Travel industry failing to embrace multi-channel selling

September 30, 2008 | Online Travel

According to a new study, very few airlines and online travel companies are integrating their online and offline channels effectively to provide a consistent level of customer service across channels.

Foviance, a UK contact centre consultancy, today announce the results of a study into multi-channel selling that highlights how the travel industry is losing revenues through poor multi-channel integration.

The study shows that very few travel organisations, including airlines and online travel companies, are integrating their online and offline channels effectively to provide a consistent level of customer service across channels. It reveals that travel companies are focussing on technical challenges rather than customers� interactions with their brands.

The study concludes that companies who ignore how their customers want to interact and move without barriers between channels are not only missing revenue opportunities but also are in danger of losing their audience. It offers top tips for travel companies to achieve �best practice� in multi-channel experience.

Expert-review methodology was used to assess online and offline customer support received during peak times - specifically in the run-up to the summer holiday period. The researchers reviewed the customer experience through a combination of website usability analysis and contact by email and telephone, recreating a typical customer journey to book a family summer holiday. The findings were compared with a previous piece of research undertaken by Foviance and RXPerience into the multi-channel customer experience of 25 retailers.

The study shows that the level of customer service being delivered by the travel sector is at a far lower level than its peers in the retail sector. Only one travel organisation performed well both online and offline and the remainder scored well below acceptable levels in the call centre experience they provided.

Best multi-channel experience was delivered by Lastminute/Travelocity, scoring 80 per cent against the overall criteria. A primary difference was the higher degree of importance the company placed on the customer. Poorer examples of contact-centre experience came from Opodo and Ryanair/Exphotels who averaged 42 per cent. In these cases, a call centre agent could only help if the customer knew exactly what they wanted. Agents could not even search for a holiday using basic customer criteria.

Paul Blunden, CEO of Foviance, comments: �Customers don�t make allowances for different sectors and are increasingly judging the experience they receive from one organisation against their expectations from others. Within the travel sector, single channel strategies are no longer adequate and customer experience must be provided seamlessly.�

Paul Weald, managing director of RXPerience, adds: �The travel companies that scored particularly badly were those that compounded lack of integration in the website with a poor customer support experience. Better training, access to information and empowerment would help address some of these failings�.

Foviance and RXPerience have produced a white paper entitled �How the travel sector is failing to embrace multi-channel selling� detailing the research findings, including five top tips to achieve best practice. This is available on request.

The detailed research is being published at the same time as GMTV launches a campaign fronted by former Conservative minister Edwina Curry to improve customer service in the UK.

Receive a copy of the white-paper at Foviance