Crafting a connected traveler strategy through omnichannel personalization

A dynamic is emerging between travelers and travel brands. Tech-savvy frequent travelers who expect streamlined, stress-free and flexible trips are driving travel brands hard to innovate and orchestrate a differentiated customer experience. That said, meeting the needs of these so-called connected travelers can be a heavy lift for brands. 

One of the many challenges is that powerful intermediary platforms continue to dilute the travel provider-customer relationship (and access to information). Thus, brands look to various relationship management tactics, including specialized experiences for customer segments, ad campaigns to redirect customer attention, beefed-up loyalty programs and (for airlines) New Distribution Capability (NDC) content distribution. 

Omnichannel personalization, which McKinsey describes as “Advances in technology, data, and analytics [that] will soon allow marketers to create much more personal and ‘human’ experiences across moments, channels and buying stages,” is a more expansive approach to revolutionizing the customer experience. It can play a more prominent role in a connected traveler strategy than the ad hoc schemes brands use now. 

The connected traveler concept

The profile of the modern traveler is evolving in a way that makes it both challenging and well-timed for travel brands to leverage omnichannel personalization. Uber-connected consumers use various technologies and channels to facilitate their travel, including websites, mobile devices, check-in kiosks, chatbots, email and social media. Connected travelers want efficiency, convenience, consistency and control across all channels and stages of the travel journey, from ideation and booking to experiencing and sharing. 

Omnichannel personalization in travel

In its simplest form, omnichannel personalization is a strategic approach to recognizing individual customers at scale and providing them with tailored experiences and services regardless of where the interaction occurs. In travel, it means collecting data and insights on individuals’ behaviors and preferences (where they have traveled, brands they prefer, seating, room types, cabin class, loyalty status — the list is virtually endless) and surfacing it in meaningful ways (a flight attendant slips a first-class passenger a “happy frequent flyer anniversary” note on a napkin).

According to Zolon Wilkins, global head of client success and strategy for retail, consumer, travel and logistics verticals at customer experience management firm Sutherland, a data-enriched approach to customer service is emerging. “We see the trend of enriched omnichannel personalization guiding customers through the transaction and travel journey," he said. "It’s really where the travel industry is headed.”

The retail transformation currently taking place in travel — brands upping their game as travelers demonstrate they want a better buying journey and are willing to pay for it — is likely fueling the omnichannel personalization to which Wilkins refers. They share overlapping objectives, and the cross-channel tailoring of customer experience is critical for changing how travel brands sell products and services. 

Travel retailing and personalization across social, mobile, web, email and other marketing and sales outlets point toward the same goals:

• Enhancing the customer experience 
• Increasing customer loyalty 
• Converting inquiries into bookings 
• Leveraging data 
• Improving operations 
• Maximizing revenue 

However, omnichannel personalization is a particularly potent contributor to the redesign of retail travel. As a two-way pipeline for delivering bespoke customer experiences and messaging and gathering detailed customer data, omnichannel personalization is a foundational component of the end-to-end infrastructure for modern retailing. 

Benefits of unifying the customer experience 

Delivering tailored customer experiences across channels is a brand imperative. McKinsey says 76% of consumers are more likely to purchase from brands that personalize, and 78% are more likely to make repeat purchases and refer friends and family to companies that do so. The business consultancy also reports that fast-growth companies attribute 40% more revenue to personalization than average-growth companies.

While personalization can sound very nuanced and complex, brands can automate much of the process. Creating a technology infrastructure for customizing experiences makes it easier for travel companies to enjoy the many benefits of delivering surprise and delight to customers, including increased customer loyalty, greater lifetime customer value, lower personalization costs and higher operational efficiency. 

Best practices for automated cross-channel personalization 

Whether a brand builds a system in-house, integrates with other systems across travel partners or outsources the design, implementation, management and optimization to a trusted third party, the building blocks of omnichannel personalization are the same: 

• Leverage data analytics - Personalization is only possible with data. To gather, process, protect and activate customer information — who they are, what they’ve done in the past and what they prefer — brands need a centralized database infrastructure and a workflow for collecting data points during multiple customer touchpoints.  
• Integrate online and offline - A major tenet of omnichannel communication is continuity — recognizing the customer and understanding their immediate needs — as they move across devices and channels. To realize that objective, customer service representatives must be able to see what the customer sees online and provide support via whichever channel (including mobile) or mode (voice, text or video) the customer chooses. 
  
  Sutherland facilitates seamless customer experiences online and offline through its omnichannel customer experience platform, which sits atop the brand’s customer relationship management (CRM) platform. The unified solution allows live representatives to communicate with customers via phone, chatbot, social media or email from a single dashboard.  
• Customize cross-platform communication - Omnichannel personalization also involves informed and contextual outreach, such as delivering recommendations tailored to the specific individual, channel and stage of the customer journey (suggesting the best route, flight and onboard entertainment package based on the traveler's preferences and travel objectives) via email, in-app notifications, social media and website. 
• Offer personalized deals and promotions - Understanding customers, their reason for travel (leisure or business), purchase history and location can help brands enhance their interactions with customers through relevant and timely offers and pricing strategies. Facilitated by the travel industry’s ONE Order initiative, brands can offer service bundles, such as airfare, hotel or car rental, bringing other travel partners into the fold and placing a personal touch on the whole journey. 
• Implement artificial intelligence and machine learning - The importance of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in executing a connected traveler strategy with omnichannel personalization can’t be overstated. Brands need AI to power intelligent chatbots that offer 24/7 assistance and tailored recommendations, anticipate customer needs, provide proactive solutions, and automate issue resolution triggered via a combination of technology and technology-augmented humans. 

Common pitfalls of integrated, personalized interactions 

Some industries lead travel in creating tailored customer experiences and communication across touchpoints and channels. One of the most valuable outcomes of early adoption is the identification of common pitfalls, including:

• Overgeneralization - Avoid overly broad assumptions about customer preferences and needs across regions. Collect data on individual travelers to help prevent this behavior. 
• Intrusiveness - Find the right balance between invading customers’ privacy and anticipating their needs. Comply with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) as a baseline best practice.   
• Neglect of offline channels - Train customer service representatives to deliver consistency, efficiency, convenience and control. Provide them with the tools to manage the customer experience online and offline.  
• Sacrificing brand consistency - Maintain consistent policies and procedures across channels. Develop a brand voice that customers can recognize. 
• Failure to connect data and systems - Siloed information is an omnichannel personalization killer. Centralize data and communications across all touchpoints. 
• Focusing more on technology and channels versus delivering value to the customer - Set customer satisfaction as a priority. 
• Starting with the technology versus a needs assessment - Outline existing infrastructure — people, processes and platform — first and build from there. 
• Operating in a vacuum: Get buy-in on sharing data from multiple stakeholders across the customer journey. 

Lessons from other industries 

Brands that thrive with omnichannel personalization add refinements as they build the practice. For example, in e-commerce, companies build detailed customer profiles that include buying history, product and service preferences and demographics. They store the profiles in a centralized customer database that synchronizes information across all channels and ensures that relevant insight is accessible at every customer journey stage, especially during a service disruption.

Successful brands place context around the customer information they collect. Incorporating user-generated content, such as reviews that detail the circumstances and outcomes related to a specific brand encounter or using location-based technology to understand if or when offering personalized recommendations is effective, helps them understand customer behavior at a deeper level.

Brands that excel at personalization across multiple channels constantly optimize their processes to tap into new revenue sources, increase average order value and enable access to new customer data sources. They also measure success using metrics and key performance indicators that allow them to gauge progress consistently. 

The future of customer experience in travel 

Although the expectation for tailoring customer experiences across channels will increase, delivering and maintaining a customized brand experience is challenging given the multiple providers, legacy systems and processes governing travel. To succeed, travel providers must innovate and continuously improve, including (potentially) a retooling of customer care. 

Service companies that help brands design, deploy, manage and optimize customer experiences can significantly redefine the brand-customer relationship. Travel brands seeking to evolve their customer relationships should begin by assessing their existing infrastructure and considering the needs of end users, agents and other travel partners. Connected travelers are counting on it.