Chatbots are useful and resourceful digital tools. The perfect sidekicks for a hotel. But why are they not been used? Here we give you the top 6 excuses why hoteliers don’t use chatbots.
Do hotels need chatbots?
In our industry is imperative to be hospitable in every touchpoint of the customer journey. Consumers want a personal touch and fast replies to their inquiries. And they do it around the clock. The need for instant information is a commodity that businesses must not neglect.
The global pandemic has severed this mentality. Traveler’s are concerned about health and hygiene constantly. Hence, hoteliers must cater the need for updated and immediate information related to COVID. Additionally, social distancing is the “new normal” and accommodation businesses must aim to avoid guests lining up at the reception. A digital agent definitely helps with this issues.
Lastly, what hoteliers must understand is that their guest may need them event when they are not there. Chatbots provide a 24/7 customer care and make that not a single customer goes unnoticed.
Chatbots are useful and resourceful digital tools. The perfect sidekicks for a hotel. But why are they not been used? Here we give you the top 6 excuses.
1. We don't have time.
Many hoteliers get intimidated with the idea of implementing a chatbot. Some hotels may be already understaffed and the prospect of bringing a time consuming project into the table is not an encouraging proposal.
However, implementing our chatbot can be done in as little as 1 hour. At Hotelway, we collect the information ourselves, contrast it in a 45 minutes meeting with your team, provide you with the bot and your hotel is good to go! And if you get the chat in Caas model (Chat as a Service), then you do not need any time or resources. We will build and operate the chat completely for you. All you have to do, is “download and install” (meaning copy-paste small piece of code on your webpage) the software. Done!
If anything, chatbots save time and resources to hotels!
2. Chatbots don't fit our business model.
Well, they better be soon. Chatbots are already in use across many industries, like healthcare or education. Hence, consumers are getting used to them, to their fast value delivery and to the way they work. In fact, 2/3 of consumers don’t realize whether they are using chatbots or not.
Soon enough, guests will demand this service from the hospitality industry as well. And if a hotel does not have chatbots in use, it will affect poorly to the perception of its brand.
3. We can't afford new investments
Fair enough. Our chatbot service is on a monthly fee, which means that no long term investments are needed to implement it.
All hoteliers in the world face a conundrum. Acquiring new tools to run their operations is a difficult decision to make under the volatile circumstances related to COVID-19. However, it is not about whether or not to invest in digital solutions but when.
The transition into digitalization is a megatrend that is already happening since some years ago. Companies across many industries had already implemented many technological tools in their ecosystems. However, the global pandemic has put at “check” many firms in the lodging and hospitality industry.
At Hotelway, we understand hotel manager’s concerns about digital investments. That is why we developed a business model that aims to increase hotel’s liquidity. We only charge for our service once it proves to make revenue to your hotel. Our mission is to bring stability to this uncertain times by improving margins. How? A good hospitality chatbot saves operational expenses by 30%, increases revenue and boost sales through direct bookings.
4. We want our guests to talk to a human.
And why shouldn’t you? Human agents are a must in every organization. However, put your receptionists to do what really matters and direct those recurring inquiries to a digital chatbot.
Firstly, your human customer care should not have to invest time replying questions such as “What time is the Check-In?” or “Are pets allowed?” over and over again. That will not bring any value to your clients (or to your employees for that matter).
It is understandable if hotels are still reluctant to integrate this innovative technology. But if all your guests chat with your human agent, he/she better give an answer in within a minute because otherwise the customer will build frustration. And let’s be honest, how realistic is that? Having a hospitality chatbot handling interactions is better than not giving an answer at all.
Hotelway’s chatbot carries on with your customer care approach. When setting it up, we can program it to be polite, formal, casual or humorous. Furthermore, they really give that personal touch to every single guest with tailor made offers and interactions at the right time. And did we mention that chatbots are multilingual?
5. The information is dispersed
We could not agree more. Hotel information is scattered across different channels, departments or event websites. It is hard to build consistency when everything your customer needs is not at one place.
A hospitality chatbot will help you gather all the dispersed information and centralize it in one single channel. This will benefit greatly your guests, as they won’t have to deal with multiple platforms to find what they are looking for.
6. It does not integrate in our systems.
Many hotel managers fear that this channel does not integrate well with other platforms their firm is already using. They don’t want to have to choose which one is more relevant for their brand. And they won’t.
Your emails do not integrate either. This is just another channel to communicate, so it does not have to be integrated into everything. However, we do have few integrations ready (over 100 actually) and can develop more if needed.
Our hospitality chatbot integrates perfectly with any other channel already in use, such as FB Messenger or MailChimp. Doing so, will bring more value to your guests and help you communicate with them in an efficient and profitable way.
We also have built the integration to Amadeus GDS too, to get your pricing and availability information for those guests wanting to book a room.
If you like this article, feel free to subscribe for regular content. Our focus is on making the hospitality industry better one guest at a time.
People behind digital solutions
We are Hotelway, an agile team of industry professionals with years of experience in hospitality, technology, and customer care. Our company specializes in AI based chatbots, making hotel guest communication simple, meaningful, and profitable.
Contact us by the channel that suits you most. We are always willing to help.