Call centers vs. personalized teams: Which service model is right for you?

If you ask a travel manager what matters most to them regarding their travel program, they’ll probably say cost savings. But a close second is always service levels, and the discourse rages on about what servicing model best fits multinational and high-volume travel programs. What it comes down to is what they value more: the speed at which someone can pick up the phone or whether they want a team that truly understands their travelers’ needs and their company’s policy.

This is the debate between call centers and personalized teams. Let’s try and settle it.

First thing's first…a structural comparison

Before discussing the pros and cons, here are the basics about each service model.

Call Center

• Larger work setting and higher volume of agents
• Agents are divided up among various non-specialized team leaders
• Calls are answered by any available agent on a first-come, first-served basis

Personalized Team

• Pod-style work setting with a focused group of agents
• Agents are divided up by specialized teams, possibly by client or industry
• Calls are answered by an available agent within the assigned specialized team on a first-come, first-served basis

A personal touch or speed of service?

So there are pros and cons for each, but let’s dive in deeper.

Personalized teams will always have a more human touch. When your travelers work with the same group of people for all their bookings, the agents will become very familiar with your program’s requirements, such as policy rules, preferred suppliers, unused ticket processing, and more. Your travelers will feel more at ease knowing their bookings are managed by a team that knows them.

Call centers won’t have the same personal touch. Still, they can handle higher call volumes faster, which may be more attractive to large multinational organizations with travel programs that transact in the tens of millions of dollars.

Which model is more flexible?

Recent events have proven that corporate travel programs must be agile and nimble in the face of change. Depending on where this falls in your priorities for your program, it can determine what kind of service model you’ll prefer.

When it comes to a personalized team that is dedicated to an industry, segment, or client, it is much easier to adapt to changes in traveler needs or feedback. For example, a client-specific team can receive real-time policy updates and apply those new requirements immediately. This feedback also goes two ways – if agents hear the same concerns and complaints or are mitigating the same problems repeatedly, it can be raised with the travel manager(s). Keep in mind that agents who are tied to a specific team tend to have more experience than an entry-level agent and can provide more informed service.

To call centers, your travelers’ calls are just another checkbox in their day. This is the result of a high-volume framework. There won’t be the same feedback loops, and since a call center will be servicing many clients at large, change will be more incremental and may take more approvals.

Which model is more scalable?

Let’s put it plainly:

• Call centers have more staff. Remote work can triple that number.
• There will always be an agent to answer the phone in a disruption, crisis, or emergency situation.
• Call centers can scale faster at lower costs, making them more attractive to organizations where “bottom line” is an important factor.
• You can’t expect the same “white glove” service level compared to personalized teams.
• Personalized teams usually won’t have the numbers to support travelers.

Building relationships and navigating nuances

How important is it to you that your travelers feel connected to the agents servicing your program?

The main difference between an agent from a call center and a personalized team is how well they will understand your travelers and program. Even on a personalized team of 40 people, it is statistically likely that a traveler will work with the same agent repeatedly. This is especially impactful for your road warriors.

It’s a simple fact that call centers can’t accommodate this. So, if it’s important to you, you have your answer on which model best fits your program.

Which one is right for you?

It all comes down to preferences, priorities, and needs. During your RFP process, include questions that unpack how a TMC handles servicing and ask for customer testimonials, referrals, and examples of how they’ve handled specific issues or problems.

To be transparent, at FCM, we use the personalized team model. We’ve found that it’s the best way to bring our travelers and clients the support they need, all while keeping the human connection. This comes at a cost, but the results are priceless. Want to hear more about how this works for us? Reach out to us here .

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