Nai Hospitality Automates 89.7% of Contact Assignments Across 5 Channels with Respond.io

Nai Hospitality is an Airbnb and homestay management company in Malaysia. It manages guest communications across five booking and messaging channels, supporting customers from their initial inquiry through booking and throughout their stay.

The problem: Fragmented channels and systems made it difficult to keep up with guest inquiries

Before using respond.io, Nai Hospitality managed customer conversations separately across WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, Telegram and WeChat, with team members juggling multiple tabs and applications to check for new inquiries and respond to guests. This fragmented setup made it easy for messages to be missed, and in a hospitality business where customers often contact several accommodation providers before booking, delayed or unanswered responses could directly translate into lost reservations and revenue.

The WhatsApp Business App was another constraint, since the limited number of devices and users restricted how many team members could manage conversations simultaneously, putting a hard ceiling on the operation as inquiry volume increased.

On top of managing channels, agents also had to reference booking and guest details stored in Nai Hospitality's internal intranet, a separate system from wherever the conversation was happening. Answering even a simple guest question meant switching away from the chat to look something up, then switching back, adding friction to every interaction.

Managing handoffs between teams compounded the problem. Nai Hospitality had five operations agents and five business development agents handling different stages of the customer journey, but without a centralized system, reassigning conversations and keeping track of ownership required manual coordination. This created bottlenecks and increased the risk of inconsistent follow-up.

The respond.io solution: Centralize the guest journey and automate conversation management

Nai Hospitality chose customer conversation platform respond.io to bring its messaging channels into one workspace and create a more scalable process for managing guest inquiries. Its teams can now manage conversations across WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, Telegram and WeChat in one place while automating assignments and connecting customer conversations with its internal systems.

A shared inbox gives teams visibility across guest conversations

By using respond.io to centralize its messaging channels, Nai Hospitality’s agents no longer need to monitor multiple applications separately. Incoming inquiries appear in one shared inbox, giving the team a clear view of conversations across channels.

Customers often first contact Nai Hospitality through WhatsApp after discovering a listing or advertisement, but may message again from another channel, like WeChat. Regardless of the channel they use, agents can recognize the contact and manage the conversation from the same workspace.

This also improves visibility between business development and operations. Teams easily see who is handling each conversation and maintain context when an inquiry needs to be handed off, reducing the risk of missed messages or duplicated work.

Workflows automate routing between teams

Nai Hospitality uses respond.io’s Workflows automation to assign incoming conversations to the appropriate team member instead of relying on manual routing.

This creates a more consistent process as guests move through the customer journey. The business development team handles initial inquiries and bookings, while operations takes over when their involvement is required for support without relying on agents to manually coordinate every handoff.

Automating this process also makes it easier for Nai Hospitality to handle increasing inquiry volumes, including during shifts when fewer team members are available.

API integration connects conversations with internal booking data

Nai Hospitality has integrated respond.io with its intranet through custom APIs, allowing its communication and operational systems to work together more closely.

Agents can retrieve relevant booking information and customer details while staying in the chat with no need to move between separate systems. This reduces context-switching and the amount of repetitive manual work required to assist guests.

The integration supports the customer journey from the initial inquiry through booking and post-booking communication. Once a reservation is confirmed, Nai Hospitality continues using respond.io to provide support and follow-up throughout the guest’s stay.

“We didn't want another disconnected tool, we wanted something that could actually talk to our own systems. Being able to build that connection ourselves through the API meant our guest conversations and our booking data finally live in the same place, and our agents aren't stuck piecing information together from two different screens.”

Yi Yong Chong, Senior Operations Manager, Nai Hospitality

The results: Automation reduces manual effort and scales booking volumes

With respond.io centralizing conversations, automating routing and connecting directly to its internal intranet, Nai Hospitality has closed the gaps that used to slow its team down. Handoffs between operations and business development no longer rely on manual coordination, and agents don’t lose time switching between systems just to answer a guest.

That shift shows up clearly in the numbers. Today, 89.7% of contact assignments happen automatically, so agents are rarely the ones tracking down who should take the next conversation. With that manual routing work gone, the team has the time to handle higher booking volumes, and daily assignment activity has climbed 140%.

The team now handles more than 11,000 conversations per month on respond.io. The business has been able to manage this high volume just by improving visibility and reducing operational friction.

With faster responses, fewer missed inquiries and clearer ownership throughout the customer journey, Nai Hospitality has created a faster booking process and a smoother experience for its guests.

Want to manage guest inquiries across messaging channels from one platform? Contact us for a free consultation today!