Mastering customer service: New revolutionary technology trends to check out!

In today’s competitive travel industry landscape, the primary determinant of a company's success is now customer satisfaction and loyalty. Studies show that modern travelers prefer seamless services—from planning and booking to other travel needs. When selecting an airline, customers highly value those with excellent customer service. 

Excellent customer service is proven to effectively increase customer retention, satisfaction, and revenue. Here, companies meet clients' expectations through quick responses, accessible service, empathy, and transparency. 

Thankfully, nowadays, standard efforts by customer service representatives can be further enhanced through the use of technology.

Today, we will feature some of the key customer technology trends that every airline company should be aware of to stay at the forefront of the travel industry:

Omnichannel as a broad customer service platform

Travelers expect consistent communication. Omnichannel customer service allows travel companies to provide assistance through various offline and online channels. 

Omnichannel options include instant messaging through social media accounts, emails, calls, and texts. Among these, SMS stands out as a particularly accessible and immediate option for urgent situations.

Self-service as a game-changer in customer service

Self-service has evolved into a highly effective form of customer service, offering immense satisfaction when implemented effectively by travel companies. This approach ensures information is readily available on convenient platforms, granting customers easy access to solutions for their problems. 

In fact, statistics reveal that 91% of customers actively utilize information posted online. With that, travel companies should harness the power of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and establish dedicated FAQ pages. This strategy leverages a convenient and accessible self-service channel, enhancing the overall customer experience.

Data-driven practices as a pillar of great customer service

Understanding customer insights is crucial for comprehending their needs and designing experiences that cater to their travel requirements and preferences. The primary focus of any customer-centric approach should be prioritizing what customers need and want. To achieve this, travel companies should actively gather customer insights to identify opportunities for enhancing the overall experience.

Voice of Customer (VOC) Data is one of the strategies travel agencies use to discover the requirements and preferences of their customers. This enables them to collect and analyze customer insights and incorporate such feedback in future services.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and chatbots as accessible and convenient customer service solutions

A 24/7 availability is a hallmark of great customer service. AI and Chatbots, with their expanding capabilities, assist travel companies in responding to customers' needs anytime. These technologies offer gap-bridging features, including a wide variety of languages for global accessibility.

Besides, AI and chatbots play a significant role in the world of travel, providing customer service through booking assistance, personalized recommendations, and serving as all-around guides for travelers' needs.

Mobile-friendly channels as a seamless customer service

All the abovementioned trends need to be optimized for mobile. Travelers extensively use mobile devices for trip planning, researching, seeking help, and accessing websites and contact channels nowadays. With that, travelers prefer customer service channels, chatbots, and FAQs that are available on mobile with a user-friendly interface.

Remote agents and technology as a complementary trend in customer service

The rise of remote work in customer service is an advanced trend that travel companies should adopt. Studies show that remote service agents can deliver more satisfactory performance, providing cost savings and increased accessibility for customers.

In empowering remote service agents, travel companies must consider using technologies such as help desk software, live chat tools, contact support channels, social media customer service tools, and customer survey tools for a more excellent customer experience.

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Indeed, technology has brought revolutionary innovations to all areas of business, especially in travel and customer service. Consequently, excellent customer service brings a competitive edge in the travel industry, offering benefits such as improved brand reputation and enhanced credibility.

We hope this feature has inspired you to explore ways on how technology trends elevate customer service and discover what could further be improved in the travel industry!

Tune in to our next release for more insightful features!