6.1.4 BEST PRACTICE: "DIE URLAUBSINSEL" - LCC TRAVEL AGENCY IN POSTBAUERHENG
Quickly send a photo to those who stayed at home, ask them if everything is alright - the smartphone is ready to hand, also while being on holiday. "Why shouldn't we benefit from this and use WhatsApp for travel agency business?" that's what Christian Reininger of the LCC travel agency in Postbauer-Heng thought. At the beginning of 2016, the travel agency team started a test run and created its own agency WhatsApp number. The only condition was that the customers needed to contact the agency themselves; customers are not contacted without request or consent. "We do not want to annoy them", says Reininger. Customers get this WhatsApp number when they pick up their travel documents - whether they register and use this service or not, that's up to them. Furthermore, the number can be seen in the shop window, is added to the e-mail signature and mentioned in newspaper ads. WhatsApp inquiries are processed by means of computer software on a PC. Each week, another employee is responsible for answering the WhatsApp inquiries. Communication is informal - matching the medium.
120 contacts have been generated in the first six months after going live. Customers who use this service do not only use it for simple requests or services, such as seat reservations. Customers also contact the travel agency for information about cruises or trips to South Africa. For this service, the team uses additional LCC tools to compile the offers in form of a website and then send it through WhatsApp.
drfgdf
Nevertheless, Reininger sees WhatsApp more as a communication tool than as a sales instrument. "We do not let digital technology roll past us, we should also use it", says Reininger. For five years, this travel agency has already been using iPads in customer talks to show the customers online ratings of the accommodation, visualise the location of the hotel in Google Maps or to make a virtual tour of the hotel. To be present on social media, such as Facebook and Instagram, is also a matter of course for Reininger.