SMS messages help those in the virtual concierge business reach customers efficiently, interact with them, and ultimately, serve them well. This article explains more about the ways in which virtual concierge services are employing SMS to their benefit.
The History of the Concierge Business
In order to understand the role of SMS text messaging in the Virtual Concierge business, it is important to understand the history of the line of work known as concierge. Historically, a concierge was a person on the premises of a residence, such as an apartment building, or a hotel, in an apartment building, the concierge might have been responsible not only for access services and securing taxis, like a doorman, but also for holding mail, and acting as a go-between for tenants and the building’s management. It was likely the concierge who would have held tenants’ keys when they were out of town, in case of emergency. At a hotel or resort, however, a concierge is more on the order of a personal assistant, doing, in some cases, anything (legal and within reason) that a guest may ask. Contact with local merchants and ability to secure tickets and reservations and to make recommendations for restaurants and entertainment suitable to the guest are typical.
Virtual Concierge
With the advent of forms of contact that are brief and to the point, such as email and text messaging, and with the wonderful resources of web research, the virtual concierge came into being. Whereas the original concierges had to be on site in order to fulfill the service functions that they undertook, the virtual concierge has adapted to provide services some of which can involve the behind-the-scenes activities of schedulers, planners, researchers, some of whom may work from home. The virtual concierge may combine aspects of customer care, travel assistance, shopping guide, and personal assistant. Virtual concierge services are offered by airlines, travel agencies, hotels and resorts, and enterprising individuals. What all of these services agree to is being only a text message away and both deal with the expected situations involved in travel as well as problem-solve the unique requests that guests and clients may have.
SMS marketing has been a boon to many businesses because they are less interruptive than email or phone calls. After inviting customers to opt-in, marketers can then have access to an audience using a method that’s discreet and interactive. But of all those who can use SMS marketing, virtual concierges are in a special category because it is also the medium in which many of them work. The key, then, is that virtual concierges can use SMS messages to both to market their business and do their job. This can work in a variety of ways, depending on the virtual concierge business. Here is one example.
StreamThru is an opt-in travel service for airline passengers including individuals, business travelers, families and holiday groups. Using a barcode from a form printed at home (or a boarding card with a radio frequency ID (RFID) tag from checking into a kiosk at the airport), StreamThru tracks an airline’s upcoming passengers, assisting them from the time they begin their journey. StreamThru can use SMS to provide traffic information on the way to the airport to make sure the passenger arrives in time and book valet parking, if it is offered. If a passenger cannot arrive in time due to traffic or other impediments, the travel is automatically rebooked by StreamThru. At the airport StreamThru benefits both the airline and the passenger by directing passengers to short lines at check-in and security, keeping track of where they are in the airport, and sending someone to assist them to the gate if they are in danger of missing the flight.
Beyond the technical elements of getting people onto planes more smoothly, StreamThru can provide other services, as well. For example, StreamThru uses SMS text messaging to provide a family treasure hunt game to help keep children occupied while waiting at the airport. The group connect feature helps link up people who are meeting at the airport to travel together. The service also uses SMS messages to make sure customers receive special offers from the airport concessions that are targeted for their needs and preferences. Displays allow StreamThru passengers to preview weather at their destinations, currency conversions, and other key information, such as the inflight entertainment choices.
Now, let’s take a look from a marketing point of view at how StreamThru, or a similar service, could work for a variety of businesses:
• Virtual Concierges—First of all, StreamThru – or a similar service – that is used by a customer through SMS messages opens the opportunity for further SMS interaction for the virtual concierge business, itself.
• Airlines—An airline that provides StreamThru or another service to their customers opens an SMS message interaction with its customers which it can then expand to advertise future services.
• Airline Concessions—Airline concessioners gain an introduction through StreamThru, which may offer customers coupons or other sales opportunities, and—when taken advantage of by customers—can then be converted into an opportunity to market to those customers directly. Of course, this will work best for frequent travelers and/or concession chains that do business at multiple airports.
• Accommodations—Hotels, motels, and resorts can potentially advertise through StreamThru or provide information to StreamThru or a similar service to pass on to their booked customers.
That is, the virtual concierge service can become an SMS text message marketing tool, not only for itself, but for other, related businesses as well.
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