world-travel-holdings

Video Break: Online Travel Site Uses Click-to-Call to Increase Web Conversions

By Shai Berger on September 3, 2013

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Any company engaged in e-commerce cares a great deal about conversion rate (what fraction of web visitors become buyers). As the price-point of the product increases, it becomes more likely that a live agent interaction will be required to close a sale. In those cases, maximizing conversion rate means making agents readily available, but that also drives up transaction costs.

World Travel Holdings, which operates Cruises.com, and many other cruise-related websites, faces exactly this issue. In today’s video you’ll hear Nate Sidmore talk about how Fonolo’s intelligent click-to-call helped increase conversions on their website. Continue reading →

How it’s Done: Click-to-Call, Visual IVR and Virtual Queuing

By Shai Berger on April 30, 2013

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Click to call, Visual IVR and Virtual Queuing We had a terrific webinar last week with guest Nate Sidmore, Web Analyst, from World Travel Holdings. Nate talked about how he and his team used Fonolo to add smart click-to-call, visual IVR and virtual queuing to Cruises.com (one of the many online properties they operate).

We were quite excited when Nate agreed to do this webinar because he’s really pushed the envelope of what’s possible with Fonolo. Cruises.com didn’t just embed the web widget; they really integrated it with their site. We were hoping Nate would dig into some of the behind-the-scenes details, and he didn’t disappoint.

Below, I’ll talk briefly about some of the cool things they’re doing like passing information from the web session to the agent (so that the context of the conversation is preserved) and tracking click-to-call actions together with all their other site metrics. If these topics interest you, keep reading or better yet, watch the webinar on-demand.

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Why Great Customer Service Drives Brand Loyalty

By Daniela Puzzo on April 18, 2013

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Why do people hate call centers so much? Usually for reasons we can all relate to: wasting valuable time on hold, having to navigate frustrating phone menus, the dreaded annoyance of repeating information to agents, among others. The call center experience is more complicated than it needs to be and it’s taking a toll on customer service.

Investing in great customer service is vital!

Poor customer service is one of the biggest deterrents to brand loyalty. According to a recent survey, 72% of consumers say service drives brand loyalty and 48% say that the most critical time to gain brand loyalty is during the first impression. Once they’re happy, 78% of consumers will spread the word and tell others!

Jerry Gregoire, CIO at Dell, puts it this way,

The customer experience is the next competitive battleground.

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Webinar: 3 Ways to Make Your Call Center the Star of Your Brand

By Daniela Puzzo on April 11, 2013

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It all boils down to the customer experience!

Call centers are often the first – and sometimes the only – human interaction with your customers. Their role goes beyond customer service; they carry the responsibility of shaping the perception that consumers have of your organization, ultimately affecting customer retention rates.

Regardless of your company size, a small improvement in consumer retention can dramatically increase profits. In his book The Loyalty Effect, Fred Reichheld writes,

a 5% improvement in customer retention rates will yield between a 25 to 100% increase in profits across a wide range of industries.

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World Travel Holdings Deploys Fonolo on Cruises.com to Enhance Customer Experience

By Daniela Puzzo on January 23, 2013

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Fonolo is happy to announce World Travel Holdings to our growing list of customers as we continue to grow our portfolio of world-class partnerships with the addition of Cruises.com. Owned and operated by World Travel Holdings, one of the nation’s top travel agencies, Cruises.com offers incredible savings on brand-name cruises.