When last did you analyse your enquiry page?

Enquiry forms are often forgotten about in the full time quest to continuously refresh content and ensure functionality on travel websites. Yet they have such an impact on the user experience and should be one of the most strategic pages on your website. Your enquiry page and process is the last opportunity you have to ensure that potential clients take cognisance of their interaction with your website (assuming that most potential clients have been shopping at your competitors’ site too!) and await your response with confidence.

I for one have sent off many enquiries to various websites with a somewhat fatalistic view about whether I would receive a response or if my enquiry form would even be delivered efficiently and in tact. In contrast, sending an enquiry and receiving an immediate automated response in my inbox instills confidence in a website’s systems and their ability to return with the information and answers I have requested.

Don’t just go and change your enquiry form without seriously thinking about what its purpose is. Make sure you look at your competitors’ enquiry forms and also pay attention next time you send any online enquiries. You may have generated your enquiry form at the launch of your website or company and not re-evaluated it since. Go through it carefully and get rid of the fields that ask for information that neither you nor your travel consultants use to respond effectively.

Try to make the enquiry form concise, easy to complete and as short as possible. Obviously there will be information you require in order to quote or begin discussions but make sure that it is relevant. Think for the user and second guess the information that he might write in your comments field. Have drop down options that he can click on instead of writing them and make the entire form look good! If you can guarantee a response in a certain time period be sure to include this at the end of the form. This immediately gives the user confidence in your company and its ability to respond quickly.

Once the enquiry form is submitted make sure there is the obligatory “Thank you for sending us an enquiry” page and perhaps reiterate what process you will follow in order to get back to them in good time and with relevant information. For example:

“Thank you for contacting Online Travel Company, we guarantee a 24 hour response time to your enquiry. One of our consultants will get back to you with the information you require within 24 hours. Rest assured that all our consultants will use their travel expertise and experience to create your ideal holiday.”

This is obviously a broad example and your message needs to be strategically aligned to your product or service offering. At this point I also suggest you send an automated email response to the client letting him know that his enquiry has been received, is being worked on and that someone will respond as soon as possible.
 
Last impressions count! Make sure you don’t ruin your users experience with a cumbersome, clumsy enquiry form that asks for more information than is necessary.
It’s always in the details that the difference between an average website and a brilliant website is identified. On the surface two competing websites could look and feel the same. They could both have great content, good visual impact and clever usability on first glance. However, when it comes to the actual moment when a potential client is going to connect with you how easy do you make it for them to experience this as a positive act.