Case Study

Send to a colleague

Traveling the World to Give a "Once in a Lifetime" Experience

Printable Version [PDF, 519KB]

Industry Focus

Luxury travel provider

Size

1,800 travel experts in more than 100 countries

Networking Solution

Voice and data network connects customers quickly with knowledgeable destination specialists

Business Value

The ability to offer a customer experience that insures privileged access in a personalized, low-profile and intelligent style

About Our Customer

Abercrombie & Kent (A&K) is internationally recognized as the original luxury travel company. It was founded in 1962 by Colonel John Kent, his wife Valerie and their son Geoffrey to provide exotic safaris through East and Central Africa. Geoffrey Kent assumed leadership of the company when his parents retired in 1967 and soon expanded A&K's unparalleled tour and travel operations to more than one hundred countries on all seven continents. Escorted or independent travel with A&K combines five-star comfort, convenience, service and security of a U.S.-based company with on-site 24/7 support from a network of 48 destination management companies that ensure the "insider access" that only a local staff can provide.

Situation

Abercrombie & Kent specializes in matching unique people with unique places, and in providing the expertise and support that gives them an authentic travel experience. Travelers who choose Abercrombie & Kent expect that every aspect of their trip will be superior, whether they are frequent travelers accustomed to first class accommodations or folks who saved for years to experience the trip of a lifetime. To create unforgettable journeys -- whether to a lush African jungle or the frigid tundras of Antarctica -- Abercrombie & Kent needs to ensure that every customer enjoys the custom support that allows them to experience their destinations fully. Should a change in plans be required, the company needs the tools in place to execute it flawlessly.

Solution

A&K guarantees the satisfaction of its clients with a unique combination of local knowledge and global organization, thanks to a reliable communications infrastructure that reaches across many time zones and continents, often in extremely remote locations. This robust voice and data network has helped A&K improve business processes to connect customers quickly with knowledgeable A&K tour consultants in the U.S as they plan their trips. It also makes it easy for the company's U.S.-based tour consultants to work with local experts around the globe to ensure the utmost in customer care for its discriminating clientele before, during and after their trip.

Connections Keep the Customers Satisfied

Abercrombie & Kent has built a reputation as the premier luxury travel provider as a result of outstanding customer care. Although many of its clients have almost unlimited travel budgets -- a recent survey found that half reported annual household incomes of $250,000 or more -- just as many are people who save for years to invest in the trip of their dreams. "Everything we do ultimately comes back to how well we are serving our customers," said Scot Anderson, Abercrombie & Kent Vice President of Information Technology. Outstanding customer service is the order of the day whether the customers are first-time travelers or members of the exclusive Marco Polo Club, A&K's loyalty club for people with the interest and ability to travel to the most remote and exotic corners of the world.

Providing world-class customer service requires timely access to accurate information from well-placed local experts. "Sharing current customer information with our 48 destination companies enables us to give all our customers the best treatment," Anderson said. "This is a key business function."

A&K's global locations keep customers informed of geographic and political events that may affect their travel to a region. "There could be civil unrest in a particular area, or tsunamis or other natural disasters," Anderson said. Customers are kept abreast of the latest information, including assistance with flight delays or cancellations. In addition to keeping customers informed, A&K has to stay in continuous touch with its destination offices; often this is not a simple task, since many of the offices are located in second- and third-world countries with unreliable communication networks. Abercrombie & Kent overcame these communications challenges with a voice and data infrastructure that maximizes global connectivity, even across extremely different time zones that don't overlap U.S business hours.

"Our AT&T voice and data network has been extremely reliable," Anderson said. "Internet access, VPN access and e-mail flow to our other offices have been very solid, and that's really the critical thing since much of our communication between offices is done electronically, via e-mail and data transfer.

"Our networking solution helps us ensure that our company knows our customers and enables us to share information about them with our destination companies, assuring that our customers get the proper service wherever they travel," he said. "It also enables families to connect with travelers in remote parts of the world in case of emergencies."

It's a Jungle Out There

Abercrombie & Kent begins learning about its customers the moment they make their first call to the company. A&K consultants know when the phone rings if a caller is interested in a safari or a cruise through European waterways. "Nearly every article and special promotion has a distinct and dedicated toll free number," he said. This includes the 15 or more brochures the company distributes every year, the Marco Polo Club and the company web site, www.abercrombiekent.com.

"Every number has a purpose for either tracking where a call came from or for routing the caller to the proper individual here at the office," Anderson said. "That shows us the frequency of calls generated by a specific media outlet, so it really does help determine how to spend our marketing budget."

Many in the travel industry subcontract their customers to independent suppliers overseas, but A&K has its own network of offices across the globe, staffed full time by A&K professionals. In the U.S., 60 highly educated and experienced tour consultants handle incoming calls at Abercrombie & Kent's main contact center in Oak Brook, IL, which manages all outbound travelers from the Americas. A&K also has contact centers near London to handle European outbound travelers, and in Melbourne, Australia to assist Asia Pacific travelers.

"Our consultants all travel to the destinations themselves, so they have firsthand knowledge and experience with the products they sell," Anderson said. The consultants communicate with customers via phone and email to make sure they have all the information they need to make informed travel decisions. "Many of the countries that we serve have unique health requirements, so customers are all well versed in what's required before they depart."

A&K's network provides vital support for the company's customer care initiatives. "I believe our business processes have improved because of the connectivity and the systems we have in place, and we're constantly refining them to respond even better to our customers," he said. "It's a very difficult thing to quantify, but it's obvious that our network helps us to be much more efficient and provide better quality service."

Multiple Channels Offer a World of Access and Insight

Part of A&K's continuous improvement initiative involves anticipating customer needs. The Kent family initially offered junkets through East and Central Africa, but soon recognized there was a market eager for international luxury trips outside Africa. In the early 70s Geoffrey Kent and his wife Jorie Butler Kent extended A&K to the Middle East, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Americas.

The company today has evolved to meet the needs of younger and more affluent generations of travelers, Anderson said. "Many of these people are more comfortable doing something on the Internet than they are actually talking to a person," he said. "We know that the Internet is a tool that's unlimited in its capability and capacity, so we've expanded our online business and anticipate that it will continue to grow."

The site provides travelers with a wealth of information on the political situations and customs requirements of its destinations. However, because there are so many requirements and restrictions, most travelers will need more assistance than they can get from a website. "They will always need somebody to help them through the decision-making processes of where they want to go and how they want to travel. Even with the Internet, it's still going to require high levels of value-added customer service," he said.

In addition, A&K consultants can provide superior local knowledge that benefits customers in subtle ways. "We have deep roots and long-established relationships that make it possible to give our guests a degree of access and insight no other operator can match," Anderson said.

A&K tour consultants make extensive use of the telephone to consult with clients, whether they are individual travelers or travel agents. "Even if a customer books through our website, we still follow up with a call to walk them through everything that they purchased and other options that they may want to consider when they are preparing for their trips," Anderson said. "We rely heavily on the voice network to ensure that everybody's questions are readily answered and that they know that they can contact us at any time over the phone without regard to how they booked with us."

Launching Personal Journeys of Discovery

Described by the Los Angeles Times as "a highly respected company dedicated to conservation and environmentally intelligent tourism," A&K was voted "World's Leading Luxury Specialist Tour Operator" by travel professionals from 80,000 travel agencies in more than 200 countries. The company was also named "World's Best International Tour Operator" by readers of Travel Weekly.

Not content to rest on its laurels, Abercrombie & Kent is in the process of synchronizing several CRM databases to continue to improve the customer experience. "Our data network has become significantly more critical to our business, with email and the Internet access that lets clients and tour consultants research destinations and plan future trips," Anderson said. "We know our existing infrastructure will continue to support this traffic."

Whether customers explore the mysteries of China's Forbidden City or marvel at the wonders of ancient Egypt on a Nile River cruise, A&K can accommodate them. "We have expanded to every corner of the world, yet there is so much out there that remains a mystery," Anderson said. "Travel is a great way to really learn about other cultures. Our customers frequently tell us that their trip was a life-changing experience." Thanks to its network of 1,800 A&K employee experts worldwide, the company will continue to offer personal journeys of discovery and life-changing experiences to more than 100 destinations on seven continents.

Voice of the Customer

-- Scot Anderson, Abercrombie & Kent Vice President of Information Technology