P&O Cruises and Cunard have reduced online agent and customer enquiry response times from four days to 24 hours after implementing a new web self-service solution.
The technology, from software provider Transversal, allows web users to find answers to frequently-asked questions using conversational language.
Answers to over 2,500 common questions are stored in a ‘knowledgebase’ which is continually updated and queried approximately 50,000 times every month by customers that research online, by 750 P&O Cruises and Cunard staff (mainly within the contact centre) and by several thousand travel agents across the UK.
The implementation coincided with an extensive marketing campaign by P&O Cruises and Cunard which has seen a near doubling of visitors to its P&O Cruises website in 2011 compared to a comparable period last year.
“The new Transversal self-help function has caught on quickly,” said Giles Hawke, sales and customer services director at P&O Cruises.
“The fact that 50,000 questions are now answered every month by the system shows that customers, staff and travel agents are getting service and value from the flexibility and ease of use Metafaq brings.
“It has become critical since our extended marketing initiatives are making a big difference in terms of hits to the website. Providing customers with the ability to serve themselves via the website means that contact centre staff are better equipped to deal directly with sales enquiries.”
According to an analysis of the questions asked, most common questions relate to the dress code on board.
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By Bev Fearis
