What Happens When a Customer Is Ready to Talk — and You Aren’t?
There is a problem I keep hearing when I talk with lodge and resort owners.
It isn’t their online visibility on their mind.
It’s the overload of answering telephone questions.
And it certainly isn’t that lodge owners don’t want to talk with potential guests.
The problem is much simpler.
Sometimes the customer is ready to have the conversation at exactly the same time the lodge owner is busy doing something else.
You might be on the lake.
You might be fixing a motor.
You might be cleaning cabins.
You might be picking up guests.
You might finally be eating supper.
Or maybe someone calls while you simply don’t have the booking calendar, rate sheet, or other information sitting in front of you.
So the phone rings.
You miss it.
They leave a message.
You call them back.
They don’t answer.
They call again while you’re busy.
And now a person who was interested enough to pick up the phone is somewhere in the middle of a game of telephone tag.
Most lodge owners understand this situation immediately.
But here’s the question I think is worth asking:
What actually happens to all of those inquiries?
Some turn into bookings.
Some call again.
Some send an email.
Some come back a week later.
And some probably disappear.
The difficult part is that you may never know how many disappeared.
There isn’t always a notification that says:
“This person was ready to book a fishing trip, but they found another operation while waiting for you to call back.”
They simply move on.
That is one of the problems I’ve been thinking about as I’ve been working on the new iFishCanada Voice Assistant.
But before talking about the technology, I think we should look more carefully at the problem.
Because this isn’t really an AI problem.
It’s a customer-service problem.
And it starts with a simple question.
When Someone Contacts Your Lodge, What Happens Now?
Think about a typical potential customer.
Maybe there are four anglers from Minnesota planning next summer’s fishing trip.
They have probably already been looking at websites.
They may have several lodges open on their phones.
They have questions.
What species can we fish for?
Are boats included?
Do we bring our own food?
Is this housekeeping or American Plan?
How many people can stay in the cabin?
How do we get there?
Do you have guides?
What kind of equipment should we bring?
What are the rates?
What dates are available?
Can you accommodate six people?
Can someone in our group who doesn’t fish come along?
Can we bring our own boat?
What is the best time of year for walleye?
None of these are bad questions.
In fact, they’re good questions.
They are often signs that someone is seriously considering the trip.
But consider what happens on your side of that conversation.
How many of those questions have you answered before?
Ten times?
A hundred times?
A thousand times?
Now ask yourself another question:
How much of your day should be spent repeatedly answering information that your business already knows?
That’s where this conversation becomes more interesting.
Because I’m not suggesting lodge owners should stop talking with customers.
Quite the opposite.
I think lodge owners should have more time for the conversations where their personal knowledge actually matters.
Special situations.
Group requirements.
Advice about the trip.
Questions that need judgment.
Building trust.
Helping someone decide whether your lodge is right for them.
Closing the booking.
Those are valuable conversations.
Explaining for the 300th time what time check-in begins?
Maybe technology can help with that.
Your Website Already Has Information. The Problem Is Finding It.
Most lodge websites contain a surprising amount of useful information.
Rates.
Cabins.
Packages.
Fishing.
Directions.
Photos.
What to bring.
Meal information.
Boat information.
Policies.
Contact details.
Frequently asked questions.
The problem is that we’ve traditionally made the customer search for all of it.
A normal website basically says:
“Here are all my pages. Go find what you need.”
That works.
We’ve all used websites that way for years.
But there may be another way to handle the same information.
Instead of asking the visitor to search through the website, what if the visitor could simply ask:
“There are four of us coming from Minnesota. We want good walleye fishing and our own cabin. What should we know?”
Now we are moving from a website that stores information toward a website that can help someone use that information.
That is the idea I’m currently testing with the iFishCanada Voice Assistant.
But I want to be careful here.
Because as soon as I say something like that, experienced business owners should start asking harder questions.
And they should.
“What Happens When It Gives Somebody the Wrong Answer?”
This may be the most important question.
An AI assistant that responds instantly isn’t very useful if the answer is wrong.
Imagine someone asking about:
- current rates;
- package details;
- boat availability;
- pet policies;
- check-in times;
- transportation;
- what is included;
- group limits;
- fishing seasons;
- special requirements.
If the assistant confidently gives somebody outdated or incorrect information, we haven’t solved a customer-service problem.
We’ve created one.
So I don’t think the right question is:
“Can AI answer customer questions?”
It obviously can answer questions.
The better question is:
“How do we make sure it is answering from information we trust?”
That’s where the quality of the business information becomes important.
An assistant should not simply be turned loose to make things up.
The goal is to give it useful information about the operation so it has a reliable base to work from.
And there will still be questions where the right response should effectively be:
“I need the lodge owner to help you with that.”
That isn’t a failure.
That’s exactly what we want.
Automation should handle the routine work and help identify the situations where a person needs to become involved.
“Who Keeps All This Information Up to Date?”
Here’s another fair question.
Lodge information changes.
Rates change.
Packages change.
Staff changes.
Equipment changes.
Cabins change.
Policies change.
Sometimes what was correct six months ago isn’t correct today.
The last thing a busy owner needs is another piece of technology that requires hours of maintenance.
If the system creates more work than it removes, then we haven’t accomplished very much.
That means keeping the information current has to be part of the system.
And this is one reason I don’t believe lodge owners should begin by trying to automate everything.
Start with the information that is:
Frequently asked.
Relatively predictable.
Useful to customers.
Easy to keep accurate.
Then expand from there.
This is the same approach I take with other lodge automation.
Start small.
Find the repetitive task.
Automate that.
See what happens.
Then build the next part.
We don’t need twenty new systems.
We need a few systems that solve real problems.
“Can It Actually Book My Lodge?”
This is another place where we have to separate what sounds exciting from what is practical.
There is a big difference between:
answering questions about a lodge
and
making a confirmed reservation.
A confirmed booking can involve live availability, deposits, group details, room assignments, special requests and other information.
For some operations, connecting more of those systems may eventually make sense.
But that does not mean every lodge needs to jump straight into fully automated booking.
There is value much earlier in the process.
Imagine a customer has already told the assistant:
There are six people.
They’re looking at the second week of June.
They want housekeeping.
They’re interested mainly in walleye.
They’re driving from Minnesota.
And they would like someone to contact them about availability.
Now compare that with seeing:
Missed call: 1-218-555-XXXX
Those are two completely different starting points for your follow-up.
In the first situation, you already understand something about what the customer wants.
You aren’t beginning the conversation from zero.
The Bigger Opportunity May Be Better Follow-Up
This is where I think lodge owners should pay attention.
Capturing an inquiry is useful.
But understanding the inquiry before you respond may be even more useful.
Imagine opening your computer in the morning and seeing:
Inquiry One
Four anglers.
Interested in walleye.
Looking at late May.
Asked about boats and housekeeping cabins.
Would like information about availability.
Inquiry Two
Family of five.
Two anglers and three non-anglers.
Asked about cabin facilities, local activities and meal options.
Planning an August trip.
Inquiry Three
Returning to Canada after several years.
Group of eight.
Interested in guided fishing.
Asked about border crossing information and what equipment to bring.
Think about how much better your return conversation could be.
Instead of:
“Hi, you called me yesterday?”
You could begin with:
“I saw that you’re planning a trip for eight people and you’re interested in guided fishing. Let me walk you through what might work.”
Now the technology hasn’t replaced the personal touch.
It has prepared you to provide a better personal touch.
That matters.
Lodge Owners Don’t Want to Become Less Personal
I understand why some owners are cautious about automation.
Hospitality businesses are built around people.
Guests return because of memories.
They remember the owner.
They remember the guides.
They remember the shore lunch.
They remember the conversation around the dock.
They remember the person who helped their kid catch their first big fish.
Nobody wants to turn that experience into a cold, automated transaction.
And I don’t think we should.
The purpose of automation should be to take care of some of the repetitive work so people have more time to be people.
If you’re spending less time copying information, writing routine updates, answering the same basic question and manually moving information from one system to another, you can spend more time where your personal attention actually matters.
That’s the same principle behind the other automation work I’ve been developing for lodges.
Let automation handle routine production.
Let people handle relationships.
“Will My Customers Even Use It?”
Good question.
I don’t think anyone should assume every customer suddenly wants to speak to an AI assistant.
Some people will call.
Some will email.
Some will use a contact form.
Some will message you on Facebook.
And some will want to ask a question directly through a website.
The point isn’t to force customers into one communication method.
The point is to give them another useful option.
Someone sitting at their computer at 10:30 at night may not want to call you.
But they may have a question.
If they can get useful information immediately, they can continue planning their trip while their interest is high.
Then, when they’re ready for a person, we want to make that transition easy.
That’s why I don’t think the goal should ever be:
“Keep customers away from the owner.”
The goal is:
“Help the customer until the owner’s personal attention adds the most value.”
“How Does Someone Reach a Real Person?”
This needs to be easy.
There should never be a battle between the customer and the technology.
We’ve all had experiences where automated customer service becomes a wall.
Press one.
Press two.
Repeat yourself.
Get transferred.
Start again.
That isn’t the model I’m interested in.
If a person wants the lodge owner, wants to make a booking, has a complicated question or simply prefers dealing with a human being, the system should help move them toward that conversation.
Automation should remove friction.
It should not become another layer of friction.
“What Exactly Are You Collecting?”
Another important question.
If someone is simply asking:
“When is the best time for walleye?”
there may not be any reason to turn that into a lead.
But if the conversation changes to:
“We have six people interested in coming in June. Can someone tell us what’s available?”
now we have a real inquiry.
At that point useful information might include things such as:
- name;
- contact information;
- approximate dates;
- group size;
- type of trip;
- questions they asked;
- what they are interested in.
The important word there is useful.
I don’t think the goal should be collecting information just because we can.
The goal is helping the business understand the potential guest well enough to make follow-up easier.
“How Much Time Will This Really Save Me?”
This is harder to answer with one number.
Every operation is different.
One owner may already have somebody answering calls all day.
Another may be running the lodge almost single-handedly.
One operation may get a huge number of repetitive questions.
Another may rely heavily on repeat customers who already understand how everything works.
That’s why I think the better starting point is to examine what is happening in your operation now.
Ask yourself:
How many inquiries do we receive in a normal week?
How many arrive while nobody is available?
Which questions do we answer repeatedly?
How much time do we spend answering those questions?
How often do we play phone tag?
How often does someone ask for information we already have somewhere on the website?
How much information do we have about a lead before we call them back?
Those answers tell us much more than a generic promise that “AI will save you time.”
“Do I Even Have Enough Inquiries for This to Matter?”
Now we’re getting to the question that really matters.
Because an automation only has value if it solves a meaningful problem.
If your phone hardly rings and your lodge is already full for the next two years, an inquiry assistant might not be your biggest problem.
Maybe your real problem is something else.
Maybe you need more new customers.
Maybe your website isn’t getting found.
Maybe you don’t create enough content.
Maybe you have hundreds of great guest photos sitting unused.
Maybe your social media hasn’t been updated for six months.
Maybe you’re overly dependent on one booking source.
Maybe you need better follow-up with past guests.
Those are different problems.
And they need different solutions.
That’s why I’m much more interested in asking owners:
“What is taking your time right now?”
And:
“Where are potential customers getting stuck?”
Then we can look at whether automation helps.
The product should follow the problem.
Not the other way around.
This Is Not About Adding Another Gadget to Your Website
That’s probably the easiest mistake to make.
If this is just:
“Hey, look at this neat AI voice thing!”
then it will be interesting for five minutes.
And then everyone goes back to work.
What interests me is what happens when the system becomes part of a larger process.
Someone discovers your business.
They have questions.
They get useful answers.
Their interest becomes an inquiry.
The important information from that inquiry is captured.
You can see what they were looking for.
You follow up personally.
That is a process.
And once we start thinking in terms of the process, we can ask much better questions.
Where do customers currently drop out?
Where does the owner lose time?
Where are the repetitive tasks?
Where does information get lost?
Where should a human become involved?
What should never be automated?
That’s how I think lodge automation should be built.
There Is Another Side to This: Getting People to Your Website
This is also important.
A fantastic inquiry system doesn’t accomplish very much if nobody discovers your business.
That’s why I continue to see content, search visibility and social media as an important part of the larger strategy.
Your lodge has stories.
Guest pictures.
Fishing experiences.
Local information.
Videos.
History.
Knowledge.
Questions customers ask every season.
All of that can become useful content.
That content can help people discover your business.
It can help them understand what makes your operation different.
And once they’re interested, tools such as an assistant can help with the next part of the customer journey.
So I don’t look at an AI assistant as a replacement for the rest of your marketing.
I look at it as another piece of the system.
First we get people interested.
Then we help them get information.
Then we capture serious inquiries.
Then people handle the relationship.
What Happens If You Do Nothing?
This is another question worth considering.
Not because every lodge needs AI tomorrow.
They don’t.
But because every business should occasionally look at its current process and ask whether it still makes sense.
If you continue handling inquiries exactly as you do now, what happens?
Maybe nothing.
Maybe your system works extremely well.
That’s useful to know.
But maybe you discover:
You spend hours answering the same questions.
You miss calls while doing other work.
Some inquiries never get followed up properly.
Potential customers struggle to find information.
You have no organized record of what people are asking.
Your website is mostly acting as a brochure.
And you’re constantly being interrupted by small questions when you should be doing higher-value work.
If that’s what’s happening, then there is probably room for improvement.
The solution may involve AI.
It may involve automation.
It may involve improving the website.
It may involve better forms.
It may involve a simple customer-management system.
It may involve several of these things working together.
But first we have to identify the constraint.
What Would Better Look Like?
Let’s turn the problem around.
Imagine someone discovers your lodge at 9:30 in the evening.
You’re nowhere near the office.
They have questions.
They ask those questions and get useful information.
They explain that there are four people planning a trip.
They give their approximate dates.
They leave their contact information.
They go to bed knowing more about your lodge than they did twenty minutes earlier.
You start the next morning.
Instead of a missed-call notification, you see the conversation.
You know what they wanted.
You know what they asked.
You know who needs a personal response.
So you call.
Now imagine that some of the routine questions that normally interrupt your day have already been handled.
You have more time for your guests.
More time for operations.
More time for the phone calls that actually require you.
And perhaps more time simply to run your business.
That’s what interests me.
Not AI for the sake of AI.
A better process.
But It Has to Earn Its Place
I’m still a big believer in testing.
A new system shouldn’t get a permanent place in your business simply because the technology sounds impressive.
It has to prove useful.
Does it answer the right questions?
Do customers use it?
Does it capture useful inquiries?
Does it reduce repetitive work?
Does it make follow-up easier?
Does it protect the personal nature of the business?
Where does it fail?
What information does it need?
What needs to be changed?
Those are the questions I want to learn from.
That’s why I’ve put the iFishCanada Voice Assistant into use.
I’m not interested in pretending every part of this is finished.
I’m interested in using it.
Testing it.
Finding the weaknesses.
Improving the information.
And seeing where it genuinely helps.
Try to Break It
So here’s what I’d like lodge and resort owners to do.
Don’t just open the assistant and ask:
“Where can I go fishing?”
Give it a real test.
Pretend you’re one of your own customers.
Ask something simple.
Then ask something harder.
Tell it your group size.
Tell it what kind of fishing you want.
Ask follow-up questions.
Ask an unusual question.
Ask something you think it shouldn’t know.
See how it responds.
Then think about your own lodge.
What are the ten questions you answer over and over?
What information would you trust an assistant to provide?
What information would you never want it answering without you?
When should it ask for contact information?
When should it tell the customer to speak with you?
What would you want to see the next morning?
Those questions are much more interesting to me than whether somebody thinks AI is exciting.
The Question Isn’t “Do You Want AI?”
I don’t think that’s a useful sales question.
Here’s the question I think matters:
When someone is interested in your lodge and you’re not available to answer them, what happens now?
Follow that one through.
Do they leave a message?
Do they wait?
Do they search the website?
Do they send an email?
Do they call another lodge?
Do they disappear?
And then ask:
What would you like to happen instead?
That’s the gap we’re trying to solve.
Maybe an AI assistant can solve part of it.
Maybe the answer is a broader automation system.
Maybe the bigger issue is getting more potential customers to the website in the first place.
That’s the conversation I’m interested in.
Because I don’t want to sell lodge owners more technology.
There is already plenty of technology.
I want to help build simple systems that take repetitive work away from owners and give them more time for the things only they can do.
The stories.
The hospitality.
The personal advice.
The guest experience.
The relationships that bring people back.
That’s where the human being belongs.
Let the machine handle some of the repetition.
Let the lodge owner handle the part people will remember.
Try the iFishCanada Voice Assistant
I’m currently testing the Fishing Trip Planner here on iFishCanada.
Try it the way a real traveler would.
Ask questions.
Push it.
Try to confuse it.
See where it works and where it doesn’t.
Then ask yourself one final question:
What would this look like if it knew the right information about my lodge?
If that gets you thinking about your own inquiry process, reply and tell me what you would want it to handle — and, just as importantly, what you would never want it to handle.
That’s the conversation worth having.
— Doug
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