The game for tour and activity software providers is decided by winning over new suppliers and monetizing them.
In such a fragmented market, this is difficult and there is no clear market leader yet.
But how do you attempt to stand out in front of the customers? One of the answers is to have what you hope will be an outstanding customer service that puts the customer in the center of the business model.
Borrowing from consumer-facing brands
Today, customer service and experience is the pulsating heart of every customer-focused company.
The goal is to learn from the customer in order to continuously improve the product but also to keep the customer and to bind them to the company.
In B2C companies, this is (or should be) a daily requirement. But what about the B2B sector, such as in tours and activities, where companies are working with other companies directly?
B2B customers also expect a good customer experience from, for example, technology providers, as they are used to it from online shops. These companies have set the standards for customer experience, and the B2B platforms must now also be oriented towards them.
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In contrast to having 100 sales people, we are using - among other things - the characteristics of the market to drive growth through supplier retention and word-of-mouth.
We help digitally inexperienced customers by providing a strong and intensive onboarding.
Why? We believe in a tours and activities ecosystem, consisting of suppliers and our demand-side partners. To make it work, only active suppliers and those opening up to online travel agencies and other sales platforms are valuable customers.
So, with quality customer service, constantly measuring NPS, churn rates can be extremely low.
This will be the decisive factor - you can only grow when your lock-in is very high and the churn is low.
Side effects
Suppliers know each other! If they are unhappy with your service, they will let others know who might not use your brand.
On the other hand, the same applies for when customers are happy. They recommend the provider to their fellow suppliers and help your business grow.
End users love activities and often do more than one, so we connect matching products from different suppliers, which promotes network effects and customer growth.
On top of that, suppliers earn commissions by making referrals to other activities that are subsequently booked.
Tours and activities come of age
Customer experience is becoming increasingly important in the B2B sector. It’s not only about the “race to features” anymore - it’s about how you can use such features to help clients to gain more revenue.
As we all know, customer experience starts in the digital realm with a good UI and UX. However, to be truly successful, you should go beyond that.
What you also need is a “customer success team” that consists of market experts who can properly translate software features into actionable tools and tips for providers.
The key to success is giving each customer the feeling of being treated as the most valuable one.
Personal relationships between suppliers and customers are the starting point of an intensive customer dialogue and the involvement of customers in the development of jointly beneficial solutions.