Travel & Hospitality
Consistency Keeps Customers Happy
As direct spending on travel approaches $1 trillion per year, the companies that profit will be those who have distinguished their customer service from their competitors. With low-cost carriers, home-sharing platforms, etc., it’s less about unique product offering and more the ability to compel loyalty – while remaining cost-efficient. To do so, businesses should introduce AI-powered customer self-service. With call center AI, companies can reduce costs by automating services traditionally allocated to CSRs, opening up their lines to more complex conversations.
What we can automate for you
Challenges in Travel & Hospitality
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Travelers prioritize convenience: they want it to be easy, thorough, and available via the channel most accessible to them
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Omnichannel strategy
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Complications such as weather prompt an influx of customer inquiries that customer service may be inadequately prepared for
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Segmenting customers based on value while still offering a personalized and differentiated experience
You can use intelligent virtual agents to handle these travel & hospitality processes:
Intelligent Front Door
Ensure that customers’ calls are being routed properly, quickly, and seamlessly with an IVR self-service system capable of emulating a live agent. This:
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Personalizes customer requests, lowers customer effort, boosts satisfaction
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Differentiates your customer experience from competitors with Natural Language Understanding
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Limits hang-ups, supports call deflection, and improves routing accuracy
Booking & Changing Travel Plans
Phones remain a significant touchpoint for customer service, but travelers also tend to exploit multiple channels when communicating with brands. Even the complex but repetitive process of booking travel plans can be automated:
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Offer customers a consistent experience in every channel, whether customers call, chat, or text to book and update plans
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AI bots are always available, even when agents aren’t
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NLP allows customers to speak to voice self-service using conversational language
Outbound Reminders and Confirmations
With the high and rising costs of delivering great travel experiences, brands must explore cost-effective opportunities that upgrade the customer service experience. Outbound alerts:
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Send customers reminders about upcoming travel arrangements
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Give customers the opportunity to confirm or update their status, make changes to their reservation, check-in to their flight, etc. – all on the same outbound reminder
Transportation Status
When a flight status changes, a bus runs late, or a train is cancelled, prompt communication to passengers becomes the difference between repeat business and disgruntled customers. Automation can help:
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Perform notifications and offer status checks
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Communicate delays and allow for dynamic changes within the conversation, reducing customer effort
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Scale the call center for peak events, so customers are never left anxious or without an answer
Check-Ins & Check-Outs
Checking in and out of hotels and flights in-person: routine, time-consuming – unnecessary. But waiting on hold is just as bad. Instead of requiring guests to wait for agents to become available, forgo the long waits by providing them a customer self-service option. In this way:
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Customers can multitask – e.g. check-in while at the baggage claim, on the car ride over, etc
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Guests are happier, as they save time they otherwise would have lost standing in queues
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Service desks experience less congestion and employees can better serve the needs of their clientele
Room Service
Room service is an amenity, and the easier it is to order, the happier the guest feels. An effortless room service process also helps with repeat orders. Omnichannel self-service:
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Eliminates wait times for guests ordering room service
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Provides a quick order process
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Allows guests to voice self-service or SMS texts to place room service orders
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Frees up operator time to handle more elaborate guest inquiries
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