This is how we improved CX for an online travel app

Our client is an established OTA (Online Travel Agency/Travel App) in India. They wanted Numr Research to formulate a plan to obtain Customer Feedback across all touch points in the Tour Packages they offered. Therefore, Numr came up with a comprehensive Reactive Travel Management Plan. Traditionally, Travel Apps only evaluate the ticket booking experience via an Net Promoter Score® survey. However, for tour packages, the booking experience does not drive re-bookings. Instead, the delivery of the entire package is what matters the most.

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Challenges

Mainly, there were three major challenges.

First, in this instance, the website post-booking Net Promoter Score® survey was insufficient. Furthermore, the standard survey at the end of the tour that our client and many Travel Apps conduct was also inadequate. It only provided a vague, overall experience information without any tactical data. Additionally, it did not accurately identify events or issues that had the most impact on re-bookings.

Second, Numr Research had to figure out a method to measure specific events happening across different kind of trips.

In short, Numr Research had to conduct feedback at all touch points/ factors that influence re-bookings, like

1. Pick up/ drop off

2. Hotel Quality

3. Itinerary

4. Tour Guide, and more

Lastly, the third challenge was when to conduct the survey. If a thorough survey is conducted at the end of a tour on the travel app, it’ll be extremely long. This might lead to survey fatigue. Moreover, people might not be able to recall the details.

Therefore, Numr Research had to find a way to obtain feedback in real time. However, if the customers are abroad, how will they provide feedback?

Solution

The first step was to empower the frontline. We advised our client to involve the Tour Managers in soliciting feedback, without the fear of penalisation.

Therefore, the tour managers were entrusted with tablets pre-loaded with surveys. These surveys were designed by Numr Research for the travel app to be detailed yet generic enough to pass for multiple sightseeing events.

To make the feedback instantaneous, it was administered post every event in the tour bus itself.

Consequently, our client began generating a huge amount of real time, actionable data. At this point, Numr Research was analysing and feeding this data back to the Tour Managers. In case of a problem, Numr raised alarms and triggered back to the Tour Managers. This led to an immediate and effective close looping of issues by the Tour Managers themselves.

Subsequently, this management plan transformed into a Reactive Process since it promptly identified and solved the problems.

Result

This comprehensive feedback system drove up customer delight by making customers feel like they were being heard. Consequently, it massively drove up the recommendation score as well.

The Net Promoter Score® increased from 25% to 46%

With Numr Research’s Reactive Travel Management Plan, our client was able to better customise the tours they offered.

*Net promoter Score® and NPS® are registered trademarks of Bain & Company, Satmetrix and Fred Reichheld