How to choose between chat and chatbot for luxury hotels

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Why did 5-star Hotel Marignan Champs-Elysées, Paris, decide to upgrade from manual chat to chatbot? 

Chat and chatbots have become very popular on hotel websites. This is because they are an excellent way to offer guidance to customers that might otherwise not complete their booking. 

Hotel Marignan Champs Elysées, Paris, is a 5-star boutique hotel. It has been using our chat solution for 2 years now. In fact, I was a bit surprised when Gabriella (Reservation & Revenue Manager) recently called me to upgrade to Zalia, our AI-powered chatbot for hotels

From day 1, Marignan Champs Elysées realized that the highest ADR bookings came through the Quicktext chat on their website. That’s why they kept Quicktext on for so long. After some time, they realized that they were still missing some business at night and on weekends. Like most high ADR hotels in Paris, the bulk of their customers live in different time zones.

They couldn’t benefit from the chat service that was available at the Marignan during French business hours only. Implementing a chatbot for luxury hotels was a way to remedy that situation and maximize direct sales 24/7.

Marketing is evolving for everybody, 3-star and luxury alike. Your customers expect more and more instant and personalized service. You need to find a way to provide it even before the customer buys – it is a sales tool. Contrary to humans, chatbots always answer instantly and in the customer’s language. This enables service 24/7.

I like the fact that in case of absence we’re still able to provide reactive service, said Gabriella from Marignan Champs Elysées.

The experience I have with quite a few luxury properties is that customers are totally fine interacting with a chatbot. What matters to them is that they are getting what they need with minimum effort. Sometimes the chatbot gets it wrong and passes a request along with the customers’ details (name, email address, mobile number, etc.) to a human being. It is perfectly fine as long as the sales department of the hotel follows up on the customer’s request the next morning. 

At the Marignan Champs Elysées, our chatbot for luxury hotels acts as a customer magnet. Beyond answering customers’ questions and helping them through the direct booking funnel, Zalia tags the high potential customers that need urgent follow-up.

If you’re going to spend between 1000€ and 2000€ in a hotel stay, you’re probably not going to make your decision in a heartbeat. So, in a luxury context, the first contact and qualification can happen through Zalia chatbot. Then, there can be a human follow-up. This will ensure that all the interesting business goes to the hotel. So far, this strategy has been paying off handsomely for the Marignan Champs Elysées. And, likewise for other 5-star hotels that work with Quicktext. 

If you’d like to know more about the best hotel chatbot and direct bookings, please visit Quicktext’s website or feel welcome to connect with Benjamin Devisme – Co-Founder & Evangelist of Quicktext, an AI solution helping hotels increase sales while improving guest experience through Zalia, a 24/7 AI-powered chatbot for hotels.

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