Traveling As A Modern Customer

The millennial generation is prioritizing travel and adventure more than ever. This shift in focus is not the only thing that has been changing. As consumers, the way we learn about products and information has also evolved and the modern customer has been introduced. I would love to share my experience on how I have demonstrated this new modern customer through my travels across the United States.

What is the Modern Customer?

The modern customer relies on peers for guidance. They value experience. They demand instant resolutions and expect customized attention. As a result, modern customers prefer to be reached through social and messaging versus the telephone, which requires all industries to adapt to reach their consumers.

Booking Travel

Companies can no longer rely on generic advertising or planning travel through a phone call or travel agent. Most of the trips I have planned have been done through digital applications, including Hopper or Skyscanner, where you are able to set up flight or hotel watches that are customized to the dates, airlines or other requirements when booking travel. I also heavily rely on customer reviews through sites like Yelp or TripAdvisor to ensure the hotel is safe, clean, and any other feedback I may want to consider as a consumer.

Booked this day trip to Mount Rainier, WA through Viator, a tourism company, based on feedback I found on Tripadvisor

Social Media’s Role

Once I have my location, flights, and hotel booked, my favorite part of planning travel is figuring out my itinerary of what activities I want to do, places I want to see and restaurants I want to try. I have heavily relied on social media platforms including Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest to see what places people are tagging photos of, what people are talking about in that city, or top recommendations of things to do. All these social channels help improve the experience I will have on that trip and the memories I will make.

Discovered this awesome outdoor sculpture installation through Instagram at Seven Magic Mountains in Nevada

Impact

For travel companies to stay up to date and present with the modern customer, they must adapt. Listening to travelers’ feedback and reviews, learning about what can improve somebody’s travel experience, and loving their customers enough to improve that customer experience is critical to be successful. Sprinklr’s Unified Front-Office Platform helps travel brands and companies across all industries gain actionable insights to make their customers happier.

Conclusion

Overall, I could not have imagined traveling across the United States without help from social channels. My adventures were made better because of feedback and insights from peers. I exemplify the modern customer and I can only hope that all hotels, airlines, and other travel brands listen, learn and love their customers through a Unified-CXM platform like Sprinklr.