Convert Summer Holiday Sales with Live Chat Integration

It’s cold and miserable in the UK and frankly I’m sure everyone has spent time thinking of places they can escape to.

According to ABTA “A third of summer holidays are booked in January and February”. 1 This is due to great deals available on holiday packages, destinations and exchange rates.

Regardless of the money just spent on Christmas and political events around the world including Brexit affecting the Pound’s value, this year is looking formidable as ever.

ABTA reported that “early bookings for overseas holidays appear strong for 2017, with industry figures showing booking s for next summer tracking 11% above last year.”2

Increase Productivity with Live Chat Integration

A quiet period after an increase in enquiries is often well- received as it can be a good time to reflect on the busier times. As two-thirds of summer holidays have yet to be booked, plans can be made for the upcoming peak.

Part of this planning should include live chat integration as your representatives can instantly help potential holiday goers in the middle of their travel decisions.

Live chat can help during busier periods by enabling your staff to answer multiple enquiries simultaneously. As live chat is a text based communication tool, your representative can optimise their time on each query, by answering one visitor whilst others are typing.

The Click4Assistance solution can help travel agents to convert more sales and not just for the summer months. Online visitors prefer communicating via live chat software over telephone and email, due to it instant nature.

Live chat can help visitors get their answers at a convenient time (they may have strict lunch time hours) and allows them the privacy of not being overheard, as they may not want colleagues to know their budget for a holiday.

When there are special deals available, the live chat proactive tool can invite visitors to chat to discuss the package options, or a promotional image can be presented which can direct the visitor to a webpage, this speeds up assisting the visitor as they can ask questions or have the information right in front of them.

Online Booking Needs to Be Easy

ABTA stated “92% of holiday goers in 2016 used a PC / laptop for booking a holiday online”.3 Due to the mobile experience being more difficult to book holidays, customers prefer to use a PC or laptop.

If customers are experiencing difficulty booking holidays through their mobile device, support should be available instantly. Click4Assistance live chat windows are fully responsive enabling them to fit any device. By offering a seamless experience and having live chat readily available, visitors can be served quicker, increasing their satisfaction levels so they are more likely to convert at that stage.

It can be confusing for holiday goers to find out about prices per person per night, airport taxes and other extra’s that may be added. Live chat enables the visitor to understand what charge they may incur and tailor the package for their ideal holiday.

Your chat representatives can use a range of tools within Click4Assitance to help answer enquiries:

The Predefined Replies tool enables a library of agreed answers to be stored within the solution. Your operators can access this area during a live chat, selecting which answer fits the questions and editing it before sending to ensure the visitor is responded to accurately. The replies can also be accesses using keyboard shortcuts.

An operator can see a replica page of the URL the visitor is viewing when they visit your website. Co-browse can help the operator know which holidays and destinations the consumer is looking at enabling them to make informed suggestions.

Whilst making suggestions, the operator can push through pages for the visitor to view and consider with the Auto-Navigate feature. The pages will open a new browser window therefore not interfering with the visitor’s current window selection and browsing experience.

Live chat is very beneficial to travel agents to get a competitive edge online. Visitors will be looking for help to book their summer holidays and your organisation can get ahead by implementing live chat during the quieter periods.

For more information on how integrating live chat software can help convert summer holiday sales, call 01268 524 628 or email theteam@click4assistance.co.uk.

 

---

1 ABTA (2015) Early bookings boom as a third of summer holidays sell according to ABTA

2 ABTA (2016) A positive outlook for the travel industry in 2017 is tempered by caution and uncertainty

3 ABTA (2016) The PC holds steady as preferred device for booking holidays online

 

Author: Gemma Baker

Gemma is the Marketing Executive for UK live chat software provider, Click4Assistance, with a range of digital knowledge within PPC advertising, SEO practices, email campaigns and social media.