When you think about sending a message to a close friend, which app do you go for? For more than 70% of smartphone users globally, WhatsApp is the first-choice messaging app. WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app among smartphone users in the present digital landscape by miles. In other words, to most mobile phone users, the first choice for communication-based on immediacy is clearly WhatsApp.
It did not take long for business executives to figure out the potential WhatsApp messaging app has for the development and growth of business ventures, especially those dealing with the tourism and allied services industry. Over the last few years, a clear progressive evolution to use WhatsApp as an essential tool for expanding the travel and tourism sector has taken place.
What works in favour of WhatsApp is its convenience and easy-to-use characteristics. No wonder those travel companies have worked hard to integrate this app into their fold. WhatsApp gives travel companies accessibility and proximity that is undeniably the best one can hope for.
On the flip side, taking the help of WhatsApp to aid in the broadening of business operations may not be viable for those enterprises which already have a strong hold over the market. For all those companies which thrive on complex logistical channels, depending on the efficacy of a mobile messaging app may not be enough.
However, the good news is that when a company starts using the ‘business version’ of Whatsapp, the whole game plan changes in one masterstroke. To make the most of this facility, a travel agency should switch from a general WhatsApp account to a more business-specific WhatsApp Business.
As is common knowledge, travel agencies are bombarded with inquiries day in and day out. Companies need to deal with these queries to the best of their capability to succeed in a competitive sector such as the travel and tourism sector. This is where customers are either retained or lost. So, having an excellent business interface becomes imperative for travel agencies to secure a partnership with new clients.
In the next section, we will discuss WhatsApp marketing for travel agencies and look at the ways through which one can take the help of WhatsApp to sharpen a travel company’s output and ensure higher customer satisfaction.
A Clear and Precise Company Profile
Once you switch to WhatsApp Business, the first task would be to create a neat and catchy company profile on the main page. Information such as the hours your company remains open, the office address, a list of services offered, and a short description of the company are must-haves on the front page. Remember that your potential clients will get an impression of your agency from this introductory page.
The more attractive, colourful, and easy-to-understand you can make this part of your WhatsApp business profile page, the higher will the chances of you getting real clients. But do not make this space information-heavy; no one would want to spend much time reading every detail you have entered on this page. Always keep it precise and to the point, highlighting the significant pointers that make your agency stand out among others. Your target will be to write about the information a customer generally enquires about at the very beginning. This would save your staff’s workload and help potential clients make better choices.
Make Sure All Your Travel Agents are Connected to Your Account
Your travel agents are like your foot soldiers. Without their active participation, your travel business will not reach its targets. So, when using WhatsApp Business Application Programme Interface (API), ensure all your travel agents have equal access. This will ensure they are armed with the resources to actively engage with your clients from any location. By enabling WhatsApp Business access to your agents, the overall response time will decrease considerably, causing you to attend to your customers’ needs and queries faster.
When your company has a well-connected interface via WhatsApp Business, the workload of your general staff members will decrease. This will help them pay attention to customer care’s nitty-gritty more attentively. By giving your travel guides and agents access to the company account, the tiniest of queries and doubts your potential clients shall have will be sorted out in the blink of an eye.
This is akin to the democratisation of the entire customer-dealing process. An excellent example of how this will work is when one agent is unaware of an input requested by a client. When the whole fleet of agents and guides is connected via WhatsApp Business API, anyone can enter the fray and help out a colleague.
WhatsApp Business Allows for Better Payment Management
For many businesses, the easier it is for the customer to pay for the services, the higher the chances of customer retention. In other words, it is more likely that someone will stick to your travel company if they see that making payments for your services is relatively simple. With WhatsApp Business, you get the perfect platform where monetary transactions can seamlessly occur.
When you are handling your clients, an active WhatsApp Business payment platform will ensure that all transactions are recorded in a trusted module. If the business stays centered within this fold, there won’t be any need for resorting to any third-party software.
WhatsApp Business Supports Real-time Alerts and Updates
In recent years, travel agencies have heavily depended on mobile-based interactions to keep in touch with clients. From the tiniest details to information about flight delays, gate changes, and ticket cancellations, they have all been tackled as a one-way, no-reply medium. This has been the norm in almost all segments of the travel and tourism industry. But change is a constant in this line of work, and this is where WhatsApp Business has significantly impacted.
Remaining in touch with your customers via mobile services has been the mainstay for quite some time. However, these tend to give birth to a response in a client. It is only natural for someone who has just received information about a change in the travel itinerary to want to know more about the same.
And when you put that person in a place where they can easily communicate with the travel company via their agents, the whole episode gets sorted out much more smoothly. With WhatsApp Business, the communication between the travel company and the client immediately transforms from a one-ended into a two-way affair.
This conversational style of exchange suits both parties; the customer is supplied with real-time updates about their scheduled movements, and the company is continuously informed about the situation on the ground.
Remain Free of Spam Messages and Requests with WhatsApp Business
Another significant aspect of bringing WhatsApp Business into your operations is that your customer base will be free of unnecessary spam promotional messages. No one likes periodic spam messages filling up their inboxes. And rest assured, hardly anyone will read the promotional message your marketing team will send your clients in their email.
In today’s fast life, personalised texts are one of the best ways to ensure your word reaches your clients. You can ask your clients for any additional services they would like to avail themselves of. Suppose one of your clients is about to embark on a trip.
By creating a communication line between yourself and your client around a day before the departure, you will increase the chances of selling ancillary services, such as seat upgrade offers, food coupons, extra baggage charges, and hotel accommodation deals. Records of all purchases will get stored in a single space when your clients respond to your messages on a common platform.
Like WhatsApp Business, you will be amazed at how building a travel company from scratch can be easy when you have Pathfndr. After reading this article on ‘WhatsApp marketing for travel agency’, visit the Pathfndr website to learn more about the AI-powered travel operating system.