How EGL tours achieves 30% sales growth with an omnichannel CRM

EGL Tours, a renowned Hong Kong-listed travel agency established in 1987, has been a pioneer in offering diverse travel services. Their offerings span from guided tours, self-guided travel packages, to booking flights, hotels, car rentals, and transportation tickets.

Key Challenges

Overwhelming online enquiries from multiple communication channels

As EGL Tours enhanced their presence on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, they encountered a significant increase in online inquiries. Their diverse product offerings, including complex themed and multi-destination packages, prompted customers to reach out through various channels such as social media DMs, emails, phone calls, store visits, and multiple WhatsApp Business numbers. The team had to manually handle these inquiries, a process that became increasingly challenging outside of office hours, risking customer loss due to delayed responses.

Lack of insights into conversion rates from online advertising effort

Another challenge for EGL Tours was gaining accurate insights into the conversion rates of their marketing campaigns. The absence of a centralized system for tracking customer interactions across different platforms made it difficult to correlate online inquiries with actual bookings. This limitation significantly affected their ability to assess the impact of their online marketing efforts, which was vital for optimizing marketing strategies and enhancing sales performance.

SleekFlow’s solution for the travel industry

EGL Tours Hong Kong uses SleekFlow to integrate WhatsApp Business API and Facebook page into their operations, implementing an omnichannel strategy to adapt to new consumer behavior and grow their business. 

1. Automating 'comment-to-get-offer' Facebook campaigns for increased enquiries

EGL Tours has capitalized on their large Facebook following by running flash sale campaigns and comment-to-win contests, which heightened customer engagement. Utilizing SleekFlow, they set up auto-replies to instantly provide basic information to those expressing interest through comments. This approach was particularly effective for straightforward offers, where customers received direct booking links. For more complex campaigns involving varied pricing and options, such as concerts or sports events, inquiries were redirected to WhatsApp for detailed follow-up. 

The snowball effect is incredible. Each time someone engages with our content, the Facebook algorithm understands that users want to see more, and it helps us get seen more in the news feed of audiences with similar interests.

Henry Lee

Head of Marketing & PR, EGL Tours Hong Kong

This approach proved highly effective, as seen in a Cathay Pacific 'buy one, get one free' ticket campaign, which attracted over 3000 inquiries and achieved a conversion rate of more than 10%, a substantial improvement in managing and converting a high volume of customer interactions.

2. Streamlining complex enquiries with a WhatsApp chatbot for efficient follow-up

With SleekFlow's capability to support more than 30 users' access to a single phone number, EGL Tours has been using WhatsApp API as their main customer communication channel. By incorporating an easy WhatsApp call-to-action on print ads, social media ads, or TV commercials, customers can seamlessly follow up on their initial interest and continue their engagement across different channels. WhatsApp has proved to be an exceptionally popular channel; the brand has acquired more than 100,000 contacts in just 6 months.

EGL Tours has developed a WhatsApp chatbot that presents a list of options and interactive buttons, guiding customers to specify their interests in services such as travel packages, hotel preferences, or departure details. This automated initial data collection allows for the immediate assignment of customer queries to the appropriate travel consultant. They can also respond quickly with relevant, tailored information, whether on the desktop or through the SleekFlow mobile app. The implementation of this streamlined system has significantly reduced response times, saving up to two working days previously spent manually sorting through numerous messages.

3. Enhancing conversions with cost-effective WhatsApp retargeting broadcasts

EGL Tours, leveraging SleekFlow’s platform, has adeptly utilized WhatsApp for targeted pre-sales messages and promotions. They have created segmented pools of customers based on their previous interests in specific events or packages, such as concerts or sports events like the F1 races. This approach enabled EGL Tours to send tailored promotional content, directly appealing to customers' known preferences.

A prime example of this strategy's success was the campaign for a farewell concert by Japanese idol Nogizaka46, which saw a conversion rate of over 30% from more than 400 inquiries. This targeted retargeting approach, focusing on customers with demonstrated interest, has led to substantial savings in marketing costs. Instead of broad outreach, EGL Tours concentrated on engaging customers who had previously shown interest in their offerings.

By targeting the right audience with relevant offers, EGL Tours ensured higher engagement and better conversion rates, making their marketing efforts not only more efficient but also more cost-effective. This strategy allowed for confident planning and resource allocation, based on the specific interests and engagement levels of their customer base.

Just a simple act of sending a promotional WhatsApp message can result in hundreds of responses. This helps our operations team confidently plan early-bird sales and budget for events, flights, and hotels.

Henry Lee

Head of PR and Marketing, EGL Tours Hong Kong

Growing the business by 30% with chat-based marketing

Since using SleekFlow, EGL Tours has seen a 30% increase in overall sales, with 70% of these sales partially attributed to its WhatsApp channel. 

It's not just about better promotions; it's about really understanding what works. With SleekFlow, we can see how effective our campaigns are, gauge customer interest, and improve our sales strategies. It has given us the confidence to push our marketing further and has significantly driven our business growth.

Henry Lee

Head of Marketing & PR, EGL Tours Hong Kong

About EGL Tours

EGL Tours is a leading travel agency in Hong Kong. The business is split into three categories: Travel and Travel-Related Services Business, Sale of Goods, and Hotel Operation. Many international organizations and government agencies have acknowledged the company's exceptional services. For example, the company has been designated as the tourism ambassador for a number of Japanese prefectures, including Miyazaki, Ishikawa, and Wakayama. Trip Advisor named it the Travellers' Favorite travel agency in 2018.