Travel Agencies Love SMS Messaging
According to Sally Black, founder of Vacationkids.com travel agency, “When you book with a travel agent, they are with you every step of the way. We are your personal advocate”. That quote was from an article on the Huffington Post website describing what a travel agent actually does and why.
It’s that personal service she mentions that sets travel agents apart from popular online booking websites. While there are many ways to provide that level of service, for today’s travellers SMS messaging is likely the most convenient. It’s quick, yet non-intrusive so the traveller can get their information when they need it.
For travel agencies, SMS messaging allows you to connect with travellers on a one-to-one, or one-to-many basis, yet still be personal. How can that be? People guard their mobile numbers and only share them with the people or businesses they really want to hear from. It’s their personal number after all, and they won’t hand it out to just anyone.
So much more than marketing
When you think about SMS messaging for your travel agency, you might assume it’s only good for marketing. It’s certainly great for that, but there are other ways to use it that pair perfectly with the type of services you provide.
Live chat support
SMS provides instant, two-way messaging between your travel agents and your clients. If a client needs to make a quick change to a reservation, or has a simple question, a short SMS chat may be the most efficient way to help. By using SMS messaging, your client doesn’t need a computer and Internet access to contact an agent online. There will be times when a phone call is still warranted, but by using SMS when you can, you’ll save money on phone charges from clients abroad too.
One example of how SMS live chat can help comes from a company called AnMarc Travel Technology. They’re a US company that initially focused on providing travel solutions for military members and their families. Andrew Appleton, CEO, said “By providing access to a live agent via mobile text, AnMarc can increase loyalty and forge long-lasting relationships with our customers.”
There’s something about knowing an agent is just a text message away that builds trust in a client. In a world filled with automated answering systems, voicemail trees, and computer voices, sending or receiving a text is just easier (even if you do have live people answering the phones many people have grown to expect otherwise when contacting businesses). If you make someone’s life easier, you’ll probably have a customer for life!
Status updates
The devil is in the details right? Well, let’s hope it’s an angel when it comes to travel, but it’s still there. And sometimes those details change. You may already send those changes to customers via email or post, perhaps even a personal call. In many cases though, a text message might be better.
That’s because not all email gets read (even if it gets delivered properly and doesn’t end up in the spam folder). And post is just too slow for last minute changes or for updates while customers are already travelling. Phone calls out of country can be expensive (for you and the client) and also intrusive.
So when you need to send a status update regarding flight details, hotel changes, weather warnings or anything else, a short SMS message gets the job done. The client will likely read the message soon after it’s received so they’ll have plenty of notice. This could be critical information these days when world events could result in closed borders, or locations they should avoid at all cost. There’s no quicker way to deliver such messages than via SMS.
"Long-lasting relationships"
As the CEO of AnMarc said, SMS is one tool you can use to develop long-lasting relationships. Beyond SMS live chat mentioned above, here are some other ways to use SMS messaging to foster warm fuzzies in your clients.
- Just before they leave, send them a message wishing them a happy and safe journey. This could be a quick little “Have a safe and happy trip!” or something more thought out like a meaningful quote. If you search online for safe journey quotes or SMS messages you’ll find a huge collection of them. Granted, most of them are written from the perspective of a loved one, but you’ll certainly find some inspiration you can use to craft some for your customers. A short, positive message before a customer leaves could help them start their trip in a great way, and remind them that you’re there looking out for them.
- If you know of a special deal or opportunity that pops up while your customer is travelling, send them a short message about it. It may change their itinerary, but if it is something they really wanted (but for some reason wasn’t available at the time of booking) they’ll be happy to make the change and grateful to you for thinking of them. Obviously these messages need to be relevant to a particular customer’s wants and preferences. But you have all that information right? You’re their travel agent!
- And finally, let them know how happy you are they’ve returned from their trip. You can ask them how it went and let them know you’re there to help them if they have complaints or issues. This can also be a good time to ask them for referrals, or if they plan on travelling again soon. You can give them an option to reply with a specific time frame they want you to contact them again regarding another trip. Knowing what they want will help you stay on their good side. If you send them too many messages about another trip before they’re ready, your helpful messages might feel more like spam.
There’s so many ways travel agencies can use SMS messaging. It’s a perfect tool for fast communication that still feels personal in a technology filled world.
Related Articles
3 Examples of Using SMS Messaging for Hotel Customer Satisfaction Surveys
Even great hotels sometimes have a mix up or some sort of problem that can affect a guest. And with social media and hotel review sites, chances are a disgruntled guest isn’t going to keep their complaints to themselves. Here are three examples of how to use SMS messaging to gauge customer satisfaction.
SMS Marketing for Travel Agents – the Key to a Sold Out Summer Season
How SMS Marketing can help guarantee a sold out summer season for independent travel agents and tour operators. In this article we explore how small and medium-sized independent companies in the travel and tourism sector can take advantage of the opportunities offered by SMS marketing to ensure a sold out summer season.
How Campsites Can Use SMS Messaging to Get New Business
The campervan and caravan industry grew 16% this past year. Campsite and holiday park owners can connect with the thousands of new travellers using SMS messaging. After all, 76% of travellers prefer to take their mobile on holiday rather than a friend.
5 Ways Guest Houses Can Benefit from SMS Marketing
How Travel Agents Can Compete with Online Booking Sites by Using SMS Messaging
The lure of quick, easy and cheap travel arrangements online has revolutionised the way people find and book travel. Travel agents offer so much more than search, click and book, but still find themselves facing competition from online booking. But none of the major online booking sites can offer the personalised service an agent does.
Travel Agencies Love SMS Messaging
For travel agencies, SMS messaging allows you to connect with travellers on a one-to-one, or one-to-many basis, yet still be personal. How can that be? People guard their mobile numbers and only share them with the people or businesses they really want to hear from. It's their personal number after all, and they won't hand it out to just anyone.
SMS Marketing Ideas for Campsite and Touring Park Operators
Right now it is peak season for camping and caravan sites; it's the middle of summer and the school holidays have begun. Even the great British weather has been relatively kind this year so far. With what is the busiest time of the year for camping and caravanning parks, marketing strategies are often not priority, especially for the many small owner run businesses within the industry and those who are reliant on returning customers. SMS text message marketing, however, can benefit campsite and touring park operators by offering a simple, cost effective and time efficient way to reach both existing and new customers to promote your business by direct contact to their mobile phone. Read on for eight proven text message marketing and promotional ideas to help fill those final pitches.
5 Ways the Travel Industry can Make Use of SMS Marketing
In order to appeal to new customers and interact with existing ones, businesses are always looking for new marketing methods. Whilst many companies are using traditional and online marketing techniques, these aren’t always effective. Email filtering, for example, means that many recipients may not even be aware that they’ve received contact from your company. As many email hosts provide in-built spam filters, it’s easy for email marketing content to be overlooked or ignored completely. SMS marketing, however, overcomes many of the obstacles associated with online and email marketing. Whilst potential customers may not see your company emails, SMS messages aren’t filtered in the same way. The delivery rate is, therefore, far higher for SMS messages in comparison to marketing emails.
Can Travel Agents Use SMS Messaging to Stay in Business?
“European travel agents don’t like it”. That’s a statement made by one of the gentleman at my table during the mCommerce Summit earlier this month. He is from Cruise America, a successful RV (camper) vacation rental company based in Arizona, but with 123 locations around the US. We were talking about his company and their online and mobile reservation options.
