Today’s visitors are savvy and more than ever, impatient! When researching travel online, people want - and expect - immediate answers. Here are five ways live chat can help you drive customer delight and increase direct bookings.
Immediate answers = immediate bookings
79% of customers prefer live chat because of the immediacy it provides. Even if that information is provided on your website, your customer may not want to take the time to find it. Live chat helps to nurture customers through the travel conversion funnel by addressing their questions immediately.
Personalise!
Chat and personalised website messages allows you to welcome guests to your website, offer them help or give them further information steering them towards the perfect trip or experience for them. Smart chatbots can also achieve this same level of personalisation, ensuring your guests always experience a seamless customer experience.
Saves time for your frontline team
Live chat is known for reducing phone and email enquiries, however, running a live chat can be time consuming and distracting for staff members or owner/operators. Think of a chatbot as your virtual assistant – it’s like an ‘always on’ front line team member that is great at picking up the repetitive common questions, giving your team more time for those who need it. At Black Cat Cruises, Kiri (the name of their virtual assistant) handles up to 500 conversations a month and handling common questions which saves over 10 hours staff time each month.
No time zone issues
Offering chat 24/7 is a great way to encourage international visitors to book with you. Having a chatbot allows you to answer their questions immediately, reducing any delays to booking, and encouraging their confidence in your experience.
Insights and data
Get a better understanding of what your visitors are searching for and what their queries are around your offering - then optimise your digital experience to match their needs. One customer discovered many people asking about a shuttle time he didn’t offer, so adding that shuttle increased revenue. Follow their journey on your website, see what pages your visitors are getting stuck on and help guide them in the right direction.
Yonder, an automated tourism chatbot software that makes it easy to communicate with customers 24/7, has partnered Maverick, an Auckland-based tourism marketing agency who works to empower operators through digital. The two companies work together to increase online sales for tourism operators.
Written by Nicole Botting (Maverick Digital) and Letitia Stevenson (Yonder)
