Top Customer Service Issues and CustomerServ’s Call Center Expertise in the Travel Reservations Industry

CustomerServ’s Travel and Reservations Call Center Vendors Deliver Personalized, High-Touch Experiences

Modern travelers have a wide variety of options for researching flights, accommodations and car rentals, but whether they begin the process on a website, mobile app, via a chatbot or digital assistant, they expect their preferences and information to smoothly and seamlessly transfer to the final booking stage, often with a live agent.

Integrating customers’ data across multiple touchpoints and channels continues to be a top challenge but it is one that has become a priority within the travel industry. Hotels, airlines and online travel agencies (OTAs) are enhancing their booking platforms to cater to the wants and needs of travelers by delivering high-tech efficiency and high-touch personal interactions.

As more consumers turn to OTAs for the convenience of one-stop shopping, travel and hospitality companies are likewise seeking to build customer loyalty through end-to-end bookings that add tours, activities and restaurant reservations to the travel + accommodations formula.

As travelers’ itineraries become more robust, leading-edge brands are integrating AI technology and analytics to deliver personalized pricing and recommendations for destinations, accommodations and activities based on an individual’s preferences and previous travel history.

While technology is key to optimizing the personalization process, the human touch is vital for closing the deal, especially when it comes to bespoke experiences. Today’s vacation travelers in particular prefer unique packages curated by a skilled professional who understands their needs, is knowledgeable about local venues and who can provide concierge-type services. More brands are ensuring that live customer service agents are on hand to deliver this essential one-to-one human connection.

Customer Service Challenges for Travel Reservations Call Centers

In the travel industry, the booking process is one of the most critical touchpoints in the consumers’ experience, and it often makes or breaks the trip for travelers. The reservations call center agent is typically the one human connection that consumers can turn to when travel plans don’t go as predicted. Top customer service challenges for travel industry reservations operations include:

• Providing round-the-clock access to multiskilled agents who can handle a wide range of issues, from confirming itinerary details, changing flight, car rental or hotel reservations, upselling or cross-selling comprehensive travel packages to complex problem-solving.
• Hiring compassionate, empathetic agents who can quickly resolve issues to get travelers to their destinations.
• Providing extensive sales and service training so that agents can identify relevant upselling and cross-selling opportunities and deliver personalized recommendations that convert into bookings.
• Ability to offer multilingual support to travelers.
• Capability to quickly ramp-up or down call center staffing to match seasonal volume.

CustomerServ’s Call Center Vendors Provide Best-in-Class Reservations Sales and Support

CustomerServ’s travel and reservations call center vendors provide best-in-class sales and support to:

• Global hotel chains
• Boutique hotel chains
• Bed and breakfast groups
• Hospitality groups
• Global and regional airlines
• Travel aggregators
• VR – vacation rentals
• Timeshare rentals
• Peer-to-peer car sharing
• Car rental

CustomerServ’s travel and reservations call center vendors provide the following services:

• Inbound reservations sales and bookings
• Inbound customer service
• Outbound services
• Membership and loyalty programs
• Frequent flyer/traveler/renter programs
• Corporate travel desk
• Seasonal and steady state staffing
• Live chat
• Email support
• SMS support
• Mobile app support
• Social media support
• Multi-lingual in over 50 languages
• US Based, near-shore and off-shore support
• PCI-compliant call centers
• Site based and work-at-home agents