What is Response Time and Why It Matters in Travel Support
What is Response Time and Why It Matters in Travel Support When a traveler sends your agency an email at 2 PM asking to change their Barcelona flight that leaves tomorrow morning, how fast you react may be the difference in keeping or losing that client to a competitor forever. The story of this is repeated thousands and thousands of times daily at travel agencies around the world, and the numbers tell a story about what is really at risk. Travel response time is the amount of time it takes for a customer to hear back from your team for the first time after they’ve submitted a question. In other industries not fast enough replies offer an inconvenience, for travel you want to live in the world of definite departure dates, limited seat availability and time sensitive pricing where every hour can mean a completely different price for you. The travel sector has quite a harsh reality, with travel agencies having the lowest average email response time, around 12.5 hours, followed by airlines, at an average of 16.3 hours, and cruises just under 24 hours. But customer expectations are a whole other story. According to a survey of 90% of customers, an immediate response is considered “very important” when they have a customer service question; and that means within 10 minutes or less. This expectation versus realization void presents a challenge as well as an opportunity for any travel agency that is ready to make speed of responsiveness a differentiator. Understanding Response Time in Travel Context What Counts as Response Time? Response time measurement begins once a user sends their first message and ends when they have received a meaningful response from your team. Automated replies (i.e.. chatbots) shouldn’t qualify as response time (although they should guard your true times (by replying quickly) to your customers and keep them in the know). For travel agencies, the time of response mostly matters during working hours. Say a customer sent an email at 11:00 pm on a Sunday but office hours were not until 9:00 am on Monday and a reply wasn’t sent until 10:00 am, the time to reply to that customer would be 1 hour not 10 hours. This business-hours-only computation reflects the fact that travel agencies, unlike airline operations centers, generally aren’t staffed 24 hours a day. Still, the most competitive agencies are working extended hours or installing automated systems to cover evenings and nights. Travel Industry Response Time Benchmarks by Service Type The travel sector needs response time goals to be directly tailored to its business needs, and those business needs are not the same as general customer service standards: Hotel Booking Requests: Conversion rates are 62% higher when replies are within the first hour. Travel industry email is at 36 hours; best performing agencies are at 1-4 hours. Flight and Airline Support: Less than 1 minute for chat and 20 seconds for phone. Airlines dealing with disruptions cannot afford rollbacks of 5 minutes. Vacation Rental Platforms: Average reply time is 8 minutes, for the highest conversion rate you need to reply in less than 5 minutes, or else 50% of reservations will be abandoned. Travel Disruption Management: In the event of crisis, you need response times of seconds to five minutes for delays, cancellations and weather disruptions. Channel-Specific Standards: Email Response time: 1-4 hours as the best (vs. the industry average of 36 hours) Social media: Complaints – 15 minutes. General questions – 1 hour. Online chat: Under 30 seconds initial response, under 1 minute for travel booking Voice Telephone Support: 20 seconds optimal, 3 minutes maximum acceptable Why Response Time Directly Impacts Travel Business Success The Revenue Impact of Response Time in Travel Fast response times produce tangible financial results that can justify technology investments: Immediate Revenue Impact: Failed to answer, $57 in hypothetical income being left on the table for travel businesses. Companies responding in the first two hours have 37% better conversion rates and 24% better ADR. Booking Conversion Rates: Travel Agencies achieve 62% higher conversion when replies are received in less than 60 minutes reportedly outshine competitors with average response times. Customer Acquisition vs. Retention: Quick reply prevents booking abandonment and competitors switching, which is 5x more expensive to remove from customers than to keep them staying with good services. Lifetime Value Protection: Customer support quality is the primary factor for 60% of travelers when selecting which brand to book with, and response time plays a part in customer lifetime value. Customer Retention and Satisfaction 60% of consumers say they will change their travel brand preference after as little as 1-2 bad service experiences. Slow response times are one of the leading customer service failure reasons that motivate travelers to go to your competition. The connection between response time and customer satisfaction is significant in travel especially because the industry is naturally time sensitive. A slow response regarding a flight change can mean rebooking at a reasonable fare, and getting another trip at premium, last-minute prices. This could lead to 52% of consumers stop buying from your brand due to slow response times. Travel companies that regularly respond fast will be known and trusted beyond any single booking. These agencies enjoy the “network effect” of more word-of-mouth referrals and higher lifetime value from customers returning for future trips. Operational Efficiency Benefits A quick response time typically reflects efficient internal systems that can help the agencies more than just in the area of customer satisfaction. And because 80% of companies say that self-service shortens response time, it appears that the more an agency does to improve their systems, the more payback time they’re likely to benefit from regarding their public. Teams with a shorter time to response generally have: More organized information systems to assist agents in finding answers fast Transparent escalation paths that won’t slow you down on tough issues Efficient automatic workflows to manage day-to-day queries Better staff morale resulting from lower customer frustration Current Travel Industry Response Time Performance Benchmarking
