A-ROSA River Cruises has introduced artificial intelligence to its customer service offering through a partnership with German tech company Alyza.
AI is being used to automatically analyse phone calls and emails with customers and sales partners to deliver real-time metrics and support staff during consultations.
The company says ‘significant improvements’ are already visible within months of the launch, with AI making booking processes are more efficient, increasing conversion rates and reducing the number of standard inquiries.
A-ROSA said the purpose of the move to AI was to reduce the number of ‘avoidable contacts’ with customers, to free up staff time to spend on personal consultation and building customer relationships.
AI is used to vet calls and emails for context – for customers and employees who have given prior consent – and then informs A-ROSA staff of the reasons for contact, sentiment, and resolution rates, offering with practical coaching tips. It also identifies processes that it says can be improved or further automated.
Alyza evaluates the success and friendliness of conversations and provides improvement tips, on which A-ROSA is developing a tailored coaching concept for its call centre team, as well as highlighting what is already working well.
“Our analyses show an above-average resolution rate in consultations,” said Alyza chief executive Markus Stumpe. “And when it comes to friendliness, A-ROSA is actually the top performer.”
During the first six months of the project up to mid-September, around 22,000 calls were recorded, each averaging about five minutes.
The share of avoidable service calls, particularly in the areas of travel information and payments, has been reduced by 45% and booking completions via phone have increased by 89%.
“With Alyza, we’ve found a solution that supports our growth while also improving our service,” said Rolf-Dieter Maltzahn, managing director of A-ROSA. “Our employees gain valuable time for genuine consultation – and our customers benefit from faster responses.”