Friday, 1 March 2013

Online Customer Care Resolves Apprehension in Booking a Stay



Tired of the day-to-day work routine? Then, it’s the best time to apply for an annual leave. Under U.S. federal law, employers are mandated to give employees a paid vacation, typically 10 to 20 work days! You can make use of this period by going on vacation. According to a study by WHIP (World Independent Hotels Promotion), hotel websites and booking engines are used in conjunction when planning a trip. While this study illustrates findings made in Europe, American hotels can use the information to understand how potent their websites are. They should integrate Online Customer Care to attract traffic to their website. This web-based tool enhances the visitor-to-conversion rate by delivering superior customer support.

An internet booking engine (IBE) is defined as an application used by the tourism industry to book flights, hotels, holiday packages, insurance and other services online. Although, it is more commonly used by airlines, travel associations around the world are using IBE to fulfill tourist’s needs. According to the information graphic, “Booking Patterns of Guests in Independent Hotels”, despite the presence of IBE websites, more consumers prefer to book their stay on a hotel’s websites. In fact, a customer will spend 14 minutes on a hotel website while they will spend only 11 minutes on a booking engine. Although, 20.2% of customers discovered the hotel through an online travel agent, they prefer to book directly on the hotel website!

In order to maximize conversion, hotels can add online customer care. This online CRM application connects visitors to a customer service representative (CSR) through live chat. CSRs play out the duty of a personal concierge. From the moment, a guest arrives at the website; they are individually greeted by a CSR and are proffered assistance. Although, a visitor is at liberty to respond, they will find it is in their benefit to live chat through Online Customer Service. A hotel chat representative uses online metrics such as referral URL, keyword searches, and webpage duration to comprehend a visitor’s activity. Online customer service then proactively engage customers into a meaningful discussion to help resolve booking concerns such as negotiating prices and to learn about amenities in detail.

1 comment:

  1. Too cool!
    I’m truly enjoying the design and layout of your blog of Flight Booking Engine .
    It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more pleasant for me to come here and visit more often. Did you hire out a designer to create your theme?
    Excellent work!

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