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Behind the scenes: At the front of the back office
When you book a ticket, get on a plane, and fly directly to your destination as planned, everything is simple and easy. But things can get more complicated when travel plans change. Whether expected or unexpected, changes can require additional assistance, and that’s where airBaltic’s Customer Service can be of great help.
Evija Zepa, Reservations Team Leader, is actually in charge of two teams: the Reservations department and also the Travel Documents department. While the Call Centre is usually associated with the ‘front office’ – the customer service agents who provide help over the phone – Evija says with a laugh that her teams work in the ‘back office’.
Tell us a bit more about the main tasks of your teams. What goes on in the back office?
Both of my teams handle customer requests related to changes in passenger bookings. In particular, if a customer wants to add something to their booking, change the name on a booking, or change the flight dates (an extra fee is charged for these services), we’re the ones who help the customers after they’ve submitted those requests, and we do everything we can to make sure they get the ticket they want. Most of the time, customers can add additional services in the Manage My Booking section of our website, but if extra fees are charged or the customer’s ticket is more complicated, they need to contact the Call Centre – either by phone, email, or online form.
One of the teams also handles refunds for customers who cancel their flights and want to recover the money they’re due under the ticket conditions. The Travel Documents unit, for its part, advises customers as well as agents at the airport on the necessary travel documents for passengers.
How did you end up at airBaltic?
I first began working for airBaltic in 2016. I had worked in the hospitality industry for a long time, but I came to the conclusion that I wanted something new, and I chose airBaltic for its good name and reputation. My first job was at the airport ticket counters in Riga, and I was surprised by how passionate my colleagues were about aviation. By a year later, I had joined the enthusiasts myself (laughs). I had decided to start working elsewhere, but I pretty quickly realised that airBaltic was the place I wanted to work. I’ve now been here for a total of six years.
When I returned to the airline, I began working as a Call Centre agent, and after a while I became a shift leader. I later also worked as a Call Centre quality auditor for more than a year and a half, assessing how we work and how we serve our customers. Then the opportunity arose to become a team leader for two teams.
What are you responsible for in this position?
The biggest difference from being an agent is that I take care of not only customer service (making sure we serve our customers quickly and accurately) but also our employees. So, the quality of their work, but also ensuring that they feel comfortable in their jobs and want to work here.
What are the most important principles you follow when helping customers?
The first and most important thing for our passengers is accessibility – that we can be reached by phone, that we can be written to, and that we respond. We’ve noticed that the younger generations prefer to communicate electronically instead of calling. This is also now possible with the chat function on the airBaltic website, which is available on weekdays.
The second principle is high quality – in other words, that the information we provide to passengers is accurate and precise and that our responses are professional in terms of the language we use and the service standards we adhere to.
Our Call Centre agents are very knowledgeable and can help with a very wide range of issues. For example, when calling customer service centres at other companies, the customer is often repeatedly connected to different agents, which means being put on hold again or having to tell their story again from the beginning. Of course, some questions and situations are very specific, but we train our employees well and strive for each of them to be able to answer customer questions about everything related to a booking. To do this, we need to supplement our knowledge on a regular basis.
In addition, we’re able to serve our clients in seven languages: Latvian, Lithuanian, Estonian, English, German, Finnish, and Russian.
Likewise, team leaders need to follow along that the agents stay within efficient call handling and email response times so they can be available to the next customer as soon as possible.
When people contact the Call Centre, they usually have a specific need or something has happened and they’re stressed out. How do you deal with situations like that?
We get calls from all sorts of people, from all around the world, with all kinds of questions. As we say ourselves, ‘No two calls or situations are the same.’ Of course, flight times may change, and sometimes flights have to be cancelled, which of course forces people to change their plans. There are certain procedures that the airline and also its customer service department do in such cases. Yes, people can be very emotional, and that’s understandable, but we train our staff how to have these conversations as efficiently as possible and to come to a solution as quickly as possible.
What are your teams planning for the future?
Right now we’re thinking a lot about how to automate our work to enable customers to make changes to their bookings themselves and thus relieve the workload for the customer service employees.
To this end, we’ve already introduced automated messaging to customers if their flight is changed or cancelled. We’ve also signed a cooperation agreement with iCoupon, which lets us issue a meal voucher to passengers electronically to their boarding pass in the event of a flight delay or cancellation. The customer no longer has to stand in a queue and receives information on which restaurants they can go to. This is not yet in place in all our stations, but it’s gradually being introduced.
One of the latest things we’ve introduced relates to cancellations or changes to flights that are announced more than two days before departure. In such cases, customers can now choose their preferred flight on our website in the My Booking section. There’s no need to contact the Call Centre, which tends to be particularly busy at such times. the next customer as soon as possible.
And what’s still ahead?
We’re actively working on giving our customers the possibility of changing the date of their flight themselves. That would allow them to view not only the available flights but also the potential costs and fees. We plan to offer a similar option for passengers whose flights have been changed very close to the departure date or on the day of departure.
You probably have some interesting statistics you can share with readers, too.
Of course, we have our own key performance indicators, which we monitor constantly. One of those indicators is our service level, which allows us to see how many of all the incoming calls we’re able to serve. We aim to maintain our service level at around 92%. But in October, the Call Centre service level had already reached 97%. This year, we’re handling on average around 25,000 calls every month, but in the summer months it can be closer to 35,000. The average waiting time is 30 seconds.
5 THINGS THAT CHARACTERISE EVIJA ZEPA’S DAY:
Always be up to date regarding information
No matter how long we’ve been away from work – 12 hours or a couple of weeks – when we return, we always begin by familiarising ourselves with everything that has happened while we’ve been gone. Aviation is a very dynamic field, and there’s likely to be some new, useful information that needs to be taken into account in the performance of our duties or perhaps a new procedure that needs to be learned.
Provide assistance
As a team leader, I support my colleagues with everyday things as well as in more complex situations. I also make sure that employees have all the information they need, all the tools they need to do their jobs. I explain where necessary. We work hard at making this a place where employees want to work.
Care about the service we deliver
I always keep an eye on the key performance indicators of my teams. We all have the same goal – to be available to our passengers and to provide the best service. This includes monitoring and making sure that our employees are performing well. And if anyone needs extra help, we provide it.
Learn and share with others
In this field, we spend a lot of time learning. In my case, it’s important to not only learn new knowledge myself but also to make sure that the employees have received that knowledge, understand it, and are able to use it in their work.
Grow
Growth is important to me, not only personally but also as an employee, as a team, and as a company. That’s why I’m always looking for new ways to improve and develop my day-to-day working life. I take advantage of all the opportunities airBaltic provides, which is why I also participate in the airBaltic Leaders for Future programme.