Designing travel sites that sell: Andrew Simpson, Tourism Tiger
“In web design, you always have to assume that the people on the site are very lazy. A lot of the time, they won't look for that information. So even operators that have everything on the website can still benefit from having live chat software …”
— Andrew Simpson, Tourism Tiger
How does Tourism Tiger get results for their clients? We spoke to Andrew Simpson, Head of TigerCare to learn how the tawk.to widget supports customers while giving tour operators the freedom to do what they do best.
1 - First of all, can you tell us about your business?
Tourism Tiger is a company that builds websites for tour operators. So we're in the web design and the tourism industry. Once we build those websites, we offer a monthly service, post launch. And the whole point of that service is to make sure the sites stay up to date. We advise on how to make them the best they can be on a technical level as well as a content level. In the case that the clients need to add new pages, make any changes, ask for advice, ask any questions ... the monthly service is there to help them with all of that.
2 - How do you use tawk.to at Tourism Tiger?
We use it as a value-add for our clients. We recommend it to them because, a lot of the time, they have very simple questions that get asked over email or call. So they have to take the time to email, to answer those questions, or answer those calls when they could be out on tours.
So the way we use it is we recommend it to clients who have those issues — those communication or those time issues. We say, “Hey, this tawk.to. It's really easy-to-use live chat software. It works great with our websites. It's super easy to install too.” They could set up an account that very day and then have it on the site so it helps [their customers] get those answers.
3 - Why did you choose to partner with tawk.to?
The whole reason we started the company and are running the company, honestly, is so that our clients can have effective websites. I'd say the clients that get questions more often are going to be the ones that do custom or non-private tours. But even on websites that have pretty strict "here are the tour details, here's the departure time," and what not … It's funny. In web design, you always have to assume that the people on the site are very lazy.
A lot of the time, they won't look for that information. So even operators that have everything on the website can still benefit from having live chat software because it really just allows them to answer a lot of questions and save a lot of time and focus more on giving their tours.
If you're a visitor to the website, think of it from their perspective. They don't like to wait for emails, right? If I send in a contact form and I have a very simple question and it takes a day and a half for me to get a reply, it's very possible that I could have gone and looked for another website where I see that question is easily answered.
4 - What made tawk.to stand out a solution?
I would say there are a few things. Number one is the features. I think the triggers [feature], for example, is my favorite. When someone gets to a certain page, you can send them a message and kind of start that conversation. Because [for] a lot of operators, once they get that conversation started, it's easier for them to get a sale from that. So triggers are a very good way to get conversations started in different cases, whether they go to the contact page or when they look at a specific tour, for example.
tawk.to is very easy to match to the theme styles. We give them the color codes that we use on the site and they put it in a tawk.to account. Super easy. And then back to what I mentioned earlier, it's extremely easy to install on the site. As the people who really manage the websites, that's what we really like. Very hassle-free, I'll say.
5 - What benefits are you seeing as a result of sharing tawk.to?
I would say the real answer is it's a win-win for our customers and Tourism Tiger or TigerCare. Because our customers are getting live chat software, it saves them time. Saves them stress in a lot of ways too. And they get to spend that time giving tours or talking to us, for example. And then if they can spend more time doing that, talking to us, they get more value out of our service as well, which is obviously a win for us.
6 - What advice can you share with new partners at tawk.to?
The biggest piece of advice would definitely be to dive into the features. It's a very good customizable live chat software and a lot of people, you know, they just get that basic setup and then they're done.
But going back to the triggers, right, a lot of people overlook that. A lot of clients have talked to us about it, for example.
The more you look at those features and the more you look at the customization, the more weight you're lifting off your shoulders by using the chat software. So definitely my advice would be diving into the features — really taking the time to learn all that's possible with tawk.to.
Learn more about Tourism Tiger and get in touch here: Tourism Tiger Web Design