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Thomas Cook retail head hails two-year turnaround

Thomas Cook had “drifted too far” from having customers at its heart two years ago, director of retail and customer experience Kathryn Darbandi has told an industry audience.

Speaking at an Abta conference on Customer Insight in the Travel Industry on Monday, Darbandi said: “Thomas Cook took the decision to put customers back at the heart of the business two years ago because we had drifted too far from that.”

Darbandi joined Cook in April 2015 from rival Tui where she was also retail director, six months after the abrupt departure of Cook chief executive Harriet Green, who introduced the company’s ‘sunny heart’ symbol.

She said: “Our people engagement needed to improve. Our strategy wasn’t working. It was time to regroup.

“Eighteen months ago we had holidays and accommodation which customers were telling us weren’t up to scratch. We took the decision to take 100 properties out of the programme for summer 2017. It was a statement to our staff that we’re serious.”

Darbandi added: “Many businesses claim to put customers at the heart of their business, but it’s not easy to do at scale. It needs firm commitment at the top of the organisation. It needs visible action to show you’re serious.

“Unless you have commitment at the top people can be cynical.

“We have a long way to go, but our customers and our people are starting to say they can see a difference.”

She said: “Working for a company like ours should be fun and it hasn’t always been. We’ve spent a lot of time on tone of voice, with as much focus internally as externally. Now we’re more informal and fun than stuffy, as perhaps in the past.”

Darbandi hailed the company’s 24-hour hotel satisfaction promise, launched last year, as “one of the best things we’ve done”.

Cook promises that if a hotel is not “as described” it will sort out the issue in 24 hours or the customer can choose to fly home with a full refund or remain on holiday and enjoy 25% off their next booking.

Darbandi described “a sharp intake of breath” at the policy’s introduction, but said: “The results have been better than we expected. We’ve not had to fly anyone home and we’ve not paid out much compensation.”

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