Mr. Federman

Guest Service / Customer Experience Mgmt

Customer Experience is the Key to Customer Mindshare: Tips for Tracking Online Researchers

By John Federman, CEO, eStara

Life takes planning and much of that planning revolves around the time that we are at our happiest and most care-free - vacation.

Because searching for the perfect vacation is not an every day affair, hotels are engaged in a continuous battle to retain customer mindshare both when they are and - perhaps most importantly - when they are not actively seeking to travel. While price is an important facet to the hotelier's marketing effectiveness, it is not one that companies can really hang their hat on. On the Internet, competitors are only a click away and, according to a recent Forrester Research survey, many internet retailers are addressing this challenge by making customer service a priority by investing in live customer service solutions (33 percent) and streamlining their guest checkout process (53 percent) within the next year.

Isn't it interesting that despite how complex the customer service industry becomes, live customer service still remains a major component to any multi-channel strategy? Live customer service remains the best channel to not only close sales but also present customer service representatives with up- and cross-sell opportunities. While I have documented the benefits of traditional click to call and chat solutions in this space, I have not discussed the other unique features leading companies are using to provide their customers with a memorable customer experience or to help them compete for that all-important mindshare.

More than just a proxy for a static phone number, click to call and chat allows hotel operators to leverage online customer data to engage customers based on their needs. These proactive deployments show click to call or buttons only when certain criteria have been met such as the amount of time a customer has been idle on a page, or allow agents to control when and where they decide to offer the click to call invitation and can also offer co-browsing options to help customer service agents lead customers to the answers to their inquiries.

The most important factor to weigh into which deployment option you choose is how your customers interact with your Web site. Some hotels may want to quickly bridge the customer/call center divide because it has great faith in its call center. Many larger institutions, however, do not want to connect with every Web site browser so they may find greater value in a rules-based deployment that links buyers via the phone only if it is a high-value customer, or a frequent guest, and offer lower-tier contact options such as chat, email and FAQs to those it does not deem to be as crucial to its online success.

In addition to its flexibility, click to call and chat solutions also provide secondary tools such as "Save and Send" that provide your company with the means to make your brand more memorable, prolong the effectiveness of online listings and promote customer referrals.

Timing is of the essence when booking a hotel room and online browsers are often confronted with their worst nightmare: their dream hotel package at the wrong time.

Whether it is a lack of funds or vacation time, these customers' only recourse used to be to stare longingly at the screen and hope the offer was still around when they were in a better situation to make a reservation. Thankfully, those days are behind us because many hotels equip reservation listings with save and send tools that allow customers to store or forward information in their preferred format - on the desktop, the Web or even a mobile device.

While consumers may not be ready to buy, they can save product information to help easily retrieve the information when they are in a better position to make a reservation. Save and send tools extend the shelf life by encouraging consumers to save data from their preferred hoteliers thus increasing the effectiveness of the reservation listing. Visitors can return to the information at their leisure while hospitality companies reap valuable metrics for their advertising effectiveness.

Like click to call and chat solutions, save and send is also a flexible tool. For instance, when removed from the reservation listing and placed on a checkout page, save and send provides a powerful referral tool to customers about to make a purchase. Maybe a vacationing couple wants to pass along a discount or travel package to their friends so they can holiday together? Online buyers can use a variety of methods to reach out to their family and friends including SMS, Skype, email or fax leading you to potentially net two reservations using just one listing and transferable data.

Save and send solutions also provide an ancillary customer referral function by enabling would-be travelers send their friends and family coupons from their favorite travel companies. These coupons, transmitted through either email or SMS, can be printed out or sent to a mobile phone to be redeemed in-store. As the online and offline marketing channels merge, many companies are looking for online tools that drive offline sales and this is yet another arrow in companies' quiver to help them do just that.

In the end, customer experience will be the ultimate factor in a customer's mind that determines where they will make a purchase. While price may be a low-level differentiator, smart companies will work to ensure they provide top-notch customer service. Personal service is the easiest way to achieve these goals and help drive customer loyalty, but also to shoppers to interact with their brand and become evangelists through simple, yet innovative, referral programs.

John Federman is CEO of eStara. eStara’s interaction tools increase marketing and sales conversion rates for large enterprises including Starwood, Hilton, Red Lion, and Club Med. Other clients include Verizon, Amazon.com and Continental Airlines. He is responsible for strategic direction, growth and corporate vision. Mr. Federman has 20 plus years of experience with information technology and media companies. Prior to eStara, Mr. Federman was co-founder, president and CEO of Dotomi, an Internet advertising company. Mr. Federman is a graduate of UMass and holds a BA in Business and Art. Mr. Federman can be contacted at 703-842-4436 or John.federman@estara.com Extended Bio...

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