When I started my job at the customer service desk of BookerZzz I was happily surprised by the variety the job has to offer. It is not one of those jobs where the only thing you do is talking to mad customers, it is so much more than that. Besides working on a lot more tasks than picking up the phone, you are able to help people find their perfect stay.
My name is Nadine. I work for BookerZzz for 4 months now and I will try to give you some more insights on how a normal day at the customer service of HotelSpecials and BungalowSpecials looks like.
Why did I apply for this job in the first place?
Well, first of all it was very convenient. I just received my bachelor’s degree in Tourism and I have some months overlap before I can apply for my masters. I needed a job where I could work a lot in the first couple of months and, where it is possible, to change hours when I start my masters. I heard of BookerZzz via one of my fellow students and I thought it was perfect: it is a job in tourism, the office is easily reachable and I can work flexible hours (which you really can 😉).
Is calling the only thing I do all day?
No. When you start as a customer service agent at BookerZzz, you start off with a service training of two days. During these days, you learn about the products, the company and more about sales and customer service. It definitely makes the first time on the phone a bit less scary. Once you know the ins and outs of helping the customer on the phone, you get to learn more tasks. For example, answering e-mails, talking to customers via our WhatsApp or chat service and administrative tasks.
When I am on “call-duty” and there are no phone calls, I check the reviews that people place on our websites after their trip to a hotel or holiday park. This means that I check if there is something in the reviews that we need to communicate to our partners. Or, if there might be a complaint that needs to be double checked with the property, or if the content department needs to change something about the presentation of the hotel or holiday park on our website. Also, when people book with us they have the option to fill in preferences or wishes and those requests need to be taken care of. This means you have to contact the hotel or holiday park to arrange this for the guest and then you need to confirm to the customer that it has been taken care of. Eventually, I will also learn how to solve urgent problems like errors or overbookings.
In a nutshell, you are basically the link between the customer and the hotels and holiday parks on different fronts.
What do I like most about this job?
The variety! Every customer has a different reason for calling. One just has a simple question about a hotel, the other wants you to help them book a complete holiday. That last aspect especially surprised me. There are still so many people who call for help while booking a holiday. For us (younger) people the internet is a normal thing but for older people it can still be quite challenging. It is very satisfying to be able to advise those customers on the perfect destination for them, especially when they trust you completely and tell you to book it for them when they haven’t even seen a picture of the hotel or holiday park. For us it is a small thing to do but for the customer it means the world. And, of course, you also get calls from people who have a complaint that can be challenging to solve. Even then it can give you a big boost when you manage to make them happy after all. Overall, the positive conversations and messages definitely overrule the bad ones.
What about the team?
I like working in this young team. It is very informal and there are a lot of people my age who also work here next to their studies. But there are also international colleagues, for example from Germany, who moved to the Netherlands and now work and live here. This diversity of people always makes BookerZzz a fun place to work. Besides that, you see many friendships in the team which indicates the atmosphere at the company, I think.
If you are still hesitating about applying for the job… the only thing I can say is to give it a shot and experience our company yourself!
This story is written by Marouschka with input from Nadine.
