Fashionistas might guess the author of the quote that gives title to this post. Coco Chanel was of the opinion that to be irreplaceable, one must always be different.
You might not agree with this statement, but what it is unquestionable is that – nowadays –developments in big data have made it possible for companies to customize their services to match clients’ preferences and cater for their differences. And travel is no exception.
We might not be unique but we certainly love to feel like it, that is why we adore when companies know who we are and what we want, and offer us exactly that.
Nobody has the time or the will anymore to go through thousands of options that are not valuable for them. We, as consumers, have grown to expect a smooth service that saves us time and hassle. Life is complicated enough.
And despite the fact that we love to feel unique, it is also true that we need to sense we belong to a group. Maslow knew it too well: without strong relationships, there is no self-fulfillment.
Experts from our consultancy arm, CWT Solutions Group, can mine data to help companies profile their travel population in order to adapt their programs.
We discovered that there are certain travelers that share common traits, something that has allowed us to identify five traveler profiles. The following are more common profiles that only scratch the surface of what you can create to give you a clear picture of your entire traveler base and design a policy that works for your company. They are: Executive Top-Travelers-Suite, Collaborative FOMOs, Content Tsars, Rigid-digits, and Travelennials. Let’s play a little game: Can you identify to whom each category relates to and which one sounds like you?
Group 1
This group requires a bit of homework. Make sure you keep up-to-date on the best (boutique) hotel experiences at the destinations that they typically go to. Give them tools that help them experience their surroundings when they travel such as an app that allows them to get restaurant recommendations. Be able to talk to them in a convincing manner and ensure peer reviews and policy are both clearly incorporated in booking tools to help them make the right choices.
Group 2
Anything and everything you can do to optimize their time and minimize their effort will get you kudos from this tribe. Personalize their content so they (and their EA’s) spend less time scrolling. Get them a shorter connection time, a more comfortable layover, a pass that gets them through security, or any other kind of waiting time more quickly, and you’ve scored loyalty points.
Group 3
Watch, listen and learn! Why? Because they are probably not well understood yet, but they represent the future, therefore analyze them and get their feedback so you can identify the irritations in their travel experience, and remove them. They’re unlikely to read a travel policy so ensuring that it’s clearly incorporated into booking tools is a must.
Group 4
Surprise this tribe with the newest means for staying connected, whether it’s an app with booking, messaging, and click-to-call capabilities, that new app that lets them connect to similar-minded people at an airport, or a demo for a better mobile video-conferencing experience — and ask for their feedback afterward. Make sure you nudge them towards using online tools, you’ll be doing them a favor.
Group 5
This group favors speed and efficiency over originality. Ensure they have the information they need at their fingertips, with an app that alerts them in advance of delays or cancellations. Because they value miles and loyalty points, consider using bonus miles/points as incentives to thank them for doing the right thing when they book.
Was it easy? Discover which tip belongs to which group and which tribe you belong to.