Skimpflation toll: Consumers cutting ties due to poor customer service
Fed up with brands reducing customer service to cut costs, consumers are revolting – see the infographic.
Travel has always been my favorite escape. It transports me, literally, into a different time and place. Like art, books, and film for many people, travel helps me tap into a version of myself that’s inaccessible under normal circumstances.
The anticipation of an upcoming trip is electric, even tantalizing. So what happens when everything goes sideways? What happens if the travel customer experience is the stuff of nightmares rather than dreams?
Unfortunately, this has become the new normal in the travel and hospitality industry since COVID-related travel restrictions were lifted.
Supply-demand challenge: Travel customer experience
The hospitality industry was hit the hardest by the pandemic, tallying more job losses than any other industry. The problem is that the industry hasn’t bounced back with more than 1 million jobs still lost, according to the US Travel Association.
Hospitality has a higher “jobs quit rate” than other industries – 5.3%, compared to 2.7% for the overall economy. Combined with so many job openings outside the industry, that makes it doubly hard to hire enough workers.
Set those losses and challenges against millions of travelers anxious for a change of scenery who are planning to go all-out with family reunions, milestone celebrations, and bucket-list trips, and it adds up to a lot of frustration and disappointment.
While the industry scrambles to fill jobs, travel spending continues to climb with airline ticket sales in October up more than 17% in from a year ago and lodging sales jumping nearly 37%, according to the Mastercard Spending Pulse.
Travel CX takes a hit
Nearly all aspects of travel customer experience have declined since people are venturing out again. Hotel guests are encountering dirty rooms, airline travelers are frustrated by soaring prices and scant services, while getting a car rental has become an expensive lottery game.
According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index Travel Study 2021-2022, scores fell across the board:
- Airline customer satisfaction fell 1.3%
- Hotel customer satisfaction dropped 2.7%
- Car rental satisfaction fell 1.3%
The J.D. Power 2022 North American Airline Satisfaction Study found that overall airline passenger satisfaction declined more than 20 points on an 1,000-point scale from a year ago. Passengers were unhappy with ticket costs, flight crews and aircrafts.
A separate J.D. Power study of North American hotel guest satisfaction showed a drop of 8 points from 2021, driven by displeasure with hotel costs, fees, and guest rooms.
Hotel customer experience: Service cuts make for VERY unhappy customers
Travel has returned, but hotel customer experience hasn't gotten the memo. From the lack of daily housekeeping to cold showers, service cuts will have a big impact on bottom lines.
Hotel guests and airline passengers vent
During the pandemic, travelers may have been happy to forego daily room cleanings or schedule time in advance to use a hotel gym. But now they’re less forgiving and expect a return to full access to amenities, and don’t hesitate to share their frustration on social media like Twitter and TikTok.
3 ways to improve travel customer experience
The damage of a bad experience, or, even worse – repeated bad experiences – will test your customer’s loyalty and open up an opportunity for your competition to sweep in.
Even though the bad trips tend to make for the best stories later, that’s not what anyone aspires to when planning their much-anticipated escape. And that’s never the experience any hospitality brand wants to be known for.
While some circumstances are completely out of our control, there are ways to manage a customer’s experience so a bad trip doesn’t become the worst trip.- Know your traveler. We exist in a coded and cataloged world. Leverage customer data like frequency of travel, type of travel, and any preferences available with the digital tools you have. Use every communication channel: apps, website, social media accounts and SMS.
- Communicate proactively. No matter how much research a traveler has done in advance, chances are that you have essential information that can help them. Be clear, honest, and concise. And share information as soon as possible. Even when the news isn’t ideal, it’s better to have it than not, and will give your customer a chance to make alternate plans.
- Tailor solutions. It’s not enough to acknowledge a problem. Address the issue with personalized offers; come prepared with solutions specific to the situation and the affected person. Did the inflight WiFi fail? Offer a drink on the house and an access code for WiFi on an upcoming flight. It’s not perfect, but it’s something.
As 47% of Americans prepare to travel this holiday season, there are countless ways a trip can, and likely will, go wrong. Keep in mind, a bad trip can be saved.
Between missed connections, lost luggage, confusing public transit, and language barriers, hospitality brands have an opportunity to leverage their data and make a lasting connection with their customers.
With the right strategy and solutions, a bad trip can become a good – even valuable – experience for a customer.