“...an extra $19 million in sales and services costs that could have been avoided
if the website had enabled users to complete their goals online.”
Megan Burns, Forrester Research*
KLM
The Client
Each year KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines) serves more than 20 million passengers worldwide. Currently, online bookings account for more than one-sixth of KLM’s total revenues worldwide.
“Online booking takes less time and is very simple. Nevertheless, if customers still had questions, they contacted us via e-mail or phoned the call center, or they used the search engine by clicking on topics and typing in keywords.”
Joris van Nederveen, e-Commerce Manager
KLM
The Challenge: Managing Growth in Online Bookings
KLM, which anticipated its number of online bookings to grow by around 30% annually, found that many of its website visitors continued to turn to the call center or e-mail to get answers to their questions. The airline needed a new online search system that could provide fast, targeted, first-response answers to the majority of online queries. In short, a system was needed that would help them reduce the number of calls and consequently cut costs.
The Solution: Provide More Efficient Online Service
Also important to KLM was that the system be intuitive and easy-to-use for customers visiting their website. Q-go provided an intelligent online solution, allowing KLM customers to quickly find the right information. Q-go’s application also made it possible for customers to frame their questions in natural language, yielding faster and better answers to their queries.
The Results: Less Calls and Better Service
KLM customers can now type their questions using natural language, ensuring they get better answers faster.
“The results exceeded our expectations. The Q-go application pilot achieved a drastic reduction in incoming requests via telephone and email. During the pilot period the volume of calls dropped by 12 percent and emails by 6 percent.”
Joris van Nederveen, e-Commerce Manager
KLM
Q-go technology cut KLM’s call volume and provided KLM with clear and continuous insight into their customers needs. This consumer intelligence is being used to develop new products and FAQs. For instance, frequent customer queries about carry-on baggage prompted KLM to add information about this topic to their search engine database.
Additionally, KLM added more information about popular travel destinations to its website using the Q-go “dynamic list” functionality to make sure that visitors could easily find this destination information.
See Q-go in Action
To see the Q-go technology in action go to www.klm.com and type "information about Paris" in the search box. Alternately, go directly to KLM's Destination Guide.