May
12
If there's one thing the internet is doing very well it's getting people communicating with each other.
All these social networking websites mean that people can exchange information - however banal - quickly and easily.
There is a level of online sophistication amongst a large number of hotel customers. Yet most hotels aren't making much of an effort to make the most of this opportunity.
Instead, they're concentrating on removing cost from the booking process. They are automating as much as they can. Some hotels I know don't enter into any correspondence with a prospective customer until they have their credit card number. And even then the communication is on the limited side of monosyllabic.
Do you want to capture more business online? Automation is not the answer.
All these social networking websites mean that people can exchange information - however banal - quickly and easily.
There is a level of online sophistication amongst a large number of hotel customers. Yet most hotels aren't making much of an effort to make the most of this opportunity.
Instead, they're concentrating on removing cost from the booking process. They are automating as much as they can. Some hotels I know don't enter into any correspondence with a prospective customer until they have their credit card number. And even then the communication is on the limited side of monosyllabic.
Do you want to capture more business online? Automation is not the answer.
You see, people have a need for information.
Different people absorb information in different ways:
- Some will read what you've written on your website.
- Some will watch your promotional video.
- Others will want to ask you questions. No, they don't want to look at your FAQ pages, they want to ASK you a question...
How will they achieve that in the world of automated online sales?
With great difficulty.
They could send you an email or complete an enquiry form, but why should they bother? Nobody ever responds to these things properly.
I know! Why don't you chat with them? See that little chat icon on the right? If I'm online, you can chat to me. Imagine this was your hotel and behind that chat icon sat a trained and enthusiastic reservations agent - armed with answers to all the questions people might ask (and savvy enough to know how to find the answers she doesn't have in front of her).
You can set up a system like this on your website very easily. Visit these pages to find out how to do it. They even do a free trial. If you're stuck, ask me.
Automatic doesn't always convert sales. Neither does interaction to be fair, but I'd put a bet on it converting bookings at much higher values than anything automatic.
It can also help you to differentiate yourself.
"This hotel talked to me!"
...you can feel people reaching for their credit cards, can't you?
Different people absorb information in different ways:
- Some will read what you've written on your website.
- Some will watch your promotional video.
- Others will want to ask you questions. No, they don't want to look at your FAQ pages, they want to ASK you a question...
How will they achieve that in the world of automated online sales?
With great difficulty.
They could send you an email or complete an enquiry form, but why should they bother? Nobody ever responds to these things properly.
I know! Why don't you chat with them? See that little chat icon on the right? If I'm online, you can chat to me. Imagine this was your hotel and behind that chat icon sat a trained and enthusiastic reservations agent - armed with answers to all the questions people might ask (and savvy enough to know how to find the answers she doesn't have in front of her).
You can set up a system like this on your website very easily. Visit these pages to find out how to do it. They even do a free trial. If you're stuck, ask me.
Automatic doesn't always convert sales. Neither does interaction to be fair, but I'd put a bet on it converting bookings at much higher values than anything automatic.
It can also help you to differentiate yourself.
"This hotel talked to me!"
...you can feel people reaching for their credit cards, can't you?
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