How chatbots can augment your concierge

Concierges can be incredibly valuable assets for hotels and travel-related businesses alike. They make customers feel cared-for and provide useful information that makes their trip easier, and they can also function as additional revenue streams by earning commissions on what they recommend. There is only one problem: they can’t be everywhere at the same time and, in most cases, can only assist one customer at a time.

Until recently this problem was fairly hard to solve because travelers, especially international ones, did not have a way to communicate with their hotel while on the move. Today, thanks to ever-present Wi-Fi and cheaper roaming the problem is a lot simpler to solve, if a company is smart enough.

Expanding your reach

The key to unlocking that sweet customer satisfaction and additional revenue lies in making the services of a concierge scalable and easy to access. To tackle the problem we’ll start with the second part first.

Studies commissioned by the likes of Facebook and Google show us that today’s consumers are completely addicted to their mobile phones, and are even more addicted to messaging apps. WhatsApp alone is opened, on average, 23 times a day by every user, and is the most downloaded in many markets.

The frequency of use and widespread presence on people’s phones make messaging apps an ideal tool to make a service available to a large number of users. Additionally, these apps contribute significantly to reduce friction in the communication process, making your service more likely to be used.

Multiplying your concierge

Scalability can seem a bit more complex to achieve but really boils down to a simple concept: automate repetitive tasks and escalate to human beings only when necessary. In our case, the problem can be solved by using a custom-built chatbot that will have access to both a database of internal knowledge and the internet.

A chatbot designed in this way, and perhaps combined with AI, will be able to understand questions and use its knowledge database to answer questions. In some cases, it may also use pre-vetted online sources to provide information on things like weather forecasts, travel directions or timetables, or even local history and attractions.

The human agents’ precious time will only be needed in a few cases where the system is not able to find the information. In these cases, the bot will be able to make a seamless transition allowing the agent to join the same chat where the conversation was already taking place.

The success of this solution will, of course, depend on the quality of the chatbot’s design and on how well it can adapt to the company’s unique situation and local conditions. To help you find the best option for your company we have put together a great team of experts. You can reach out to them using the contact link below.