INSIGHTS
Our People Our Service: Luke Davies, Perth
What makes FCM stand out as a Travel Management Company (TMC) leader? Our people and our service. So, we decided to shine a light on some of our everyday heroes that make FCM the success that it is.
Meet Luke Davies.
Luke is an FCM Team Leader in Perth, Western Australia. He has been with FCM for 2 years and has been part of Flight Centre Travel Group for over 10 years.
Working in travel is so much fun, it’s such a great job to do. I spent eight years of my career [at Flight Centre] making people's travel dreams come true, and the next challenge for me was to take on large corporate businesses and inject that great customer service. I think for me it's genuinely just the people I get to interact with on a daily basis.
What makes FCM's customer service the best?
I think one of the biggest things that we are able to do quite quickly is establish that really great relationship with customers. I think the reason is because our values and philosophies align very closely with a lot of our customers. We also understand that this is [our customers] to-and-from work. It’s the same as us catching a bus in the morning to get to our job. So, we want to make sure the process is as smooth as possible.
Do you have a standout FCM customer service story?
We had a customer who was flying throughout the U.S. and due to a massive snow / electrical storm, he essentially got stuck at an airport with no assistance from any ground staff. In fact, the airport had closed, so he called us from the US and said he needed to get accommodation. All the flights were being cancelled and can’t get onto a flight until tomorrow morning.
We spent a good 45 minutes to an hour calling every hotel in the location. And we didn't just do this as one consultant, we did that as a team. We all jumped in, started calling various hotels, finding availability - I think that’s possibly one of those extreme customer situations where being able to pick up the phone when you're not getting any help from an airline or you're not getting anywhere with any of the local hotels, we could add additional resourcing. I think for our customer, it was a big sense of relief. It was nice for him to hear that person on the other end of the phone offering help, because the only alternative was him sleeping on a bench in the airport, whereas we were able to find suitable accommodation quickly.
What's the key to building long-term customer relationships?
A lot of the businesses that we deal with have that consistent core Travel Booker groups. They are the people that we talk to day-in and day-out, and you do end up fostering relationships. I think as well as having an understanding of what customers value the most and what they're holding us accountable for. We want to make sure [your travellers] get to where they need to go as safely and securely as possible.
I definitely think the greatest thing that we have...is the human being behind that phone. We deal with such a high volume of enquiries and bookings every day, sometimes booking upwards of 3000 bookings a month for a customer. But you can never lose sight of the fact that this is helping our customers achieve doing great work as much as we want to do great work. It's a partnership. I really encourage my consultants to think of our relationship as we're not just a supplier or an external stakeholder in that business, we're part of it. We're a huge player in making sure that they can do great work and their people can do their job securely and safely.
What do you think is the spirit of Flight Centre Travel Group?
“I would definitely say that Flight Centre Travel Group’s #1 philosophy is our people. We are human beings at the end of the day, and we understand this business better than most. We've got such varied experiences from different walks of life, and lots of expertise sitting in each team. I really feel that what we do is not just booking travel, it's people. It's making sure that our customers’ people can get to their jobs, and that their business can run as effectively and smoothly as possible.
I also think we’re really innovative. I feel whether it be us as a team thinking of solutions to issues or roadblocks, or our technology, FCM is a multifaceted machine that creates a seamless experience for our customers. That starts with the seven consultants doing this every day, right through to Managing Director Mel Elf, who is very involved in caring about our customers and know each one of our team. I think that’s very special."
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