How to Stop Treating Customers Like Transactions

Helping people travel the globe is a unique responsibility. It’s not about introducing a product to their lives. It’s about introducing them to the world. Consider your own most recent trip. You likely met new people, tasted new foods and saw sights you couldn’t have previously imagined. 

But what does it take to bring these gifts to others? For Heidi Durflinger, CEO of EF World Journeys, it means building relationships that go beyond the transactional.

“Travel is very personal,” says Durflinger on a recent episode of the Corporate Competitor Podcast. “What we sell is something that is an emotional purchase.”

The ability to key in on the emotional side of the job is a skill that can be traced back to her upbringing. Growing up in a small farming town in Belleville, Kansas, the future CEO learned the value of experiencing different cultures thanks to her parents, who hosted international exchange students. Then at 16, Durflinger was an exchange student herself, first traveling to Bologna, Italy, which ignited a lifelong passion for global exploration.

That formative moment not only shaped her worldview, but also laid the groundwork for a career dedicated to bringing people together through transformative travel experiences. For Durflinger, it’s about the people. That idea remains central—and she proved that ethic earlier this decade during the pandemic.

“[We were] a travel company that [couldn’t] help people travel at that moment,” she says. So, she and the company pivoted. “We made wellness calls to our customers,” she said. “Just to check in on how they were doing during the pandemic.” 

It might seem like a surprising strategy, but when you consider EF World Journeys’ mission, it makes complete sense. “It’s important that we hear our customers,” Durflinger says, “connect with our customers, and connect them with each other, as well.”

Durflinger shares other important insights on the podcast including:

• Say ‘yes’. Durflinger’s mother told her it’s the things in life people say ‘no’ to that they often regret most. “You never regret going for something. Take the opportunities as they come.”

• Enjoy the training. In sports and business, to achieve a goal means to take incremental steps to get there. For Durflinger, an ultramarathon runner, it’s not about traversing dozens of miles at once. “When you break it down into smaller bits that you work towards,” she says, “it becomes achievable.”

• Extend your goals. Similarly, as you hit your goals, it’s important to extend them further. “In my marathon training,” the CEO says, “I’ll suddenly realize, ‘Wow, I just ran 13 miles and I felt fine, and then I ran 15 miles, and then I hit 20, and I’m still feeling great.'”

For Durflinger, connecting to customers is just as important as offering them something in the marketplace. Without that emotional bridge, relationships merely become transactional. And that, she says, is no way to experience the world.