Why Every Tour Operator Needs A ChatBot
Time is money, but that doesn’t mean you need to work non-stop
Your inbox is full of unanswered questions, the phone won’t stop ringing, and the majority of these questions are readily available on your website. How do you have enough time to get to it all and run your business? One of the great laws of labor is that time equals money: the less time you waste, the more you can get done and the more money you can make. You certainly shouldn’t waste your precious time with things that aren’t worth your time, but answering a potential customer’s question is always worth your time – what if it leads to a sale? Or develops a reputable name for your business? Unfortunately, answering customer questions can turn into a time-suck.
Pain Point: Time Spent Answering FREQUENTLY ASKED Questions
In the tourism industry, tour operators share a common pain point: it takes forever to answer repetitive questions. Even if the answer is quick and easy, all that time adds up!
You’ve taken the time to write out FAQs and create a page for them on your website, but you’re still finding yourself answering the same questions that you’ve listed on your FAQ page. Although it seems that an FAQ page would mitigate the number of phone calls, emails, and contact forms you receive, that’s not always the case. People want answers directly and immediately and website visitors are not always patient enough to navigate to your FAQs.
Another issue you may find yourself facing is the number of manual reservations you handle. Once upon a time, reservations were all made in-person or over the phone. Now, even though technology has made online reservations possible, tour operators are still spending a lot of time making over-the-phone reservations.
A study by Sprout Social found that on average, chatbots save 4 minutes per inquiry when compared to traditional centers. Let’s assume that if a customer called or emailed you, it would take about 30 seconds to answer each of their questions. After a conversation that included 6 questions, it would have taken you 3 minutes to help that customer. A chatbot could answer 6 questions in a minute and a half without you ever being distracted. Calculate your potential savings here!
Solution: AI CHATBOT FOR TOUR OPERATORS
A chatbot is a software that can converse with humans via a live chat interface. That can happen on a website or app, or through platforms like Slack, Skype, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and even Alexa. It adds value to the customer experience on your website and it conveys your company’s voice to the customer quickly and honestly.
By having a chatbot on your website, customer inquiries can be answered while you’re away from your phone or computer – this ensures enhanced customer engagement. Bots are incredible user-level data collection tools. With this data, the chatbot will power the future of marketing in tours and activities, true personalization in the traveler’s experience and provide recommendations tailored to them.
Plus, while your customer support staff needs sleep, your chatbot doesn’t. With a chatbot, your customers are able to answer their questions 24/7. This allows you to reach customers at the time that is best for them, whether it be the first thing in the morning or late at night when they’re planning their next adventure. While chatbots can’t always provide in-depth answers to technical questions (some things will always require a human touch), they are able to help the customer get the information they need so they can come to you with more specific questions before booking.
CASE STUDY: NASHVILLE PEDAL TAVERN
The TOMIS ChatBot is designed specifically to solve the pain points of tour operators. Here are the results one of our clients, Nashville Pedal Tavern, has seen in the first 30 days of implementing the TOMIS ChatBot:
- 2,555 customer questions
- $4,380 generated from 16 online transactions
- 8.56% ChatBot e-commerce conversion rate
- 41% decrease in contact form submissions YoY
- 79% positive conversation outcomes
- 4% requested to speak to a human
The TOMIS ChatBot is the solution to the frustrating scenarios and pain points discussed above AND it costs less than hiring another customer service employee. According to an article written by Mariana Marques on medium.com, “Chatbots are solving various problems in the travel sector and … they have the potential to provide seamless customer care.” Chatbots in the tour operator industry are able to solve queries and initiate transactions. In addition, by handling routine queries chatbots save precious time for you and your employees, allowing humans in your business to perform more complex tasks and solve complex problems.
SUMMARY: SAVE TIME & GROW REVENUE
While the TOMIS ChatBot can save you time, it can also increase your revenue. By providing immediate customer service support, you’ll optimize your website’s user experience and eliminate the barriers to booking. This will result in fewer phone calls and contact forms, and instead – more online bookings and an increased online conversion rate! Learn more about the TOMIS ChatBot and how it can work for your business’s needs!
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