Planet Cruise

The brand has a team of around 30 staff taking cruise bookings – most of whom are based in the Cosham call centre, although there are also some homeworkers.

Planet tries to make the most of its location close to the key cruise port of Southampton to encourage its staff to go on as many ship visits as possible to improve their knowledge and will sometimes take customers on these day visits.

The call centre’s proximity to Southampton has also helped to attract some staff who had previously worked on cruise ships.

Training is a key component of Planet’s strategy and the call centre features a dedicated training room with cruise lines based in Southampton regularly coming in to hold educational sessions for staff.

The office can also be used for customer appointments if they want to talk to an agent face-to-face to discuss their cruise requirements, which is popular with those spending higher amounts on these holidays.

Another initiative is holding evening events for customers in the office where a cruise line will give a presentation and bookings can be taken.

Planet continues to promote itself heavily through its TV shows on satellite and cable channels, as well as having its own YouTube channel.

The call centre features a TV studio for recording these shows and videos with staff being encouraged to take part as presenters or cruise experts so they can share their knowledge of both ships and destinations with viewers.

Planet’s sales centre is open up to 11pm depending on the day of the week and if there is a surge of calls – typically after one of its live TV shows – staff from Iglu can take some of the calls generated.

The brand’s strong customer service has helped it score a 95% “positive” rating on reviews website Feefo, with 76% saying service was “excellent”.

• planetcruise.co.uk