When business sat up and began noticing the potential of the Web on customer service in the 1990s, a new phrase was coined: the multichannel contact center. While it’s not a new term, and it’s not a new concept, technology keeps reinventing what it means to be multichannel. The latest two channels to be added to the concept of the multichannel contact center are social media, which customers are increasingly relying on to contact companies, and mobile apps, as more and more consumers carry tablets and smartphones and conduct their personal and professional business using these devices.
The addition of the mobile channel is increasingly critical for the travel industry. While many consumers book their vacations from their work or home computers, they may continue the relationships with their travel companies while on the move, and this means mobile devices. In a recent blog post, Paul Richer of U.K.-based travel e-commerce technology consultancy Genesys notes what a typical multichannel scenario for a traveler might look like.
“They [the traveler] may start their holiday research on their mobile handsets whilst having a few minutes to spare at a bus stop or in the morning Costa Queue,” wrote Richer. “They may take to their PCs in the office at lunch hour and continue their research at home on tablets or laptops. As the purchase decision gets nearer they may prefer to make a telephone call or pop into a retail shop. The important aspect to remember is that the consumer is considering your business as one entity however they are interacting with it at the time.”
Nothing will damage a travel company faster than a customer finding one price for a flight or hotel on a website, another price in an e-mail reminder and yet another price when he or she calls the contact center. For this reason, it’s critical that travel organizations maintain an unsiloed multichannel approach that ensures consistency of the message being handed to consumers.
Richer notes the recent success of British travel company Thomas Cook in building a first-rate mobile app for travelers. Calling it “a model of good design,” Richer noted that the company’s mobile presence – which is well-integrated with the travel company’s “omnichannel” customer support intitiative -- is setting the standard in the online travel industry.
A good omnichannel strategy for a travel website (or any website for that matter) starts with a robust and reliable contact center platform onto which the multiple channels can be built and properly integrated. Not only is an excellent mobile app a must, but a social media strategy is critical, as well. Travelers tend to be heavy users of social media, and they are very likely to voice their strong feelings – either good or bad – with hundreds or even thousands of friends when it comes to their travel experiences.