By making judicious technology choices, you can build conversational AI agents that deliver high-quality, personalised experiences throughout a customer’s journey with you.
As humans we always NEED something. Directions to a restaurant, to turn the light on in the living room from our bedroom, to book a taxi or a flight, to pay a bill in the middle of the night, or find the best insurance policy for a very specific situation. And increasingly, we’re able to turn to Conversational AI agents to anticipate and fulfil these needs for us.
As a result, more tech-savvy businesses are looking for new opportunities to use artificial intelligence to enhance the user experience they offer customers when engaging with their digital interfaces.
In this post, we use the travel sector as an example to show five ways how Alana conversational AI could enhance every interaction in a customer’s journey and create additional revenue opportunities.
1. Making initial contact more personal
An ideal time to start a conversation with a new, prospective customer is when they’re first browsing your website.
In a travel context, a friendly AI travel agent appearing conveniently on the screen is an inviting way to prompt engagement. The virtual agent may even be able to recall insight from that customer’s previous travel with them, using the knowledge gained from past interactions to create a comfortable sense of familiarity for the customer.
This interaction kickstarts the process of turning a person idly browsing travel destinations, into an active booking lead.
2. Easing the search process
A good Conversational AI agent can decipher the intent of a searcher and then extract relevant information from databases to meet that need. For example, by analysing a browser’s recent activity on a travel booking website or app, a conversational AI agent can predict the destination they’re interested in and proactively chip in with information that could resolve any niggling doubts and introduce promotions that may incentivise a travel decision.
3. Taking the hassle out of securing the booking
Once your customer is ready to buy or book, an intuitive, AI-powered purchasing system can promptly turn vague interest into tangible sales revenue. And whilst in some industries these interactions need to be simple, clinical transactions, in other environments a more personal, conversational touch is appreciated. For example, when booking a holiday, a well-designed chat function not only makes it possible to automate the booking process but also uses natural language to recreate some of the personal feel of sitting inside a more traditional travel agency.
4. A proactive, personalised follow-up service
The remit of a Conversational AI assistant can go beyond confirming a booking or reservation. Deep learning allows Conversational AI assistants to take insights gained from past interactions to personalise future dialogues. So, for example, after a traveller has booked a journey, an Alana assistant could offer a more proactive concierge service based on learned customer preferences. This could include recommending and booking trips and experiences, and proactively offering up enticing promotions that generate follow-on sales.
5. On-the-go support
Who do you turn to when you find yourself lost in an unfamiliar city? What’s your back-up plan when you realise you forgot to download the booking confirmation for the return leg of your trip? And when something unexpected happens that means you need to change a flight at the last minute, don’t you just wish you had a travel agent on speed dial? What would you say if we told you we could develop an Alana multi-platform virtual travel agent that gives your customers on-the-go access to travel advice, wherever you happen to be in the world?
Now, how would you like Alana to help you?
With a more human-like ability to chat and interact using natural language, the use cases for an Alana conversational AI assistant are far beyond those of a scripted, off-the-shelf chatbot. If these examples from the travel industry have given you ideas of how conversational AI could work for your business, we’d love to hear them. Why not drop us an email to tell us how you’d like an Alana agent to improve your customer experience?
