New Research Underscores Need for Digital-First Engagement as Airline Passengers Navigate More Complex Customer Journeys
May 18 2022 - 8:30AM
Business Wire
Study Provides an Inside Look at the Airline Industry’s
Consumer Communications Challenges During a Period of Unprecedented
Disruption and the Need for Transformation
Customer Communications Are Up 300 Percent, Even Though
Global Flight Loads Are Only One-Fifth of Pre-Pandemic
Volumes
Airline flight volumes are down, but airline customer
communication is at an all-time high due to issues of flight
cancellations, refunds, and credit and voucher requests. Airlines
saw an increase of 300 percent in monthly conversations around
flight bookings, at a time when global passenger numbers have been
trending around one-fifth of 2019 levels, according to research
conducted by Verint® (Nasdaq: VRNT), The Customer Engagement
Company.™
The research provides an inside look at the airline industry’s
consumer communications challenges during a period of unprecedented
disruption and the need for transformation. As the airline industry
begins to rebound and rebuild, it is “landing” in a radically new
world of customer engagement challenges.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, travel has become a
more complex customer journey ‒ fraught with new questions,
concerns, and high-flying anxiety levels. Meanwhile, cost-cutting
measures over the past decade have left many airlines with
antiquated support systems and overwhelmed contact centers
ill-equipped to handle the surge.
Additionally, significant channel shift has taken place over the
past two years, with consumer preference growing for use of
third-party messaging services such as Apple Business Chat,
Twitter, WhatsApp and more.
Verint researchers say we could see a 15x growth in customer
conversations on private messaging channels when passenger numbers
return to pre-pandemic levels.
Verint’s Guide to Digital-First Engagement for the Airline
Industry explores the fundamental changes experienced by the
airline industry since March 2020 and the digital-first engagement
imperative to meet the needs of the modern consumer.
“Technology will increasingly change the way we fly, and
airlines must change their focus from cost containment to customer
centricity,” says Evan Kirstel, a business-to-business thought
leader and prominent influencer in digital transformation.
“Leaders in the industry need to commit to a wholesale shift in
strategy. Innovation requires airlines to look beyond the obvious,
via an in-depth and 360-degree view of customer needs. This entails
first understanding customers, and then building the operations,
processes, information, and tech necessary to deliver on their
needs,” Kirstel continues.
The report provides several recommendations for airlines:
- Develop a digital-first engagement strategy with proactive
analysis of customer conversations to understand trends. This
enables deployment of the right automation in the right channels to
scale effectively while still retaining efficiency, effectiveness
and customer satisfaction.
- Consider integrating private messaging channels to support the
shift in consumer behavior toward digital channels. These channels
enable the brand to build rich asynchronous experiences that can
manage consumer issues all the way to resolution.
- Employ intelligent automation by building Intelligent Virtual
Assistants (IVAs) to reduce agent workload and address high-volume
customer intents.
“A digital-first engagement strategy ensures that regardless of
customer demand, brands can provide a superior customer experience
across the channels customers want to use most,” says Verint’s
Heather Richards, vice president, go-to-market strategy.
“Intelligent automation helps to scale responses, so that brands
are able to meet or exceed customer expectations.”
About Verint
Verint® (Nasdaq: VRNT) helps the world’s most iconic brands –
including over 85 of the Fortune 100 companies – build enduring
customer relationships by connecting work, data and experiences
across the enterprise. The Verint Customer Engagement portfolio
draws on the latest advancements in AI and analytics, an open cloud
architecture, and The Science of Customer Engagement™ to help
customers close The Engagement Capacity Gap™.
Verint. The Customer Engagement Company™. Learn more at
Verint.com.
This press release contains “forward-looking statements,”
including statements regarding expectations, predictions, views,
opportunities, plans, strategies, beliefs, and statements of
similar effect relating to Verint Systems Inc. These
forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance
and they are based on management's expectations that involve a
number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, any of which could
cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in
or implied by the forward-looking statements. For a detailed
discussion of these risk factors, see our Annual Report on Form
10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2022, and other filings
we make with the SEC. The forward-looking statements contained in
this press release are made as of the date of this press release
and, except as required by law, Verint assumes no obligation to
update or revise them or to provide reasons why actual results may
differ.
VERINT, VERINT DA VINCI, THE CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT COMPANY,
BOUNDLESS CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT, THE ENGAGEMENT CAPACITY GAP and THE
SCIENCE OF CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT are trademarks of Verint Systems
Inc. or its subsidiaries. Verint and other parties may also have
trademark rights in other terms used herein.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220517006028/en/
Media Relations Amy Curry amy.curry@verint.com
Investor Relations Matthew Frankel
matthew.frankel@verint.com
Verint Systems (NASDAQ:VRNT)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024
Verint Systems (NASDAQ:VRNT)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024