PA Life speaks to Steve Riley, Clarity’s Chief Operating Officer, about the importance of good customer service, how TMCs are there to support the PA community and help make bookings seamless…
Alongside award-winning booking technology, Clarity is powered by experienced people driven by innovation, service and a shared passion for doing things right, first time.
What is good service?
Service is tangible. You’ve got your SLAs and things like that, but it should be more than just operational metrics. We take service one step further. Service standards are about understanding that our people know you as an account and that they know what your goals are and to make sure you are directed where you need to be.
What service should EAs and PAs expect from a TMC?
Service should be holistic: what does the organisation want to achieve. A TMC needs to deliver that for you. For example, at Clarity we review sentiment analysis alongside our customers’ short, medium and long-term goals so we can see what we can advise them on. TMCs should be asking questions about green strategy, preferred supplier strategy, and if they have a cost reduction strategy – and then provide a service that addresses this.
Don’t be bamboozled by TMCs who only talk about their awards. Instead, look for a TMC that has independent accreditations, like the Institute of Customer Service, then look at its NPS, CSAT and sentiment analysis ratings. That’s assurance for being in good hands.
How can your service help EAs and PAs?
It’s important that PAs have access to tools that simplify their roles and create efficiencies. This is why it’s also worth considering the technology a TMC can offer. At Clarity we offer ClarityGo and MeetingPro – an innovative tech suite that enables PAs to organise a meeting using live availability and instant book functionality so there is no waiting around. Alternatively, it can also tell them where their people are, and their travel patterns. Clarity’s tech stack allows PAs to do all of that, be it for small meetings, group accommodation, or individual travel requirements – backed-up, of course, by a full customer service team.
How can PAs provide duty of care for their people during travel disruption?
Companies sometimes fail to understand that we can really support with their duty of care, through travel alerts, access to experts 24/7 and call out programmes during times of extreme crisis. Our team will proactively start to call out all those people in the affected area to establish contact and ensure they’ve got clear instructions.
Our tech allows users to self-serve, helps them locate their people, and allows travellers to check-in to say they’re safe.
The combination of our tech and people makes the speed of our response stand out. Unlike other TMCs, Clarity’s travel alerts team work hand-in-hand with our out of hours team who are continuously monitoring so we have real time notifications of any crisis and can act as soon as we have the information.
See more about Clarity’s travel and events service.
Clarity is one of the trusted Recommended Supplier partner of PA Life.
