BOZEMAN, Mont., Oct. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- British Airways has increased traffic to its Internet booking pages by approximately 3,500 hits per week following a series of best practice recommendations and implementations with RightNow® Technologies. A further 60 percent reduction in inbound email traffic has also been achieved, while the percentage of customers resolving their enquiries online has risen to 99 percent.
During a software upgrade on www.ba.com, RightNow provided BA with several best practice recommendations. These included adding a 'book now' button to the customer service and support area of the web site so that customers can easily navigate through to the booking facility. This was advisable because customers often have a query they need to resolve before making a booking. Also added was a 'manage my booking' button enabling customers to quickly and simply tailor their bookings by requesting special meals or seat changes.
The inbound email reduction has been possible by implementing RightNow's SmartAssistant(TM), a function that reads a customer's question before they submit it and proactively pushes additional answers to the customer. RightNow also provided best practice guidance as well.
"The returns from implementing the SmartAssistant best practice have been astonishing," Nick Doran, Head of Global Direct Operations at BA, said. "It's exceeded expectations and now our future goal is to have every inbound email come in via the Smart Assistant tool."
www.ba.com enjoys over 1.2 million unique visitors per week so it's imperative that information can be found quickly. A third RightNow best practice suggestion was to have the 'Search BA' entry point to the customer service and support section on the home page, and each subsequent page navigated. From here customers can now experience an integrated search that searches the RightNow knowledge base of answers, the entire ba.com site and www.baholidays.com, heightening the probability of the customer finding the answer to their inquiry. This approach has doubled the number of site searches.
"When we began our relationship with RightNow back in 2001, we achieved strong returns on investment," Doran said. "So we weren't expecting such significant gains from the best practices. The click through from the 'book now' button and the reduction in email has been beyond anything we anticipated. The success is testament to the RightNow team's commitment to helping us maximize our investment and capitalize on what the software can do."
"Competition is fierce within the airline industry, so a strong customer service proposition is mission critical," Sean Forbes, vice president of Marketing and Business Development at RightNow Technologies, said. "BA's decision to build on their already successful relationship with us, and to implement our tried and tested best practices has proven that customer service is not a static, one time deployment but something that changes and develops over time and which can always be improved upon."
About RightNow Technologies, Inc.
RightNow (Nasdaq: RNOW - News) provides organizations with industry-leading on demand CRM solutions to build customer-focused businesses. RightNow's acclaimed technology, comprehensive services and commitment to customer success deliver high returns on investment for its customers. More than 1,100 organizations worldwide use RightNow solutions including British Airways, British Telecom, Cisco Systems, Continental Tire North America, The Dow Chemical Company, John Deere, Nikon and the Social Security Administration. Founded in 1997, RightNow is headquartered in Bozeman, Montana, with additional offices in North America, Europe and Asia. For further information, please visit www.rightnow.com.
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