Never before have we had access to the depth and breadth of customer data to deliver personalized compelling customer experiences. Mobile has changed the realm of the possible and is playing an increasingly important role in every industry. Nowhere is this truer than for brands in the travel and hospitality industries. These brands have the ability to use their customers’ mobile context—information that subscribers opt to share about their behavior like where they like to go or how they prefer to receive messages—to develop personalized interactions with customers on their mobile device that make travel experiences easier and more engaging.
Yet we must also consider the critical role brands play in safeguarding the customer when borrowing the customer’s data. The data we are using is information that reveals where travelers are staying, when they’ll be away from home, and what they’re planning to do. This data can present a serious privacy concern if used in the wrong way. For this reason, putting a plan in place to address the complexities of data privacy is an imperative that all travel companies must address.
Let’s take a closer look at the concerns by considering the data that travelers create with their mobile devices when they monitor flight statuses, check-in to hotels, and use location-based services to find restaurants. The data explains preferences, purchase intention, location and time-away. Brands that fail to manage data properly run the risk of exposing customer data to malicious parties. The ramifications from the lack of data security not only result in financial consequences, but also a loss of trust in the company and its reputation. For these reasons, it’s imperative that travel companies handle consumer data securely by partnering with the right suppliers that ensure the customer is put first.
But where do travel managers begin in finding these suppliers? It starts with diligently vetting a company. Travel managers should consider the following critical questions:
- How much experience does the company have in handling consumer data?
- Does the company follow best practices to ensure data privacy?
- Does it understand the risks for your brand and the people that will be affected if data is mismanaged?
- Does it understand the data security elements it needs to have in place, such as high-quality telecommunication routes, encryption at rest, single sign-on, and password management?
- Does it make password management easy for customers to use?
- Does it ultimately put the customer first? Does it understand that the data belongs to the customer and we are borrowing the information for the customer’s benefit?
Another part of data privacy is the importance of using high-quality data. Data quality is at the center of protecting both your brand and the customer. For example, if a service doesn’t have correct phone numbers for travelers, those people won’t get the notification that a flight is delayed. Similarly, if a traveler tried to access a website and the site didn’t recognize the user, the site may verify the identity using a one-time password sent to the traveler’s mobile device through text. But what happens if that person doesn’t receive the password? Sending messages to a person who never receives it represents just one example of what can go wrong when companies do not use high-quality data.
With this in mind, one of the most important things that brands need to understand about data privacy is that customers own their data: The way that brands obtain customer information needs to be decided by the customers. In this way, it’s vital that brands are transparent about how they plan to use the customers’ data. Failing to follow this simple rule increases the risk of losing customers, damaging a brand’s reputation, and hurting the bottom line.
In sum, mobile offers an unparalleled opportunity for brands to provide rewarding customer experiences. But mobile can also create major vulnerabilities, and it’s therefore critical to get mobile data privacy right. The No. 1 way to get this right is to ensure data privacy best practices by partnering with suppliers that always put the customer first.
About the Author
Rob Hammond is the senior director of mobile engagement, enterprise and intelligence solutions for Syniverse.
