Bob will assist you now

An AI-powered chatbot built by hoteliers and targeting the world’s hospitality industry is finally gaining traction post-lockdowns.  BookMeBob is a Kiwi success story four years in the making.

When you look at David Thompson’s resumé, it’s easy to understand why he says hospitality management is in his blood. With a career stretching back 27 years and spanning New Zealand, Australia and the US, he’s got a pretty solid understanding of the industry and what drives it.

And what drives it can be summed up in one word – bookings.

This is where BookMeBob excels.

Four years ago, after Air New Zealand’s AI-assistant Oscar had made its debut, David was encouraged to look into other verticals for artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

While researching successful chatbot projects out there the name Andy Dharmani kept reappearing.

He quickly organised a meeting with Andy to discuss an AI-based product for hotel web-pages; one that could handle foreign languages and multiple currencies, make bookings, and come across as very human-like.

Andy’s resulting prototype proved impressive, and David was happy to provide the seed money and develop the project further.

“I walked away from my head office role in December 2019, mortgaged the house and three months before covid, flew to Bali,” he remembers.

“Back then Bali was the world’s tourism capital. There were around 300 hotels in the space of just five miles. I thought if I could just get one on board with BookMeBob we’d be off and running.”

David came back with not just one signed contract, but 20.

Unfortunately, events around the world were about to spoil BookMeBob’s launch party. China went into lockdown after the Wuhan outbreak, New Zealand and the rest of the world soon followed. With the business totally dependent on the hotel industry, David describes their situation in early 2020 as a “train wreck”.

But this was no time to give up. They quickly pivoted their customer service solution to the hairdressing industry and retirement homes. Both industries took time to catch on, but there was further encouragement when David’s old hotel school contacts, many now running major international hotels, started calling up to request BookMeBob’s chatbot technology. With covid’s impact on hotel staffing levels, there was suddenly an urgent need for chatbots.

BookMeBob was soon active in nine countries. Microsoft, which has the Azure AI platform, selected it as a partner to grow the presence of its technology internationally. The software giant was impressed by how the chatbot was built with input from experienced hoteliers.

BookMeBob’s AI can now answer 400,000 hotel-related questions in 13 languages including simplified and traditional Chinese, opening up sales opportunities across China and Hong Kong.

Acquiring the FernMark¹ in June 2020 gave the chatbot solution even more credibility and proved a turning point for sales.

Far and wide

Today BookMeBob has a development team of less than ten, but a network of resellers. There are clients across the US, including the 400-hotel Highgate chain, and David’s “hero client”, the 450-room five-star Turtle Bay Resort, which the chatbot helps to convert around $200,000 per month in revenue.

BookMeBob is essentially a conversion tool that captures sales when potential customers either directly or indirectly come from discount sites to their clients’ web pages, explains David. It means clients not having to cover commissions on the various discount sites.

“BookMeBob drives direct bookings, improves the customer experience and collects priceless data for the hotels. It delivers extremely valuable customer insights that you wouldn’t have received in pre-chatbot times.

“Another benefit of our technology is that it is transferable from industry to industry and suitable for all hotels, from five-star to three-star.”

Client on-boarding speed has accelerated in the past three years too he says – going from laboriously filling in Excel spreadsheets to up and running in just three to four hours.

Changing mindsets

While the pandemic threatened to bring the hospitality industry to its knees, David sees the irony in it also creating a receptive environment for hoteliers to embrace technology like BookMeBob. “There’s a very different mindset out there now,” he says.

On the subject of mindsets, David has some good advice for other tech start-ups too. You may have a great product and know it’s a no-brainer, but if the client or market is not convinced, never give up.

“Nine times out of ten it’s timing. The client may not be in a position to accept or understand your product right then,” he says.

“The sad thing for me is that I’ve had my greatest sales successes overseas, not in New Zealand. Yet I know all the industry players and hotels in this country. But thankfully that’s changing. Realise that, unfortunately, sometimes you’ve first got to head overseas to be successful.”

There’s advice on raising capital too. “Hold out on your morals for the right investor. You may have to turn down several investors before you find the right one.”

No looking back

With an ROI of up to $1000 for every $1 invested, depending on the hotel, plus increased bookings and the additional data captured by the chatbot, David and Andy’s technology is understandably taking off. David says the time savings mean human resources can be rediverted to other duties. Phone calls are reduced by 20 to 30 percent, and from six to ten percent of all bookings now come direct via the chatbot – attracting no commission.

Looking ahead, David’s keen for BookMeBob to become the fastest unicorn in New Zealand. He believes he has the business foundations and blueprint to do it, including the backing of a cornerstone investor from South Australia – Capitality Pty Ltd, owned and operated by David and Lucille Uhrig.

He’s grateful for the advice and support he’s received along the way. There’s Andy, who has been his “AI brains” and now heads the US BookMeBob office in Nashville, and Sir John Key, whom he met several times while managing New Zealand hotels.

“At the 2019 New Zealand Hotel Association Conference and wearing his ANZ chairman’s hat, Sir John urged the industry to seriously look at embracing new emerging technologies such as AI. I’ve never forgotten that, and it inspired me more,” recalls David.

Hotel magnate Sudesh Jhunjhnuwala, who went from refugee to rich-lister, has been a business moral compass too. “He has also given me some good, honest advice along the way,” says David.

It seems to be the one common thread that humans and chatbots have in common: an inbuilt desire to assist others.