Sep
7
Life is good!
I've just experienced the JOY of dealing with somebody who read an article on this blog AND ACTUALLY DID SOMETHING ABOUT IT!
I was looking for a hotel room for a couple of nights for my next visit south. In fact, I needed a room for three nights, but the booking system only seemed to want to sell me two. The electronic hamster ran round and round inside the booking engine for a while and eventually we compromised on two nights. Then, disaster. The system doesn't like my postcode - verboten! Cease and desist! You're not real, your postcode tells us you're not...
Slightly grumpy by this time, I slunk back to the website homepage to find the telephone number so I could call and ruin somebody's day the way the wee electronic hamster had ruined mine, when suddenly:
"Rrrrrrring!!!!!" on my computer!
"whassat???"
It took about ten seconds for it to register with me. Someone was using an online chat system to contact me! Even better - someone from the hotel!!
It was my new friend Claire (hi Claire). She had been watching me check out her hotels website, disappear off to the booking system, then come back and go straight for the "contact us" page. I'll let Claire tell you the rest:
"Well, I reckon people who look at the contact us page probably want to talk, so this system gives us the chance to do just that. I knew you hadn't made a booking because I couldn't see one come up in the notifications screen, so I wanted to find out why. Can I help you with a booking now?"
She helped me with my booking - over-ruled the reservations system and got me three nights. I like Claire.
Claire is one of a new and comparatively small band of reservations agents who are allowed to embrace the opportunities the internet offers. She is using it to make (and by her own admission, occasionally rescue) sales.
"Some customers hate this!", she told me, "They think I've managed to get inside their own computer!"
Others love it Claire. Keep making the effort.
One other thing Claire is doing, is adding new, repeat and potential customers to her Skype contacts list - which she uses to make it easy for people to find out about her latest offers and make bookings.
Marvellous.
I've just experienced the JOY of dealing with somebody who read an article on this blog AND ACTUALLY DID SOMETHING ABOUT IT!
I was looking for a hotel room for a couple of nights for my next visit south. In fact, I needed a room for three nights, but the booking system only seemed to want to sell me two. The electronic hamster ran round and round inside the booking engine for a while and eventually we compromised on two nights. Then, disaster. The system doesn't like my postcode - verboten! Cease and desist! You're not real, your postcode tells us you're not...
Slightly grumpy by this time, I slunk back to the website homepage to find the telephone number so I could call and ruin somebody's day the way the wee electronic hamster had ruined mine, when suddenly:
"Rrrrrrring!!!!!" on my computer!
"whassat???"
It took about ten seconds for it to register with me. Someone was using an online chat system to contact me! Even better - someone from the hotel!!
It was my new friend Claire (hi Claire). She had been watching me check out her hotels website, disappear off to the booking system, then come back and go straight for the "contact us" page. I'll let Claire tell you the rest:
"Well, I reckon people who look at the contact us page probably want to talk, so this system gives us the chance to do just that. I knew you hadn't made a booking because I couldn't see one come up in the notifications screen, so I wanted to find out why. Can I help you with a booking now?"
She helped me with my booking - over-ruled the reservations system and got me three nights. I like Claire.
Claire is one of a new and comparatively small band of reservations agents who are allowed to embrace the opportunities the internet offers. She is using it to make (and by her own admission, occasionally rescue) sales.
"Some customers hate this!", she told me, "They think I've managed to get inside their own computer!"
Others love it Claire. Keep making the effort.
One other thing Claire is doing, is adding new, repeat and potential customers to her Skype contacts list - which she uses to make it easy for people to find out about her latest offers and make bookings.
Marvellous.
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