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Freshworks solution creates an omnichannel, automated support service for UK travel industry giant
Freshworks Inc. (NASDAQ: FRSH), a software company empowering the people who power businesses, has provided Thomas Cook with the ability to successfully run a fully digital, highly automated, omnichannel support service through the use of Freshdesk®.
When the UK reopened international travel post-Covid lockdowns, Thomas Cook rapidly became one of the biggest selling travel brands – greatly increasing their customer queries. With a customer support team of only 80 people, they struggled to solve a multitude of questions from an overwhelming number of customers in a timely manner. Seeking a way to manage the flow of queries, automate the process, and serve customers on multiple channels, they implemented Freshworks’ Freshdesk software. With Freshdesk, customer service employees were able to fulfill their goal of becoming the customers’ ‘Virtual Travel Buddy,’ providing them with quick, easy, and reliable services.
“With the rise of international travel, companies like Thomas Cook need to be able to scale efficiently to deal with the sudden increase and range in customer questions,” said Simon Johnson, Vice President of Sales, UK and Ireland at Freshworks. “Freshdesk enables support agents to delegate customer queries to be answered automatically, with self-service, or with direct contact in an accelerated way.”
With the acceleration of travel at the start of 2022, the software implementation needed to be fast, simple, and effective. Freshworks and Thomas Cook began with email and simple chat functionality, then added the conversational chatbot to gather basic information like names and email addresses from customers up front. Seeing some immediate relief, Thomas Cook then implemented the Freshworks solutions module to add FAQs, enhancing the basic bot to handle hundreds of varied questions through providing customers with the matching FAQ article.
“The fact that the project was managed with very little resource, and alongside all other work at the time, demonstrated the ease of working with Freshworks,” said Hayley Chambers, Head of Customer Operations at Thomas Cook. “The solution is so easy to use, we were up and running quickly without the additional need for, or cost of an external project team.”
The transition between systems occurred seamlessly, almost overnight. Customer support staff in the UK, Bulgaria, and the Netherlands were able to take advantage of the on-demand training offered via the Freshworks Academy in order to effectively learn their new systems. The familiarity achieved though this training enabled a smooth transition to the new system, ensuring effective customer support despite rapid software changes.
Thomas Cook’s customer support team has seen major success since their transition to using Freshdesk. Average tickets resolved per agent per day have increased by 55.5%, as well as an increase in FAQs from 21 to 99 since implementation. Automating the process has changed the game for the same team of 80 customer service agents, with one automation alone successfully closing 5,617 tickets—without human contact. The team now has live visibility into how many tickets are queued for different types of questions, enabling them to receive tickets directly related to their expertise.
With Freshworks, Thomas Cook has found a true partner to help them deliver a service that will maintain customer reassurance and satisfaction throughout planning and executing their travels.
After the original business collapsed in September 2019, a few committed former employees were determined the legacy of Thomas Cook would find a new life. Two months later, Fosun Tourism Group, the owners of Club Med, bought the Thomas Cook brand along with the inimitable Sunny Heart logo - a symbol of joy and happiness, and an important part of the business’ identity. Those former employees created a new venture - one that embodies the essence of the man himself but brings it bang up to date with the latest technology. Our website lets you package your own holiday. You go away when you want, for as long as you want. And with thousands of hotels to choose from and more flight routes and airlines than ever before, your well-deserved getaway can be whatever you want it to be.
Freshworks Inc., (NASDAQ: FRSH) makes business software people love to use. Purpose-built for IT, customer support, sales and marketing teams, our products empower the people who power business. Freshworks is fast to onboard, priced affordably, built to delight, yet powerful enough to deliver critical business outcomes. Headquartered in San Mateo, California, Freshworks operates around the world to serve more than 58,000 customers including Bridgestone, Chargebee, DeliveryHero, ITV, Klarna, Multichoice, OfficeMax, TaylorMade and Vice Media. For the freshest company news visit www.freshworks.com and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
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