What are the responsibilities and job description for the Manager, Guest Relations position at Tauck?
The Guest Relations Team is committed to delivering a high-level of personal care, with thoughtful guidance genuinely delivered to Tauck guests and their trusted travel advisors as needed. This is a high visibility, front-line team that works cross-functionally with internal teams as well as acts as a key liaison with external resources (such as Travel Protection partners) to ensure seamless, end-to-end support throughout the guest travel experience. The Guest Relations team is directly responsible for managing the complete resolution process of all guest feedback and customer care cases, ensuring every interaction exemplifies Tauck’s unwavering commitment to foster and build guest loyalty.
This Manager role will assume responsibility for the daily management, development and overall performance of the Guest Relations team. The Manager will lead a dynamic team focused on fostering deep guest loyalty, proactively resolving issues, and optimizing service workflows for efficiency and effectiveness. Employee engagement and coaching, as well as data-driven decision-making to optimize processes and enhance our customer experience are must-have behaviors for this role. This role combines people leadership and operational excellence to ensure every guest and travel advisor interaction reinforces our brand promise of excellence.
Team Leadership:
- Provide direct leadership to team of Guest Relations Specialists
- Champion a guest-first approach, focused on active listening and empathy, while balancing timely resolution and accountability
- Foster a positive team culture that encourages collaboration and best practice sharing
- Ensure consistent standards of quality, tone, and personalization in all guest correspondence
- Conduct regular call listening and training to enhance overall service, decision-making, and communication skills
- Provide support and mentorship to team members handling high-complexity guest cases
- Own guest escalation requests with Associate Director support, including flexibility to support after-hours and crisis management situations as needed
- Partner with Associate Director on employee engagement opportunities
- Oversee customer-care case management systems to ensure timely, fair, and empathetic resolutions of guest concerns
- Collaborate cross-functionally with Sales, Global Operations, Tour Director Management, Finance, and Reservation teams to ensure seamless issue resolution
- Review case metrics; track effectiveness in quality and customer experience
- Guide team’s performance as it pertains to customer interactions and proper documentation to drive service excellence and achievement of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
- Lead weekly meetings with management team to align efforts, discuss relevant topics, review goals, determine communication and training needs, etc.
- Monitor service trends & data to identify opportunities for process enhancements and policy improvements to mitigate recurring issues
- Work with the Associate Director to define and execute on strategic goals for service recovery, guest satisfaction and team performance to drive consistent and on-brand customer interactions
- Strong problem solving, leadership, and customer service skills
- High energy leader who is excited to coach, train, and motivate employees
- Excellent verbal & written skills
- Interpersonal and team-building oriented, with the ability to inspire and lead with emotional intelligence
- Strong conflict resolution & decision making skills, especially in time-sensitive, high-pressure scenarios
- Organizational and time management skills, multi-tasking across competing priorities
- Naturally inquisitive, proactive in researching issues, and uncovering root causes to drive guest satisfaction
- Ability to build relationships across the organization and collaborate to accomplish goals
- 5 years of experience in a hospitality, travel, or service industry role
- 2 years in a people leadership capacity
- Contact center and customer service supervisory experience preferred
- Premium/luxury brand experience a plus
- Proven record of delivering high-touch customer service & managing service recovery with grace & professionalism.
Tauck is recognized as a world leader in deluxe escorted vacation tours; a fast growing company in a thriving industry. We offer more than 150 intriguing, all-inclusive vacations to the most popular worldwide destinations. These creative itineraries, with spectacular sightseeing and premium accommodations, are carefully choreographed to create enriching experiences and enlighten travelers interested in high quality, cultural vacations.