After meeting John Hays of Hays Travel, it's not a surprise that the company is doing so well - he totally gets Customer Experience and where it all starts with culture, leadership and your people.
We sat in the canteen of the new, very swanky offices in Sunderland, drinking tea that John had made for us, and started to learn the secrets behind the success of this gentleman’s business.
On asking John his views he explained that he totally believes in Customer Experience, people and personalisation – all underpinned by an outstanding customer service! This is why he is doing the complete opposite to everyone else. As high street presence in the travel industry is fast declining, Hays Travel is currently going for growth and successfully operating out of 180 outlets. This leads us to truly believe that the experience has to be consistent across all channels, including the built retail environment.
The real cornerstone to the success of this organisation is the people and the training they provide. ”Happy staff, happy customers” John quoted, and he is absolutely right. However, ”it’s not enough” you have to fully embrace the digital world, as John clearly demonstrated through a Facebook live update when the company hit it’s £1billion milestone. It is a digital presence that creates the desire and drives people to Hays Travel.
John understandably is extremely proud of the recent accolade of being the UK’s Apprentice Employer of the Year, explaining that many of today’s senior team started out as an apprentice – with one of this team being held up as a role model for apprenticeships by the then Prime Minister!
Always recruiting from within, working for Hays Travel isn’t just a job. It’s a career, a passion and a commitment. It is a place to learn and perform and be developed through positive reinforcement and to be part of an industry leading team. You’re encouraged to be constructively critical of one another, including John, to say what you see and to continually be able to review and support each other’s performance. John quotes ‘none of us are as clever as all of us’ – it’s all about team work an open and relaxed culture, a passion for people and customers. It all starts from within, Customer Experience really is the heart of your business and for Hays Travel it is the DNA.
CXY exists to help businesses and global industry leaders deliver AMAZING customer experiences by understanding the human core of a digital world.
