Taking vacations is a wonderful way to relax, de-stress, and spend time with friends and family. Vacations are also an opportunity to have new experiences, like visiting new places around the world and trying new activities. But vacation relaxation can be easily doomed if your travel and hospitality providers fail to deliver a great customer experience.
Bright Pattern works with several of the leading travel and hospitality companies, and we have first-hand experience with the changing needs as the world becomes more mobile and digital. With the rise of digital mobile channels and mobile communications, travel and hospitality companies have to adapt to an increasingly mobile and demanding traveler.
Engage Anywhere on Any Channel
Travel customers are on-the-go when they are trying to access information. When I arrived in Miami for my summer vacation, I quickly realized I didn’t know where to go to pick up my pre-purchased rental car. Luckily, their email communications provided excellent directions to the airport shuttle. They even had the option to SMS or text the rental car facility to schedule a quicker pick-up and to notify them of which terminal you are at. I was easily able to find all the information I needed via email, SMS, and voice, and I was off in a snap with a great start to my vacation!
Having seamless omnichannel communication is crucial in the travel and hospitality industry, because customer loyalty is fleeting. There are many providers out there and competition is fierce. If you are not delivering great experiences, customers will leave without thinking twice. They are also likely to post negative reviews when arriving home from their trip.
When I was traveling home, my flight from Miami to Chicago was delayed, causing me to miss my connecting flight to LAX. The travel site I had used to book the flights texted me an update and included links to later flights that I could take, and I was able to choose and confirm the new flight after the plane had landed.
There were click-to-call buttons to talk to someone for help, but everything was already set up so well that I didn’t need to use it. Because I had also subscribed to the airline’s SMS notifications, I got the same updates plus a message that I had been placed on the next flight out at 9:30 p.m. and to talk to the airline attendant for more info. Through mobile messaging notifications, I was able to get up-to-date information about my flight’s status. The attendants already knew who was missing a connecting flight and they announced the name of the attendant to see.
When I went up to her, she asked for my name, handed me the new boarding pass, and told me which gate to run to. Having all the alerts and automating the process of getting the new flight booked decreased my panic and frustration. On the back end of things, the airline had all their communications in order, eliminating confusion and saving everyone time.
These examples prove how critical customer communications are within travel and hospitality industries, especially through mobile, digital channels. Logistical issues are bound to happen. If providers prepare their communications for when these issues arise, they can wow customers with advanced service and create lifelong customers. With Bright Pattern, we can bring this vision to life with our truly seamless omnichannel platform with inbound and outbound voice, video, email, chat, SMS, and popular global messenger apps.
For more information about how Bright Pattern can power the latest in Travel and Hospitality, check out our detailed Travel and Hospitality page.
