Meet the team: Chantal

In our latest Meet the Team feature, we have the pleasure of introducing Chantal, your frontline support hero helping you resolve all of your problems. We whisked her out for a slap-up lunch, well a glass of sparkling water in the cafe by the lifts, but it felt exciting to be out of the office for a while.

Hi Chantal. Thanks for unplugging yourself from the umbilical cord that is your headset, let’s start by finding out what area of the business you work?
I’m the Senior Operations Executive, which means I help with any cases that come in from our agents like amending bookings, asking for waivers for cancellations of non-refundable bookings and of course any other operational issues.

How long have you been with Room-Res?
I started in February 2017, almost from the very beginning!

Where did you work before Room-Res?
My previous job was at a travel agent in a city store, and before that, I worked in car rental as an assistant manager. Having been an agent, really helps me understand and be sympathetic to issues agents come to us with and I think this is why we are so well known for our service here at Room-Res.

What do you get up to when you're away from the office?
I go to the gym as often as possible, like going to the beach on weekends and I love movies! Really, I’m a serious movie whizz. Other than that I love all things Disney, and if I could work at Disneyland, my life would be complete!

It's not Disney, but what do you love about Room-Res?
Room-Res understands agents, that’s what captured me in the beginning. It’s not just a slogan, everything we do is to make life as easy as possible for the agents and also so they stand a chance out there against the internet! It also probably helps that we have a great team here, so coming into work every day is always enjoyable!

Describe what customer service means to you?
I classify it as being able to go above and beyond for every agent who calls through. It means not only helping, but being fair and reasonable when faced with complications.

Tell me about a time when you turned an unhappy agent into a delighted agent?
I recall this one time when an agent had called a hotel to organise transfers for their customer, but the hotel told them that they did not have a booking for that client. Somewhat irate, the agent called us, asking us why the hotel had said that. I informed the agent that it’s usually due to a junior member of staff at the hotel not knowing which system to look in for the booking, as they often have so many different suppliers. I immediately contacted our supplier, who in turn contacted the hotel, who quickly found the reservation and confirmed all the details back to me. I then went back to the agent with these details, all within fifteen minutes, and needless to say, the agent was delighted to have had it resolved and within such a quick turn around, and has gone on to become one of our best agents.

Can you tell me about a time when you were proud of the level of service you gave an agent?
That’s a tricky one as I think 99% of the time I try to give the best service possible with every call. I think when I’m most proud is when an agent comes to me and asks for a date change on a non-refundable/non-changeable booking, and I can resolve it and get the result the agent is asking - defying the impossible odds.

How is Room-Res going to improve their customer service levels this year?
One of the many ways we are continually improving is making modifications to the site, like adding a Special Request column under agent’s ‘Reservations and Sales Report’ tab. This means agents don’t need to spend the time calling or e-mailing us, and they can simply pop in a special request via the site and move onto their next booking. Another exciting addition is also adding more people to our team, which will mean that queries are replied to even FASTER!

What are the most frequent queries you need to resolve?
A lot of our queries are to do with bedding in a hotel. A lot of suppliers don’t give a huge amount of information about the room configuration that is being booked, so for travel agents, it can be quite tricky. We always welcome calls from agents if they’re not sure of the bedding, as a lot of time, due to our fantastic investigative skills, we are usually able to figure out the bedding or supply more complete descriptions. When that's not possible, and if the cancellation policy is flexible, agents can hold the rate, and we contact the supplier to find out further information.

What makes a good agency support representative?
This is definitely all about the people you choose to have in your team. At Room-Res, we are very particular to hire people who are all about helping and have a cheery disposition. This way, when agents call through, they have a friendly voice welcoming them, making the agent feel comfortable, and they can also completely trust that their issues or questions will be answered satisfactorily.

Thanks, Chantal. It's been lovely hearing from you and finding out a bit more about you and your obsession with Disney. We know personally that you do a great job, but it's also great to see you have been recognised by making it as a finalist in the Women in Travel Awards. Way to go Chantal!

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