Natasha said that responding to angry customers is one of the hardest parts of her job.
Finding the right words, conveying the appropriate level of condolence — especially when the hotel is not at fault (read: rain complaints) — is a painful and time-consuming process, said the director of a five-star resort, who asked CNBC does not use the resort’s real name to protect its name.
But now it has a secret weapon: generative AI.
Natasha pastes the passenger’s complaint into ChatGPT and asks the chatbot to write a response.
A task that would easily take him an hour is done “in two seconds,” he said.
‘Great work’
For all its faults, ChatGPT “does a pretty good job” responding to customer complaints, Natasha said.
“One [response] Much better than what I would have done,” she said. But “it has to be checked… you have to read it.”
She said the responses were “schmaltzy” and full of adjectives. Still, they hit points like “we’re sorry, we wish we could do something, we’ll do better.”
They also address every complaint expressed by the passenger.
“These letters are hard to write; you have to go through them line by line,” she said. “You wouldn’t be doing the person justice if you didn’t answer everything on the list … AI does that really well.”
But the best part is that artificial intelligence is not as defensive as humans, Natasha said.
“AI takes all the emotion out of it. Maybe people were asses—–,” he said. “He doesn’t care.”
The ‘ghosting’ threat
Negative online reviews are even harder to respond to, Natasha said, because they are so public.
Plus, research shows that companies that don’t respond to online reviews — even positive ones — can damage their brand reputation.
In ranking U.S. hotel chains by their “online reputation,” tech company SOCi found that one driving factor for the low scores was “ghosting” — meaning a failure to respond to traveler reviews.
The need to constantly monitor and respond to online feedback is partly why the travel industry is using generative AI for “reputation management,” according to a 2023 report published by travel market research company Skift. The estimate is $1.3 billion.
Not only can big language models track the sites where travel reviews appear — from TripAdvisor to Yelp to Reddit — they can also help companies “respond to reviews, especially negative ones,” the report says. The title isThe impact of generative AI on travel“The States.
It states that about 45 percent of hotels already use reputation or review management software.
Screenshot of a discussion about using ChatGPT to write reviews on the Airhosts Forum, a website for Airbnb hosts.
CNBC
But short-term rental owners use AI for these purposes as well, said Luca Zambello, CEO of the short-term rental property management platform the journey.
“The short-term rental/AirBnB industry has been an early adopter,” he said. “Within the next five years, I would say it will probably be adopted by the vast majority of the industry.”
He said responding to reviews is time-consuming, which is one reason his company provides the service.
“The majority of our customers absolutely love it,” he said. “Once they see how good it is, it’s really a no-brainer for them.”
An open secret
Using AI to write regrettable responses is a taboo subject in the travel industry, which prides itself on personal service. Conventional wisdom, too, has long agreed that forgiveness “must come from the heart.”
I want people to think I’m sitting there working on their letter.
Natasha
Director of Five Star Resort
When asked if she wants travelers to know that she uses AI to respond to negative emails and reviews, Natasha said, “I definitely don’t. I want people to Think of me sitting there working on his letter.”
One company that recognizes the use of AI to deal with customer complaints is a travel booking platform. Viagosaid a representative of the company, which stores past customer communications to help travel advisors with future interactions.
“Travel advisors always respond to customers themselves, but Voyagu’s AI system tracks all communications – both written and verbal – and suggests a better way to respond,” he said.
Brad Birnbaum, CEO of an AI-powered customer service company Customerssaid that this type of technology is being used “not just within hospitality, but actually all kinds of customer support.”
He said his company, which counts Priceline, Hopper and OvenStay as customers, uses AI to help customer service agents sound more professional.
“We’ll take text that’s really rough and turn it into beautiful text, compassionate text,” he said.
Birnbaum said that users likely don’t know that their interactions with agents are generated or enhanced by AI.
“And I don’t think they’ll care,” he said. “As a matter of fact, I think they probably welcome an agent system because they’re going to get a better response faster.”
Exploring it further
Michael Friedman, CEO of the family-run vacation rental company Simple Living Hospitality.said his company does not use AI to respond to customers.
“We never write emails with AI,” he said. There is still a personal element to ‘tone of voice’ that I believe AI is missing. … I believe there is nothing better than human contact.
Wanping O, managing director of a Japanese travel agency Tokudaw, said he had never thought of using AI to respond to customer complaints. But after learning that there were other travel companies, he decided to test ChatGPT with a real-life problem he had recently encountered.
He typed: “Our guests are traveling to Mount Fuji. Their bus engine has just started smoking. They are scared and anxious to know what is going to happen to their trip. We What should be done?”
Result? “So amazing!” he told CNBC via email. “ChatGPT recommended exactly what we did!”
The chatbot provided a six-step plan that included evacuating passengers and arranging for alternative transportation.
Text showing the apology ChatGPT prepared for Wanping Aw.
“Actually it’s better,” he said. “ChatGPT provided a good solution – better than I expected – and also a great apology that I wouldn’t have been able to write in such a stressful situation.”
Credit : www.cnbc.com