The trend is well known by now: year after year, tourists’ budget requests are coming to outdoor facilities earlier and earlier. This year in particular, as early as February, the numbers of tourists already moving in and wanting to book are impressive. However, not all facilities are ready and prepared to deal with this new anticipated volume of demand. The staff is still not at full capacity, so it slows down response and complicates operations, possibly resulting in loss of bookings: people do not wait for booking offices to open, those who are ready and want to book do so at facilities from which they receive a timely and complete response.
How to improve Camping Village sales with WhatsApp?
When the flow of inquiries to the Camping Village exceeds the processing capacity of reservations, it becomes imperative to streamline the operations of the booking office and avoid losing valuable contacts.
For this purpose, the usefulness of the world’s No. 1 messaging app is undeniable. However, it is necessary to know how to exploit it in its more advanced business settings and integrate it into the CRM, Customer Relationship Management, of camping.
For easier management and shared with all the staff of the camp or village, it is advisable to integrate WhatsApp into the CRM of the facility right away, using a CRM that offers this possibility, such as Mr. PRENO. In this way from a single CRM panel, all booking agents will be able to monitor incoming requests, customer by customer, and process them automatically and professionally.
How WhatsApp has changed the habits of tourists
In recent years, WhatsApp has transformed the dynamics of communications, becoming one of the preferred channels even for the interactions people have with businesses. The tourism sector is no exception: many customers seek information, make reservations and request quotes through this platform.
But new things, as is always the case, are not welcomed enthusiastically by everyone. There are always those who remain initially more skeptical or unwilling to give up the comfort of established habits to try new ways.
In fact, among the Camping Villages there are. two distinct approaches: there are those who have long exploited the potential of WhatsApp to improve communication with customers by highlighting their number on all channels of contact with the public, and those who see the App as an additional burden to manage, rather than an opportunity.
Why leverage WhatsApp as an additional channel of communication and sales with customers
To fully understand the potential of WhatsApp in the context of a Camping Village, one must first be clear on some significant data about the platform (data from the WeAreSocial report):
- 2 billion current global users, with a steady increase
- In 2023, WhatsApp was used to exchange 100 billion messages per day
- In Italy, nearly 90 percent of users between the ages of 16 and 64 use this platform
In daily life, people pick up their smartphones more than 2,600 times a day (source: Dscount’s), and WhastApp notifications are generally the first to be read, before emails and social media, because they are definitely personal, direct, and quick to evade.
In this context, the integration of WhatsApp into Camping Village communication becomes a strategic move to meet the expectations of modern users.
How to optimize Camping Village communication with WhatsApp?
At every stage of the vacation planning process, from information search to booking to post-stay, it is possible to facilitate, through intelligent use of the App, the work of the booking office and improve the sale of stays and services of the facility.
Tourists in the process of requesting information
At this early stage in the relationship between the accommodation facility and the tourist, WhatsApp serves primarily to facilitate the first contact between the potential customer and the facility.
At this delicate early stage, WhatsApp can also be used to provide information to potential customers without requiring them to fill out forms and notify them of the creation of quotes via WhatsApp in an automated and personalized way by integrating WhatsApp into CRM.
While guests are in the facility
When the tourist arrives at the facility, the instant messaging app can be used to send customers a warm welcome message that shows care and attention.
Over the course of the stay, it is easier to easily reach out to customers with a message on their smartphone and offer additional cross-selling services, or suggestions of experiences to better enjoy the vacation. Through direct contact, it is also possible to handle any critical issues in a timely manner, preventing them from turning into bad reviews.
Once the clients have returned home.
A good practice, which is increasingly being used, is to send follow-up messages to customers to collect feedback through personalized satisfaction questionnaires.
The goal is to simplify communication with customers without burdening the staff. Thanks to tools such as the Mr. PRENO CRM, which is fully integrated with WhatsApp, it is now possible to provide valuable support to staff and improve guest relations.
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