Jamie Biesiada
When a potential client reaches out for the first time, how quickly do you answer?
According to customer service and sales platform Zendesk's CXtrends26 report, 68% of consumers surveyed expect a quick response time from a brand. And 86% say fast responses and accurate resolutions strongly influence whether they purchase a product or service.
That near-instant gratification is something we as consumers have become accustomed to, and brands and companies have adapted to getting us what we want, when we want it (right now).
Take, for instance, my shopping habits. My first stop when I need something quickly is almost always Amazon. And I almost always hit the Prime filter in search results, ensuring I'll only see things that will arrive quickly.
I partly blame the school system for this. After all, they're the reason I need to purchase silly holiday socks and crazy hair accessories for spirit day, which, inevitably, we are only told about with 24 hours' notice.
But I digress.
Customer service interactions are the same for me. If a site uses a bot, that's fine if it's effective. It can be a pain to wait for an actual human, though those interactions are almost always better.
Most travel research begins online, so it's safe to surmise that most consumers looking to work with an advisor for the first time begin their search on the web. Which brings us back to my original question: When a potential client reaches out, how fast will you get back to them?
Consumer behavior informs us that the answer should be "pretty fast."
This becomes less of an issue over time as trust builds between an advisor and their client. They get to know each other's communication styles better. Advisors have likely educated their clients on the cycle of quoting and booking, too, so they're aware that more complex itineraries can take longer to put together.
But when it comes to a first-time customer -- perhaps one who has never used an advisor -- that response rate should be pretty fast.
While many advisors do have their own brand or use their agency's, I think there is a little more grace when dealing with an actual person. But not much.
Anecdotally, I'm in a few travel-focused groups on Facebook. Whenever the conversation turns to using an advisor (inevitably dubbed a "TA" for brevity), I'm struck by how people expect a nearly instant response.
Response time is a metric Travel Leaders Network uses to delineate higher-performing travel advisors in search results.
With its Agent Profiler tool, advisors are invited to create profiles with unique content about themselves and their business. They can be designated Super Agents if they reach certain content-related milestones, placing them higher in search results. There are two higher levels -- gold- and diamond-level Super Agents -- that can be reached by achieving certain performance metrics; responding to 80% of leads received within 24 hours is one. The others are related to reporting performance to Travel Leaders Network and their booking close rate on leads.
As of January, there are 440 gold Super Agents but only 171 diamond Super Agents.
When it comes to winning over a potential client, a timely response isn't just a courtesy. It's the diamond standard.