In February 2024, the management consultancy Dr. Fried & Partner conducted an online survey on the topic of customer service automation* in the travel and event industry. The results show that while the importance of customer service automation is high, implementation is still in its infancy.
The aim of the study was to gain knowledge of the development status and benchmarks for the implementation of customer service automation in customer service departments in the travel and event industry. What characterizes successful customer service automation and what advantages does it offer? Which phase of the customer journey is supported by automation and which type of inquiry has the highest degree of automation?
Conclusion of the study – most customer service departments in the travel and event industry are still in the early stages when it comes to implementing customer service automation. The more complex the contact inquiries, the lower the degree of automation. Even non-transaction-related inquiries, which only require standardized knowledge, are only processed automatically by very few participants.
The challenges that often stand in the way of implementing customer service automation include the complex integration of existing systems as well as a lack of technical requirements and inadequate tools/ systems. However, the results show that most participants have already taken a first step towards customer service automation.
Now it is time to venture into the expansion and the use of new contact channels in order to exploit the internal and external benefits of customer service automation for the customer/ partner. With a dedicated focus, the potential already developed can be leveraged and real successes achieved. In order to guarantee future- and customer-oriented customer service, the first step should be to expand existing automation, particularly in standardized areas.
According to the participants, the proportion of (partially) automated contacts will increase significantly in the coming year.
Results of the Customer Service Automation Survey
You can read more detailed information on the study results in our results presentation. You can find the link to download here:
In addition, Stephan Haller, managing partner of the management consultancy Dr. Fried & Partner, will present and discuss the results of the Customer Service Automation Study 2024 in the travel and event industry in an expert forum on Thursday, 25 April 2024.
With the help of the results, you can benchmark your customer service department in the area of service automation and learn more about the most relevant challenges and advantages of implementing customer service automation.
We look forward to your participation. You can find the link for registration here: Link
* What is customer service automation? In this survey, customer service automation is defined as the automated, digital processing of contacts in customer service departments. This includes the automation of service dialogs (e.g. through chatbots, voicebots, email automation, etc.) and service functions (e.g. self-service platforms, tracking & tracing portals, etc.). A dialog or function can be partially or fully automated.