Many industries are being disrupted by new, digital business models. The ridesharing company Uber is the most notable example of a digital disrupter. While the company’s service is offering rides, the business is based on providing unprecedented levels of convenience for customers. That convenience relies on Uber’s digital app, predictive analytics and service integrations, including its inclusion in the ecosystems of voice-activated assistants like Amazon’s Alexa and (soon) Viv.

Airbnb’s Digital Convenience Keeps Travelers Coming Back

The hospitality space is also a target for disruption, especially the hotel industry. Airbnb has expanded rapidly over the past several years both in terms of rooms booked via the service as well as geographies covered. While many first-time Airbnb users may be attracted to the platform to save on lodging costs, most become regular users because of the exceptional convenience offered by Airbnb’s technology.

Airbnb users can easily search for available properties using Airbnb’s mobile app. But they can also check customer reviews and compare locations and prices from the same app. They can even message back and forth with the host via the platform’s built-in messaging capability. They can get directions while they’re on their way and often even access the property without the host being present. The convenience of the overall experience is what keeps people coming back.

Marriott Fights Back With Digital Innovations

The hotel industry is not standing by idly. According to a recent article in the WSJ, Marriott is taking steps to give its amenities a tech upgrade. In the article, Marriott’s CIO Bruce Hoffmeister discusses Marriott’s shift in how it views mobile services. Before, Marriott viewed mobile as a way to offer services to guests. Now it is beginning to see mobile as a way to enable guests to consume services on their own, at their own convenience.

Guests can use Marriott’s mobile app to initiate service requests and interact with hotel staff. Frequently requested services and amenities are presented as pick-lists for customers to choose from, offering a simple but useful form of intelligent assistance.

Interestingly, Hoffmeister notes that the role of the CIO has changed. The CIO is now a critical player in the progress (perhaps even long-term survivability?) of the business. Not only is technology more pervasive than it once was, it can be a key differentiator. Indeed, a major theme that’s emerging as Opus Research tracks the evolution of Intelligent Assistance is “how to get the Chief Marketing Officer and the CIO working together. Why stop there? All verticals, including Hospitality, are adding C-level executives in charge of Customer Experience and Digital Transformation. They have to join the team as well.

Radisson Delights Guests with Butler Bot

Radisson is also innovating aggressively to meet possible disrupters head-on. Dan Miller covered a great example of digital innovation in his post on the Radisson’s Edward chatbot. Radisson leveraged Aspect’s Interactive Text Response (ITR) technology to create a conversational bot butler for guests of the Radisson Blu Edwardian property.

Customers can text with Edward the bot over SMS to ask a whole host of questions both before and during their stay. As with the Marriott example, the bot enables customers to “pull” the services they need, when they need them. If the guest wants to know if there’s a refrigerator in the room before their planned stay, they can ask the bot. If they need more clean towels while they’re on-site, they can request those from the bot as well.

Aspect has provided a very Insightful article on the underlying ITR technology and details of the Edward implementation on the Aspect blog.

Booking.com Launches Chat Communication Services

Last month, Booking.com launched a chat service that allows customers and property hosts to communicate using text messages. According to an article in Venture Beat, customers can initiate a text-based conversation with any Booking.com host from within the Booking.com app or from their desktop or smartphone.

Hosts can also reach out proactively to guests to ask such questions as the quest’s expected arrival time. The chat application includes built-in language translation services.

Booking.com is also said to be testing integration with Facebook’s Messenger platform. While their chat communication currently happens between the guest and a human host, future services will enable the guest to chat with a Booking.com chatbot designed to respond to common inquiries.

Intelligent Assistance Makes Customer Experience Paramount

Industries may never know where the next disruption is coming from. But leveraging the latest technologies to add convenience to the customer experience seems a good recipe to ward off disruption. Marriott, Radisson, and Booking.com offer examples of innovation from which other businesses can learn.

Categories: Conversational Intelligence, Intelligent Assistants

Tags: customer care, Intelligent Assistance, Digital Transformation, Hospitality Industry