An airline’s customer experience can be greatly influenced by the quality of communication between the airline and its passengers before, during, and after any trips are made. Especially in the way that changes, delays and issues are handled. Travel is generally a pleasure, but many people find air travel a stressful experience, and because of that, timely, accurate, and personalized communication can significantly reduce stress. Utilizing multi-channel communication strategies allows airlines to provide their passengers with additional value and convenience throughout their journey.
Let's look at some examples of how an airline can effectively use multi-channel communication to improve the passenger experience.
The Pre-Booking Stage
Many airlines are starting to use multiple channels to send out targeted campaigns that reach carefully selected groups of potential customers. These campaigns often include special offers, discounts, and add-ons such as car hire, hotel bookings, destination advice, and more.
Chatbots can also be used during this stage to quickly answer customer queries and respond to their needs in real time.
This allows airlines to deliver a consistent customer experience and increase customer engagement at the pre-booking stage while also significantly reducing the cost and time associated with customer service.
The Pre-Travel & Travel Stage
At the pre-travel and travel stage, airlines can send flight reminders with useful information such as packing tips, airport maps, dining offers, or shopping discount vouchers. Using channels such as SMS and WhatsApp means that passengers are likely to have access to pertinent information during the immediate run-up to their trip, and during their time at the airport. In the unfortunate event of a delay or any travel disruption, using these channels to keep the passenger informed and updated with the next steps, or even providing food and drink vouchers, can ease the frustration of any such issues and can offer a route to solve problems. Airlines can also use chatbots to create automated responses to frequently asked questions. This will ensure that passengers always have access to accurate information when they need it most and also reduce the strain on customer service agents.
The Post-Travel Stage
The post-travel stage is an excellent opportunity for airlines to follow up on any known issues, such as delays or lost luggage. They can reach out to passengers who have had an issue and check that any situations have been resolved, and offer further assistance if not. It’s also an excellent chance for airlines to get feedback from passengers about their overall experience and use it to improve products or services. Airlines can also send offers for future bookings through WhatsApp or the customer's preferred channels to encourage passengers to come back next time.
Repeat bookings are essential to any airline’s success and multi-channel communication strategies can be used to reach potential customers at the right time to ensure a more positive experience.
Chatbot builders can also be set up to send personalized messages with flight deals or special offers related to a passenger’s past trips or search history. This will give passengers an incentive to book tickets with the airline in the future.
Conclusion
Air travel can be a stressful experience, and things can, unfortunately, go wrong at any stage of the journey. Good communication is essential to ensure that passengers have access to the right information at the right time and that they are kept informed in case of any delays or other issues. With multichannel communication strategies, airlines can ensure that their customers are happy and well taken care of throughout their journey.
By using chatbots and other automated tools, airlines can provide high-quality customer service quickly and efficiently, even on a large scale. This will help reduce passengers' anxiety before they board and create a positive experience for all involved.
