E-mail is the initial killer application for the Internet. Often inspired by office use, millions are going on-line in order to stay in touch with friends and relations.
As a consequence, e-mail is also increasingly important as a communications channel between businesses and individual consumers, with travel becoming part of this trend.
As the technology has developed, so has a basic e-mail etiquette or Netiquette. Some of the most widely accepted conventions are outlined in the accompanying technical frame. They are broadly applicable to all forms of e-mail correspondence, but have perhaps even greater significance in the formality of the sales process.
In a spirit of practice what you preach, I take every opportunity to try these new communications channels. Reflecting on my recent experiences against these guidelines identifies a number of challenges and opportunities. In this article, I will consider the initial request for information, and next time I’ll move on to the more detailed follow-up dialogue.
One immediate use of e-mail is for basic enquiries that might otherwise be handled by a brochure line. My wife and I recently enjoyed a weekend break in Falmouth, and before making the booking I requested a brochure by sending an e-mail to the head office of the hotel chain. In one respect the response was outstanding the brochure arrived the next day.
However, it would have been a relatively simple matter to also provide a reassuring, automated response to my e-mail, confirming that it had been received and would be actioned shortly.
The lack of an on-line response suggested that while the company were able to accept e-mail requests, they were not fully at ease with the medium. In contrast, I ordered a book the on-line bookstore Amazon this morning, and received an e-mail acknowledgement of the order within seconds.
Ideally e-mail should be part of an integrated communications strategy that includes a Web site, and putting the brochure on-line may indeed satisfy a number of casual enquiries. I spent last night in a hotel in Paris, but as is increasingly the case, I required neither brochure nor faxed directions everything that I needed was readily accessible from their Web site. More convenient for me, less costly for the hotel.
For an operator or agent selling a more complex product, the response to that initial e-mail is much trickier. Basic enquiries can be handled with a reply selected from a menu of standard responses.
Once again a supporting Web site is invaluable for providing supplementary information including pictures and perhaps sample itineraries. The e-mail can include links to the Web site, putting the onus on the potential client to do some of the initial leg work or in this instance mouse work.
The contrasting experiences of a fellow traveller on a recent Zimbabwe safari highlights two extremes in the use of e-mail as a sales channel. He made simultaneous e-mail enquiries to a long-established, market-leading UK safari company and to a upstart local agent in the Kariba region of the country. The latter specialises in on-line bookings and immediately entered into a dialogue to build an itinerary matching his interests and budget.
From the former, he received a reply about a fortnight later thanking him for his interest, and informing him that a copy of their brochure would be sent shortly by post.
By then he had already committed to a trip with a five-figure price tag.