TravTalk India Online Magazine
Valentina Cesani,Chief Customer Officer, Rail Europe, was recently in Mumbai to attend ‘Family Day and Reward Recognition Day’ programme, which aimed to inspire the team members. Cesani says that actively listening to customers and embedding their feedback into the organisation’s philosophy and strategy is the key to success.
Hazel Jain
Talking about the Family Day and Reward Recognition Day programme, Valentina Cesani, Chief Customer Officer, Rail Europe, says, “It’s a tradition for us. This is the third year that we are doing this; we are celebrating the best talent in our teams here in Mumbai in front of their families, with a bit of fanfare and recognise the talent among us. I’m also here to work with my new head of departments to improve further on our customer support,” she says.
Tuning into the key word that is her raison d’etre – customer support – Cesani adds that it’s important to listen to the customer and strategise around them.
“We have a leitmotif, a word that goes around a lot, customer centricity. But applying it and making it part of your core philosophy and strategy is not easy. We are trying to make sure that we hear the customer, and we build our roadmap and adjust our existing tools and offers based on what our customers’ feedback,” she says.
Rail Europe’s global customer support hub is strategically located in the Mumbai office, underscoring the company’s commitment to prioritising customer needs.
And for Rail Europe, customer support plays a huge role. “What we have done since last year is cut down the size of the entry level supports, not reducing the number but subdividing them in focus groups. So, they have a smaller scope to manage, and they can really become experts in that. For example, Rail Europe supports about 230 different rail operators. Each one of them has their own conditions and characteristics. It’s a lot of knowledge for one person to retain. If you cut down the 230 into seven, eight, 10 different groups, you have a chance for your team to become specialists on that topic or rail operator,” Cesani explains.
Effectively, Rail Europe now has eight different customer support teams, each one specialising in a specific topic. “At the same time, we changed our anti-fraud team to go full 24×7 to support and get more empowered on the tools that we have and have a mix of AI and live tools to protect our customers when they purchase through us,” she says, underlining an emerging issue across industries.
Getting groups on trains
Rail Europe has also been encouraging trade partners to bring group tours on their trains. “It cuts down travel time. Traditional coach tours in Europe take longer. For instance, Paris to Lyon, a popular route, can be reached by train in about 2 hours and 15 minutes as against a bus that takes six hours,” she says, adding, “Travel in Europe by train. Trains are convenient. Trains are fast. Trains are romantic. Trains are luxurious.”
New products
Customer-centric approach is not just lip service. Rail Europe has also introduced some new trains and routes based on customer demand. “We noticed that there was a keen interest in Eastern Europe. So, we worked with our development team, our product team and engineers to connect better and farther into the Eastern part of Europe. We have introduced quite a few new products this year. RegioJet trains are now available in Eastern Europe, and we added iryo, a new competitor to Renfe and Ouigo Spain, which opens up more possibilities for travellers,” Cesani explains.
Rail Europe has also launched new routes with partners like ÖBB and DB, enhancing connections to Denmark, Croatia, and other parts of Eastern Europe—not just the Czech Republic but also Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.
Trains vs planes
Trains have a lot of benefits over planes. There are fewer luggage restrictions, provide more leg room and space, making it easier to travel with children. A one-hour flight can end up taking almost the whole day with airport wait times and travel from remote airports into the city centre. With trains, you arrive directly in the heart of the city. In France, short-haul flights are banned, so trains have become the go-to option for intercity travel. You arrive right in the city centre.
