Piece of Heaven and Charms of Sri Lanka
On the third day of April, 2013 I received an e-mail inquiry from Gloria Back, a potential guest from Canada looking for a tour package in Sri Lanka and Maldives combination, through Sri Lanka Tailor-Made.
Little did I know, Gloria was a fine traveler, has done a lot of reading and of cause has visited many countries before visiting Sri Lanka. So I received a details plan on what she has already read on web sites and books such as Lonely Planet and Trip Advisor, requesting many locations covering most of the highlights in Sri Lanka, and also describing in details what type of hotel they would want to book in the Maldives.
Since I thought “Transparency” in our pricing is the best way of retaining customers, I gave her a cost breakdown, as in to say specifically, the hotel costs separately, transportation charges in a basic package and entrance tickets to sites separately, so that the entire plan was broken down into cost elements, to make her see what would be the places to spend more and what would be the places to spend less.
As soon as she received my mail, her feedback was as follows:
“Thanks so much Milani, this is an amazingly quick response. I need to go through your comprehensive table below, and digest it. Then I will get back to you with comments and questions”. Of cause she was impressed with the Transparency that Jetwing offers, compared to other agents in Sri Lanka.
One of her expectations in visiting Maldives was to achieve her PADI certification in Maldives, for which she wanted to book a resort that offers such packages to guests. Of cause there was a lot of reading and researching involved in giving out the best to our guest, and to make sure the needs of the guests are catered for, many options were given for the Maldives resort that helped both parties to identify the cost factors involved and the budget to be allocated for the tour in Maldives.
Selecting the best list of hotels, obviously with the best prices is also a point that Sri Lanka Tailor-made considers when building up a package for a Tailor-made tour in Sri Lanka. Starting from the very beginning, till to the end, all hotels are given cost wise so that it allows a clear view for the client to decide on what hotels to go ahead with. Also Sri Lanka Tailor-made tours make sure that the money spent on a guest’s holiday does not go in a wrong direction. A good example is when Gloria wanted camping at Master Campers in Udawalawe when she already wants to have a safari in Wilpattu. So the suggestion given by Sri Lanka Tailor-made was to use Grand Udawalawe Hotel in Udawalawe and use Master Campers for Wilpattu National Park. The point is, why should a client pay extra amount of their hard earned money on a camp site when an actual hotel is available located closer to the National Park of Udawalawe?
Then when deciding her stay in Kandy, her need was about “”Kandy or nearby area” for overnight as our friends said they understood there were some lovely smaller hotels outside the city, like plantation homes/cottages”, so my suggestion for her was Madulkelle Tea and Eco Lodge – Click here which I thought will suite her needs better.
Starting from a low budget hotel, Glenfall Reach Hotel and giving the option for Heritance Tea Factory – Click here was an ideal plan to give the client options and decide as per the budget and pricing. And once she agreed upon both Madulkelle and Heritance Tea Factory, her thoughts were “I think you are getting to know our preferences with your ideas!! I guess that is all part of your job”, which shows that Sri Lanka Tailor-made is established to give out the best possible alternatives and options to our most values clients. Moving on with the planning stage of yet another highly personalized tour, we also provide the Half Board offer whenever the hotels are located away from the towns, think of the view point of the client, would she like to travel late in the night up and down the road just for a meal? Instead we at Sri Lanka Tailor-made has empathy towards the client, all about organizing a holiday is organizing a bundle of “comfort” not travelling and tiring yourself. Therefore half board option was given to all hotels away from town.
“You are also diligent and creative!! Have you worked in the travel industry for a while; you seem very professional and experienced!!” was her expression when she wrote to me the next day which shows that the staff working for Sri Lanka Tailor-made a all professional writers, creators of experiences, and experienced travel consultants who are dedicated in providing personalized travel solutions for all clients and potential clients who would like to visit Sri Lanka.
A personalized tour includes a lot of planning, and of cause to support the planning, a lot of information is needed to read and book the best for a holiday. Her comment for Sri Lanka Tailor-made was “I have lots to cover because you have supplied me with so much information”, which shows the amount of information which we share with the clients, helping them decide their holiday, than “us” deciding their holiday. Sri Lanka Tailor-made is built and conducts services to promote the best of Sri Lanka but suitable for the view point and needs of the guests.
My appreciating comment for her was “Thanks for all your good comments actually the people who trained me has passed it on to me”, the experience and the professionalism of each and every individual at Sri Lanka Tailor-made is being passed down from the senior staff and for the senior staff from the top management and the head of the operations themselves. Therefore all individuals at Sri Lanka Tailor-made are handpicked, well trained and recruited with great trust and understanding, and of cause each individual with various skills, talents and a good eye for creativity.
On a last note the guest’s final comment before confirming the tour was: “we have decided to proceed to book with you. You have given us much confidence in you and the agency that you represent. You are very responsive and service oriented and very professional. You have been very patient and thorough answering all our questions. This is a big trip, and you were very respectful of our questions and concerns. Well done!!” this demonstrates the scope of knowledge, confidence achieved through transparency, speed of response, answering and clearing doubts of the potential guest and being respectful are valuable ingredients of our service recipe, which we have earned through the years of successful hospitality and warm smiles towards our visitors.
And much more comments which we received include: “I consider myself an efficient person but you have me beat!! Many people complain they can’t get quotes and details from travel agents, but not you….you are faster than I am”, which provides all our guests with confidence that we at Sri Lanka Tailor-made will be efficient in whatever we do, we are not the typical “agency” model that runs with the stereotype of “late responses”. It is one of the philosophies of Sri Lanka Tailor-made to be efficient in whatever we do, and responses immediately with all details to our guests.
And all reservation was made and few changes were made for the final plan, and Cinnamon Lodge – Click here was booked in Habarana, which was a hotel preferred by the client, and of cause is a wonderful five star property, hidden away in the misty magical kingdoms of Sri Lanka, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Sigiriya. “I appreciate Jetwing’s flexibility. I think we have a super trip organized”, which shows the flexibility of Sri Lanka Tailor-made, a sub division of Jetwing Travels focused on Tailor-made and personalized tours in Sri Lanka.
So the day came where Gloria and Ian arrived in Sri Lanka, and of cause here at Sri Lanka Tailor-made, we visit all our guests whenever possible, especially when they visit Colombo, and do not forget to celebrate and enjoy once they are here as well. And of cause the guide provided by Sri Lanka Tailor-made are professional individuals with years and years of experience, good knowledge of History, Culture and as well as a very good understanding, writing and speaking knowledge of English.
Once the tour started, her first comment was “We very much like Terrence. He is a good choice for us”, which provides the travelers with evidence of how we match the chauffer guide with the personality of the client. Once we joined the clients for lunch, her comments were:
“Thank you for such a warm welcome to your country. Ian and I enjoyed meeting you both yesterday. Thank you once again for your thoughtful and very appropriate gifts. After, we saw the beautiful products at the Barefoot Store in the Dutch Hospital–the most beautiful fabrics. Ian’s shirt fits perfectly and he wore to dinner last night and I am wearing my sarong now on the beach. Gorgeous colors!!! Now off to see your parks and countryside”, was for the gifts which we bought for them, just to put a smile on their faces and we have the philosophy of gifting something special for our most values guests who visit Sri Lanka, something which is made in Sri Lanka, fabrics for clothing is world famous in Sri Lanka.
And also Ian has got caught to a bad cold and the chauffer guide “Terrance” has taken them to the hospital, that delighted the client, as to the extent which we at Tailor-made go to offer our services to the clients even after all payments are done and settled. Below were her comments as an appreciation of this act:
“See below an email from Ian’s cousin peter Davis. Could you forward our itinerary to him as he wants to come to Sri Lanka in February?” which shows that how little acts of kindness can go a long way. So the services of Sri Lanka Tailor-made were recommended to her cousin as well. Positive word of mouth is not just “rumors or gossip”; they are yielded through hard work of focused personalized services and continuous brand loyalty towards our guests.
Also in 98 Acres – Click here Ella, was one more suggestion given by Sri Lanka Tailor-made judging the personality and the interest of the clients, and of cause Gloria and Ian loved it together with the Train Ride in the Observation carriage from Nanu Oya to Ella, which is of cause a splendid journey and the train journey through the hills is recognized as the one of the “Best Scenic Journeys in the World”. The Train ride will give the guest to experience and get a magnificent view of the tea carpeted mountains, misty trimmed hills, beautiful thin layers of milky white lines of fresh water cascading the moment they hit the hard surface of the rocks holding the beauty together. The Tea carpeted hill side and the aroma of the freshly plucked and processed tea adds color to your journey.
Gloria is a skilled photographer; therefore most pictures were taken by her. So Ian gets the chance of being in most pictures, while Gloria did the capturing. However, the moment she reached the beautiful piece of heave in Ella, she did not forget to send me a mail appreciating the venue and her only word was “Heaven!!!!!”
Most writers would either right about a place, or speak about other bloggers or write about their own experience and write about only the bad side of hotels, but Gloria who actually experienced the real value and the level of service of Sri Lanka Tailor-made shared her thoughts, and comments and pictures to follow by. The article itself is therefore providing evidence as to why you should travel through “Sri Lanka Tailor-made – Click here”, providing evidence of blissful clients tasting value for money and truly personalized experience!!!
By Milani Wickramaratne
