For those of us who fly around the U.S., Virgin America is likely a favorite. Not only do they have a modern fleet with all of the amenities—wide seats, personal video, power adapters, etc., and reasonable prices—but they also happen to provide great customer service. This has made the airline popular. As a result, it is expanding its contact center services and has inked a deal with Telvista to handle the increased volumes and add a couple of additional nice touches.
Telvista's support will include reservations, changes to travel plans, upgrade requests, questions regarding Virgin's Elevate frequent flyer program and general Web site questions. The service will be delivered from Telvista's Dallas contact center. It will enable the hiring of more than 80 agents.
A little extra virgin oil to please customers
In addition to the contact center services mentioned, a new social media support program will launch. It will include a comprehensive set of social media services, such as monitoring digital communications and real-time interactions with guests.
In making the announcement, Telvista detailed how it is going the extra mile to become a member of the Virgin team in a manner that is indicative of their common cultures. Agents will work in a fully branded Virgin America workspace. In fact, it will simulate a Virgin America onboard experience, up to and including their signature cabin mood lighting.
"When we were considering partners, we wanted to find an organization that shared Virgin America's commitment to employees and to our brand standards," said John MacLeod, Virgin America's senior vice president of planning and sales. "The facility will be a true contact center, merging reservations and guest-care calls with social media monitoring and response. Team members in the Dallas facility will assist our Virgin America headquarters-based social media team to monitor what our guests and followers say about us on social media in a state-of-the-art Social Media Care hub."
"Our Dallas site offers the right location to meet Virgin America's requirements," said David Arellano, Telvista's chief operating officer. "Virgin America makes every effort to not only delight its customers but to partner with businesses that strive to achieve the same results. Telvista is proud to be selected as a member of Virgin America's team."
Televista is no stranger to handling high contact volume customers. The company has over 6,700 employees in seven sites throughout the U.S. and Mexico. It promotes the fact they its contact centers provide “nearshore” services to Fortune 1000 clients. Services include support for English and Spanish speaking customers, product support and help desk solutions, customer service support and sales programs.
Virgin America taps Silvercar for Wi-Fi-enabled driving experience as well
It should be noted that Virgin America was not just busy with improving the end-to-end flying experience. It also has partnered with rental car market service disrupter Silvercar, which offers enhanced customer experiences with its fleet of Wi-Fi-enabled, premium Audi A4s. Starting immediately, members of Virgin America's frequent flyer program, Elevate, can earn 2,500 Elevate points on their first and fourth Silvercar rentals – plus four points for every $1 spent with Silvercar. Elevate members can now reserve a Silvercar via the Silvercar app or at Silvercar.com. Upon arrival at the passenger’s destination airport, they can scan a QR code located on the windshield of the Silvercar to unlock the vehicle and drive off.
San Francisco-based Virgin America is leveraging its loyalty with the tech-savvy frequent flyers in the Bay Area and Silicon Valley with the Silvercar relationship. And, while this may not ease the traffic issues in the heavily congested area, at least the experience of getting a car will be easy and sitting in traffic almost tolerable. The lesson here is not a bad one, i.e., the customer experience is not confined to what you do, but is more expansive and truly mission context-based and mission critical.
Edited by Alisen Downey