rows one to 10 hear it and say, ‘Oh, wow, that's nice of them to do’.”
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“Gen25 are very flexible, they're very helpful. They're not just the implementation partner, but they also think with us in making the best solution work for the customer.”

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Future: in-flight benefits and payments connection

In future, Corendon want to take customer care even further, providing benefits such as discounted hotel room upgrades through the app while the customer is flying. “That would be the pinnacle really,” says Debora. With Sales Cloud connected, Corendon could upgrade or sell anything to existing customers - they could order a bottle of champagne to their room on arrival, or time at the hotel spa…maybe even their next holiday!

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Instant action to boost first-contact fixes

Corendon now has all of its head office connected to Salesforce, including the customer complaints system which instantly creates a case in Salesforce allowing for swift action to fix the problem. The implementation has saved valuable time for both the business and the customer:

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“The biggest gain that we have right now is that everyone sees the same details of the customer. Before, they had to call each other and now they just look in the system for the answers and can help the customer right away. So it’s created a higher first contact fix where the customer only has to contact us one time.”

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Bespoke reporting for customer information improvements

Corendon’s dedication towards customer service doesn’t end there. They’re also using Salesforce reporting to quality check their partners, such as car rentals and hotels in order to maintain high quality standards in their packages. 

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Another way they’re using Salesforce reporting is to identify the subjects that customers are regularly contacting about. Using that information, they are able to improve their FAQs, email communications and their website. 

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“It’s very valuable for us to see, for example, if the customer always calls about payment instructions, well then we obviously don’t have it in the right place at the moment.”

Improving the initial communications means that the number of cases also goes down. Improving the user experience is a win-win.

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For Corendon, having a complete 360-degree view of the customer throughout their whole journey  is essential.  By implementing Salesforce they are taking customer service to new heights and continue to work with Gen25 to see their vision become a reality.

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