Apollo Travel faced a strategic challenge in terms of increasing service costs and operations costs on travel destinations combined with a customer satisfaction that was not in line with ambitions.
Today, the majority of Apollo's guests buy their journey over the Internet and thus rarely have personal contact with the travel company before the trip itself. The meeting with Apollo at the destination is thus the only direct contact area with the guests. It is therefore essential that the experience Apollo delivers at the destination is consistent with the communicated brand promise and thus supports Apollo's strategic objectives.
The challenge thus were to have Apollo's brand platform manifested throughout the international organization, resulting in increased customer satisfaction, while reducing the cost level through a lean-related efficiency process.
Process and education
Based on the brand platform, Brandculture has facilitated a process that includes three main phases.
A clear target image: A group of Apollo employees have worked to "translate" the brand platform so that it is clear what it should actually mean for the guest experience at the destination.
Touch Point Mapping: Analysis of what contact interfaces Apollo has with the guest at the destination. In this context, each touch point was assessed on its importance to the brand and new, more relevant touch points were identified.
Ideas, actions and guidelines: Creative workshops where employees have worked on ideas for the destination service of the future. The process has resulted in proposals for changes, which the Scandinavian management has subsequently approved.
As an expression of the fact that it is the employees who are crucial to Apollo's brand, the involvement of participants from all parts of the organization has been at the heart of the process. This has resulted in realistic target images and ideas, but also a high level of ownership for future changes.
Rather than preparing detailed instructions for Apollo's destinations as part of the implementation phase, it was chosen to communicate the strategic decisions as simple guidelines and inspirational tools for local management and staff. Each destination manager has since been responsible for manifesting Apollo's brand at her or his destination. This freedom has increased the commitment to the new initiatives and opened up the possibility for individual destination employees to understand the process and take initiatives that are in line with the brand promise.
Results
The process has given a sharp internal focus on the customer experience Apollo should provide on the travel destinations. With a clear target picture, Apollo has been able to transform and simplify many internal processes as well as large parts of its service offering. A number of processes have been eliminated, resulting in savings invested in new initiatives that have greater value and create more joy for guests.
An increased focus and understanding of the brand has resulted in greater motivation to develop the service on the travel destinations. This change in attitude has contributed, one year after the process started, to sharply increasing customer satisfaction in parallel with an increase in the sales of activities on travel destinations and a reduction in costs.