If you’ve clicked on a company’s website in the last few years, you’ve likely noticed a pop-up chat window in case you have a question or need help. 40% of large companies were utilizing chatbots by last year. It is, indeed, the rise of the machines.
AI – artificial intelligence – is used for a wide range of business features. From marketing to fraud detection, the possibilities are endless. Many companies now use chatbots to perform basic customer service.
Consumers have the option to request a live representative, but chatbots are often the first level of contact customers have with a company.
Despite the Rise of Automation, Many People Still Use Travel Agencies
Online booking sites make travel easier than ever. However, many people still prefer to use travel agencies. The business may not be brick-and-mortar buildings in the local shopping complex anymore, but travel agents are still relevant in our largely automated world.
7 Ways Chatbots Can Help Your Travel Agency
Chatbots won’t send human employees into extinction anytime soon. They are used to provide supplemental support, not replace human-to-human interaction. There are several benefits to using chatbots.
Here are 7 reasons why no travel agency should be without a chatbot in 2020.
1. Chatbots save time and work. Chatbots increase productivity because unlike people, computer programs can balance several conversations and queries at once. The general consensus is that humans can multitask only to a certain point.
2. They are available outside of business hours. Most humans can work 10, 12 hours a day, maximum. But many consumers continue to shop or plan trips outside of the typical 9-5 business hours.
Chatbots are available 24/7 and can answer inquiries or direct possible clients to contact the office during regular hours.
3. Easy to transfer from Chatbot to live representative. Not everyone is comfortable using a chatbot for communication. Unlike automated phone systems where users have to listen to an entire menu first, chatbots can easily transfer to a live representative when prompted.
4. Chatbots are cost-effective for travel agencies. It’s true that chatbots take work away from human employees, but it’s mostly mundane work.
With chatbots able to (happily) answer the same repetitive question over and over again, human employees can move on to more difficult tasks that chatbots can’t handle.
5. Customer satisfaction is higher with Chatbots. Forbes reports that over half of consumers give chatbots high numbers in customer satisfaction. Ease of use and fast response times are priorities for customers.
6. Increases your customer base to younger demographics. Millennials are generally more adept at using technology. They were raised with automation all around them. In fact, many of them have never lived in a world without the internet.
Chatbots can encourage a higher rate of customers in the younger demographic.
7. Chatbots don’t make any errors compared to their human counterparts. Alexander Pope knew hundreds of years ago that humans make mistakes. He wrote, “To err is human.” Chatbots, however, have very specific parameters with no room for error.
Set Up Your Chatbot Today to Increase Profits and Efficiency Tomorrow
We’re living in the middle of a technological revolution. While flying cars aren’t on the horizon, more automation advances are just around the corner.
Adding a chatbot feature to your travel agency helps you keep on pace with consumers and your competitors.
