After-sales communication is a fundamental step in the buying process which will keep you in touch with your face to face customers for future transactions. Bear in mind that gaining a new customer can cost up to five times as much as keeping existing ones. So, don’t forget about after-sales communication for online travel agencies. Read on for some of our strategy proposals.
Create an emotional connection with your customers
One of the after-sales communication strategies for online travel agencies is creating an emotional connection with your customers. To do so, you will need to focus on several channels, for example:
- Email marketing
- Thank you cards
- Postcards or cards sent via traditional postal services and direct mail
- Social networks
- Opportunities for reviews and opinions online
Above all, your aim should be to establish a connection with your customers in the simplest way possible, to enable you to achieve a definitive after-sales interaction. Bear in mind that every message becomes an extension of your brand and you should use it to create a brand-customer link.
Create a reason for your customers to want to share and buy again
One of the main objectives of after-sales communication for online travel agencies is giving your customers a reason to come back to you. To do so, you will need more than an emotional connection. Here are a few ideas to do this:
Incentivise them. Make your clients feel valued with exclusive discounts for friends and family (5% discount for hotel stays) extra discounts for customers on your email list (10% discount on certain package holidays), and promotions that encourage your customers to revisit your online travel agency (special discounts at certain times of the year).
Promotions for sharing with friends and family. Offer customers a voucher that can be exchanged for every new client they bring to you who makes a purchase. In this way, people who have already bought from you have a reason to come back to your shop and exchange their discount voucher.
Value-added communications. Add more value to the emotional link you have with your customers with a series of added-value emails, with unique and exclusive tips to get the most out of their purchase. For example, if a customer books a week-long tour of the Dominican Republic, send an email with suggestions for activities to do whilst on holiday, routes that go off the beaten track, local food tips and general information about the destination.
Exclusive information and special events. Keep your customers up to date in advance with discounts, news of new holiday packages that can be adapted to their tastes and any other news that is relevant to your business. This is one of the best after-sales communication strategies for online travel agencies given that it helps to maintain a constant level of communication with your customers. Over time, this gives them new reasons to interact with your brand and visit your agency.
Emails – the greatest ally for after-sales communication for online travel agencies
Are you giving your customers enough reasons to stay loyal to your brand?
To make sure you are, develop an email marketing action plan which allows you to easily communicate your incentives and show your customers that you appreciate them. Email is a fantastic after-sales communication tool for online travel agencies and you should use it in the following ways:
Purchase confirmation emails. Create a post-purchase email that thanks your customers for their latest holiday bookings. Take advantage of the email to offer them an incentive for future bookings.
Review emails about products and services. Once a customer has made a booking on your online travel agency, he or she should receive an email asking for their opinion about their experience as a website user.
Cross-selling and up-selling emails. Prepare the ground for future holiday bookings. Create an email marketing campaign that tells your customers about new hotels, new flight routes or new holiday packages based on their previous purchases.
Availability reminders. If the availability for a certain tour or holiday is about to end, take advantage and send a reminder which could lead to a last-minute booking.
Planning your after-sales communication strategies for online travel agencies will help you save time and will help to make your customer management as efficient as possible. So, what are you waiting for to get started?
