SOCAP: How should travel brands use big data to improve customer experience?

The Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals (SOCAP) has outlined its views and position in an article reflecting the urgent need for the travel industry to effectively manage the hundreds of thousands of data points generated every day about travel behaviour.

Defining Big Data

When it comes to the concept of big data, the context in which people talk about this term is often very vague. Big data often means different things to different people.

SOCAP defines big data as "the efficient application of data measured in units far greater than megabytes and petabytes." Although this is a very broad concept, the meaning behind big data is very clear, which is to use the information that consumers have already generated to provide them with better, more targeted and more profitable services and products.

The travel industry has reached a level of maturity that allows for this level of big data adoption, with startups and incumbents alike seeking to apply this data and integrate it into useful, consumer-centric data streams.

However, travel brands should go beyond simply managing and leveraging the data streams they have; they also need to consider how to leverage the insights contained in other data about consumer preferences and lifestyles.

“If the intelligent web is the key to the next generation of travel, then Internet companies can benefit from the vast amounts of data they collect from cookies, login files and other sources.”

“For example, if someone posts a photo on Facebook or Instagram about their trip to Ireland, would that person be interested in Scotland? If you show a photo of someone mountain biking, would that person want to know more about local cycling destinations or cycling clubs? If you show a photo of someone in front of a car with a bike rack, would that person be more likely to use the rack and avoid having to worry about the rack on the back of the car?”

“Big data and data analytics show that the future belongs to those companies that can best shape and deliver the consumer travel experience.”

Personalization

In a series of interviews across the travel industry, the report’s authors were keen to show travel brands how to use big data to increase impact and reduce friction at all levels, both internally and across the industry.

Personalization is a key element of big data. There is a lot of information available in the industry about a specific consumer, transaction or destination, but the key is to personalize this information with granularity and accuracy.

To be effective in true personalization, large travel companies must collect a variety of data points created by consumers at different touchpoints across different segments, as the report highlights:

“Information systems may be fragmented and even highly segmented. Records of a customer may appear in reservation systems, after-sales complaint systems, customer survey systems, loyalty systems and other systems, but travel brands often have little or no ability to integrate all records of a customer and form a complete customer profile.”

Integrating data from different internal systems can help companies gain new insights.

Call centers must interact with consumer reviews on online platforms, and loyalty programs must be connected to booking history data. In addition, guests' preferences for hotels need to be combined with conversations on social media. Personalized services are like a giant fire hose. Brands must first categorize them and then arrange and combine them in useful ways so that employees can provide personalized services to consumers at all stages of the life cycle.

Michelle Mitchell, customer care operations manager at InterContinental Hotels Group, recognizes the importance of this “dispersed” information, and the group is working to integrate survey data with actual call center metrics.

“This will allow us to see more specifically whether a particular reservationist has received negative guest reviews or whether there is a possibility that, for example, the reservationist may not be in a good mood after lunch. Are guests calling more on Saturdays rather than Fridays? What time do guests call the hotel most often? What lessons can brands learn from this?”

By integrating disparate data sets, brands can realize the grand vision of big data with methods to extract actionable business intelligence.

A guest-centric experience

Guests should be at the center of any big data strategy for brands. If consumers view data collection as scary or an invasion of privacy, they will not be satisfied and will not be loyal to the hotel. However, all signs indicate that consumers are willing to accept large-scale collection of data about their behavior, provided that the products provided by the hotel are targeted and meet their needs throughout the process.

SOCAP suggests that if companies want to succeed in big data-driven consumer experiences, they need to do the following.

1. Combine the company's products and services with the needs of guests;

2. Build internal consensus (of the brand);

3. Break the data silos;

4. Create a unified and reasonable data view;

5. Enhance the role of customer care in customer experience;

6. Collect and use data responsibly.

To gain internal support, companies not only need to actively build consensus, they also need to ensure that the products they provide meet customer needs. This makes it easier for companies to train employees to proactively respond to these needs and clearly understand the value they provide.

If businesses can connect with their guests, it will be easier for them to break down data silos and create an open data and information sharing environment across the business. This will also help businesses foster a collaborative environment that focuses on the guest rather than internal politics.

When it comes to big data, user privacy is always a major concern. Avoiding privacy issues is very important for companies to successfully use big data, and companies also need to ensure that consumers have a high level of trust in them.

When it comes to customer experience, companies must continue to focus on the effective application of data. Most consumers will be willing to buy a better product that can more comprehensively target their personalized needs.

via: traveldaily