The pandemic played a spoilsport for the tourism industry at large. Almost all components of the industry- traveling business, airlines, hotels, and restaurants were adversely affected.
In fact, a report estimated that the drop in international tourists was 72% less than the figures recorded in 2019.
Now almost two years later, the travel industry seems to finally find its footing.
According to United Nations World Tourism Organization, international tourism showed revival as international arrivals touched almost half of 2019 levels.
These are sure positive signs and industry leaders would want to keep the momentum going. The current time is ripe for organizations to bring in sweeping changes and make their policies more tourist-centric.
Post-covid, customers' expectations have taken a 360-degree turn. Each experience matters to them.
In a survey, it was found that 1 out of 3 customers would walk on their favorite brand after encountering the first instance of bad service!!
So tourism leaders need to refurbish business strategies so that each customer walks out with a unique experience. And for this, customer experience management needs to come back into the spotlight.
In today’s blog, we’d be covering all this and more.
- The Real-Time Benefits of Customer Experience Management
- Hey Customer Experience Management…it’s ya pal Call Center!!
- Travel Trends That Would Help you Ace the Customer Experience Management Game
The Real-Time Benefits of Customer Experience Management
Customer experience management or CXM is not a recent invention, in fact, it has been in existence since the time humans learned the art of doing business.
Although it encompasses several components, customer experience management for b2b and b2c companies means acquiring new customers, retaining existing ones, and pushing loyalty for both.
Hence it’s extremely important that organizations focus on reinvigorating their customer experience management tools. It can have the following benefits-
- Seamless customer journeys
An essential area of focus for airlines, restaurants and hotels is that existing customers continue to utilize their service.
This indicates that the travel industry should focus on increasing customer lifetime value. Doing so would positively impact customer loyalty toward your brand.
- Know what your customers want
The first thing that tourism industry leaders should do in the post-pandemic world is to get on top of the changing customer expectations.
The pandemic has indeed changed the way tourists interact with your services. For example, almost 60% of customers want a single app to take care of their booking and other travel needs.
Thus it's imperative that brands maintain a constant connection with their customers. This can be done through calls, promotional emails etc.
Remember, customers would surely move towards those organizations that were ‘sensitive’ to their needs.
- Customer experience management prepares you for the ‘May Day’
A truth that all companies must come to terms with is that even after their best efforts, customer experience management MIGHT fail.
At this stage, you risk losing the trust of your customers. But if you have a functional customer experience management policy in place, you’d know that such low days are part and parcel of business operations.
Your setbacks can be turned into victories if you honestly admit your shortcomings to your clients. For example if a customer encounters a negative experience, be sure to follow up with them about what improvements you could have made.
Believe us, the customer would wholeheartedly welcome you owing up to your mistake and would even help you help them. Heard the saying honesty is the best policy? In the world of customer experience management, it rings true 100 out of 100 times.
Hey, Customer Experience Management…it’s ya pal Call Center!!
As per a report, tourism industry raked in close to $2 billion in 2021. Although this figure is higher than 2020, it is still less than pre-pandemic levels.
This just goes on to show that although the industry is making significant gains, there’s still a long road to go to achieve pre-pandemic business profitability.
In their attempt to be two steps ahead of customer expectations, tourism companies might benefit by utilizing call center solutions. These can have the following benefits-
- Maintain an omnichannel presence
Airlines, hotels and restaurants have to interact with a variety of customers on a daily basis. They can interact with businesses through multiple channels such as calls, chat, texts etc.
Ensuring good experience across these channels is the key as people often reach out to book or cancel tickets at the last minute.
Most call center software ensures that the level of customer service is uniform across all these channels.
- Obtaining insights into customer behavior
Tourism companies deal with huge volumes of data on a daily basis- customer details about flight bookings, hotel stays, etc.
If proper insights are obtained from this data, travel companies can accurately customize their services for a particular customer. For this, they can employ call center software that uses AI and machine learning to predict tourist expectations.
The mechanism is simple- contact centers focus on identifying particular phrases and terms on call that help them adjudge customer response. Agents can also see details of previous interaction of the customer with your business.
- Make the ‘Travel Experience’ more seamless
Tourists reach out to travel companies because they want to make their trips hassle-free.
Often travel contact centers act as a single point of contact for tourists looking for help a query. And seeing the huge rise in the volume of travelers post-pandemic, it makes sense to hire contact center services.
Contact centers employ trained agents who are further backed by exhaustive knowledge banks. This ensures that each customer would be provided with a unique experience.
Travel Trends That Would Help you Ace the Customer Experience Management Game
- Traveling for a purpose
Travelers are not indulging in wanderlust sans any consciousness. Addressing social and environmental issues is a big deal for modern-day customers and they want the same to be reflected in their travel.
A survey found that almost 50% of surveyed travelers rank social issues as highly important.
- Micro is the new macro
Gone are the days of extravagant trips. The Genz backpackers are ready to steal any minute they get for a recreational trip; duration is now the least of their concerns.
With the easy availability of air tickets, hotels, Airbnb, and vehicle rentals, travelers are motivated to take shorter trips.
Companies can provide customized packages for such short getaway trips to attract customers wanting to travel on a budget.
- All hands up for 'Personalization'
Modern-day customers want personalization the moment they start thinking about a trip. Enter smart travel guides. More than 40% of travelers want companies to make smart suggestions by leveraging technology such as artificial intelligence.
Artificial intelligence is not good for making intuitive travel guides, it is also helpful for bettering your customer experience management.
Platforms, such as Convin, leverage the power of AI to automate redundant tasks and leave companies more time to focus on providing an ‘an-all-encompassing’ customer experience.
At Convin, we empower you to serve your customers better. Take a look at what amazing prospects we have to offer.
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