Build #3 - thoughts on projects and a really successful experiment
Today I share a case on how we tested a thesis, quick and dirty, in order to risk-mitigate before further investments.
Four weeks ago we had an idea, three weeks ago we launched a non-scalable experiment, and today we have generated booking requests as a direct effect of that experiment for more than $75.000, in one market (Denmark).
The background and how we did it
At TrueStory, we have spent the last years making sure that we offer our instant booking availability on as many of our experiences as possible. The instant booking option is necessary in order to provide the best possible buying and booking experience for our customers.
The biggest challenge in that pursuit, has been our getaways and hotel-experiences.
Thesis: Adding a booking option/service to our Stays-category will substantially increase our conversion rate in that category and our overall booking volume.
In order to archive that instant booking option, you need full integrations to the hotels and/or to the so-called "Channel Managers" or similar tech-heavy approach. Building those flows is heavy lifting, both in terms of time and money.
We are ready to make that investment, however, we felt that we needed some clear and crisp data to strengthen that thesis, before taking that bigger leap. In cases like that, our strategy is always to build a case that justifies further investments in a cheap, and in many cases a not-scalable way.
The way we wanted to test the thesis
👉🏼 A manual booking service - call or send in your booking request and we will make it happen for you.
👉🏼 Coordinate the booking with the hotel partner and the customer, trying to have the booking confirmed and settled as quickly as possible
👉🏼 If the request is not possible to fulfill, our agent will offer an alternative, which adds a new layer of service to the user experience.
[English]: Let us help you book the experience. Together we sort out all the details and your wishes. From there we will book the stay for you - easy and quick.
“Who is gonna wake up thinking about this?”
The idea and layout is important, but of no use if we don’t match the experiment with the right project owner. My long-time business partner and now chairman often ask the question "Who is gonna wake up in the morning thinking about this?", when new projects and opportunities are being discussed.
We needed that person for this experiment as well. Fortunately, I knew of a great guy with 10+ years of experience in the hospitality industry in several different countries, who were out of work because of Covid-19. A guy that knows A LOT about exactly what this project is all about; hospitality, service, booking handling etc.
So we made a deal with him and started the experiment.
Did the thesis prove out to be right?
We have been running the experiment for close to 4 weeks now. By just utilizing the traffic and demand that we have, the numbers speak for themselves.
👉🏼 500.000 kroner ($75.000) in direct booking requests.
Only in Denmark - revenue that is added on top of our normal revenue for that category (7 digits years in USD).
What now?
The current service is very obviously not a sustainable way to go, neither is it the ideal user experience. But what the last 4 weeks have provided, is very important proof that our theses hold true and that we can now invest in the next phase of the project with a calm, confident outset, based in the non-scalable version.
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