News

VIRGIN Holidays is planning aggressive cost-cutting tactics to force agents to make all straightforward bookings on viewdata instead of through the call centre.

Agents who ring the call centre with simple bookings will be transferred to a helpdesk, manned by 25 staff, to book on viewdata instead. The helpdesk will run for at least four months depending on demand.

The aim is to free up call centre staff for complicated itineraries, particularly as the sales period is expected to be busy.

Last year agents were left hanging on the line because call-centre staff could not cope with the booking volumes.

Head of sales Kieran Farragher said: “We’re going to be stricter at the call centre in January and if the product is bookable by viewdata we’ll transfer agents to the helpdesk to help them complete the sale, rather than say no to the booking.”

The clampdown follows a 50% rise in call-centre volumes year-on-year, which has led to an increase in staff for the peak January sales period from 140 to more than 300.

Viewdata bookings currently make up 50% of sales, up from 10% last year. Virgin hopes to move to 70% of bookings through viewdata and 30% through the call centre. Currently 85% of product is bookable on viewdata.