Ingersoll Rand was able to increase their hotel-to-trip-night bookings by 28 percentage points by putting the power of TripSource® into the hands of their Latin American travelers. That added up to savings of US$29,000 in just over four months. What was the secret? A partnership with BCD Travel that used a six-step traveler outreach approach to encourage use of the self-service platform. Here’s an overview of the strategy, detailed in a recent case study:
- Start with the traveler’s perspective. “In LATAM a lot of travelers are accustomed to booking directly with hotels, so we had a cultural hurdle. We believed TripSource could help [influence traveler booking behaviors]. But first travelers had to try it. We needed a very personal approach to convince them,” explained Veronica Sandoval, Latin American leader of Travel, Fleet & Meeting Services for the global manufacturing conglomerate.
- Use local languages. Ingersoll Rand and BCD created outreach communications in Spanish, as well as in English. “Even though we often communicate in English for business, employees in Latin America naturally respond better to their local language,” Sandoval said.
- Define your audience. The outreach touched frequent travelers first. Only those who had booked trips in 2018 were invited to attend webinars in Spanish or English that detailed what TripSource was; how it would make their travel easier; how to register for it; and how to use TripSource to book a hotel.
- Explain the benefits. The webinars showed how TripSource would increase travelers’ hotel choices; save them time when booking; and increase their safety because Ingersoll Rand could find them in an emergency. Sandoval said the security message particularly resonated with travelers who had fresh memories of the devastating 2017 earthquakes in Mexico.
- Follow up. After the webinars, travel team members contacted some employees via Skype to ask if they had questions. Other travelers received surveys.
- Demonstrate the value. Travelers who had registered for TripSource began receiving targeted messages sent via the mobile app before, during and after trips. The messages encouraged them to book hotels through TripSource; reminded them about program benefits like in-room Wi-Fi; and asked for feedback on their trip experiences.
Once they tried TripSource, travelers were hooked. “I started getting thank-you notes from travelers after they used the app, and the positive responses came from travelers of all ages and those using laptops and mobile phones,” Sandoval said. “Travelers like having more technology options; everybody wants to be connected now.”
Read the full case study describing Ingersoll Rand’s hotel-savings success in LATAM, and ask how BCD Travel can help you connect with travelers to improve trip experiences, duty of care and program performance.
