How to estimate the value of Yonder in your business

Understanding the value of chat to your business requires comparison with the more traditional communication methods like phone and email. Efficiency-wise that’s like comparing solar energy with coal, because these traditional forms of communication are confined to one-to-one engagement - one customer, one staff member - where chat offers one-to-many customer engagement, scaling your customer service capability exponentially.

Website traffic volume also plays a big part in the value organisations derive from chat. The more traffic, the better the value.

Our analysis shows that there’s a lot of value left on the table with a traditional multi-tasking customer support team working office hours only. When you incorporate chat into the customer service model, the results get a lot better. 

We thought we’d put some numbers around working out the value of chat, based on our customers’ experience. But before we start, let’s look at key benefits of adding automation into your customer service:

• Immediate responses offered to common enquiries. Customers increasingly expect instant responses, and many will bounce off your website if they don’t get them. Instant responses drive more online bookings and contribute to improved website conversion rates.
• By responding 24-7, you serve more customers immediately and get more bookings. 40% of enquiries come outside office hours.
• Reduced staff time spent on trivial enquiries, which creates time to perform more valuable tasks in your business. Many customers save 10–100 hours per month by using chat.
• Use insights from customer chats  to make website improvements and ultimately improve conversion.
  

Calculate the value of chat

The table below puts some conservative numbers to the value your tourism business can derive from chat each month. The figures in the table are based on actual, typical results from our customers. Use the steps below to figure out the numbers that apply to your business, and start counting the savings.

Step 1: Determine the number of expected conversations through chat.

• On average, Yonder customers see about 1.6% of website visitors using chat, though there is variation (learn more about variation here). 
  

Step 2: Around 5-15% of these convert to bookings. 

• This is measured by our Google Analytics integration which tracks clicks from chat through to booking. In the table below we assume a conservative 5%.
  

Step 3: Estimate staff time savings

• With around 65-80% of chats answered immediately, you can expect to save around 5 mins per conversation (compared to a human answering the same question by phone or email). Again, in the table below, we assume a conservative 65%.
  

Step 4: Estimate customers served outside your office hours

• Around 40% of chat conversations outside office hours (9am to 5pm). Given that potential customers want answers immediately, they are easily distracted or find something else before they get an answer from you the following day.

Monthly estimates

Benefits are strongly correlated with website traffic.

Summary

As I said above, there’s a lot of value left on the table with a traditional multi-tasking customer support team working office hours only.

If you were to hire more staff instead of adding automation, then the cost of hiring extra team members and staffing customer service 24-7, could be $100,000 - $200,000 per year, not to mention training, office space, holiday breaks etc. 

Most tourism businesses will find that an AI FAQ bot will yield much greater value/ROI. The annual cost of a chatbot is a fraction of a staff member; it’s always on, never complains, handles multiple customers at once, and the quality is consistent.

Sure, an AI answer bot can’t solve everything and staff are still required, but it’s a significant step towards the utopia of a 24-7 customer service team. Most tourism businesses will find an AI answer bot to complement existing staff is the best value solution.

If you’d like to check what value your business can expect from chat, please contact us and we’ll share more about the benchmarks and ranges our customers experience.