42% Drop in Unnecessary Inquiries Despite 80% User Growth at MarmGarden Resort

Mom's Inc. (MarmGarden Resort Hayama)

Hospitality / Healthcare·1-500 employees·Customer Support

42% Drop in Unnecessary Inquiries Despite 80% User Growth at MarmGarden Resort

At a glance

• Unnecessary inquiries cut 42% despite doubling total inquiry volume
• User base grew 1.8x in first year of operation
• 8,800 LINE users engaging with self-service FAQ
• Extended multi-turn support conversations significantly reduced

The Challenge

MarmGarden Resort Hayama opened in December 2021 as a 24-hour postnatal care hotel, a service category still relatively new in Japan. Their customers faced a unique problem: they were "not knowing what they don't know," uncertain even about what questions to ask about a service they'd never experienced before.

Despite publishing information on their website, approximately 10 inquiries arrived daily, many asking about details already documented online. The information wasn't reaching customers effectively. With 90%+ of inquiries coming through LINE (Japan's dominant messaging platform), casual back-and-forth conversations often stretched across many messages. For a small team handling support alongside other duties, extended exchanges created real risk of disrupting other work.

Previous solutions fell short. LINE's built-in AI auto-response couldn't handle variations in how customers phrased searches. A customer support tool they tested couldn't be sustained independently. With limited staff, the team couldn't dedicate resources purely to content creation and had no clear starting point for improvement. As the service expanded and new offerings launched, continuing in reactive inquiry mode felt unsustainable.

Why Helpfeel

The path to Helpfeel came through proof within their own corporate group. Karaoke Pasela, another business in the same group, had already adopted Helpfeel with concrete results. Hearing the internal success story gave President Saito a clear picture of what adoption could deliver.

Four features made Helpfeel the right fit:

Intent-prediction search. Previous tools couldn't match different phrasings of the same question. Helpfeel's ability to handle search expression variation addressed a significant gap directly.

Rapid content updates. As a hospitality business tied to government tourism campaigns and subsidy programs where policies change frequently, the ability to publish and revise content quickly was essential.

Popup functionality. A "Need help? Click here" button triggering a popup search window lowered the barrier for users to try the FAQ before contacting support.

Ongoing Customer Success support. With a lean team that couldn't dedicate a specialist to FAQ management, having active CS team expertise was essential for sustaining quality.

What They Did

• Used FAQ pages as campaign landing pages. For time-sensitive tourism subsidy campaigns where government policies change rapidly, Helpfeel's rapid publication capability allowed the team to reflect current information quickly and create proper search navigation.

• Integrated FAQ across all channels. The popup FAQ button was placed prominently on the website. During phone calls, staff directed callers to the FAQ. For LINE exchanges, the team shared links to specific FAQ pages, encouraging customers to explore at their own pace.

• Enriched content with Customer Success guidance. One frequently searched article, "How old can my baby be?", originally provided only "We accept infants under 3 months of age." At the CS team's suggestion, it was expanded to include persuasive details about the hotel's specific care offering and key differentiators, transforming a bare answer into content that actively supports booking decisions.

• Used search data cross-departmentally. Customer search data accumulated through Helpfeel informed not only FAQ improvements but also on-the-ground hospitality quality across departments.

Results

Total inquiry volume grew roughly in proportion to the 1.8x user growth, estimated to have approximately doubled based on promotional activity and service expansion. Despite this, the share of FAQ-resolvable inquiries fell from approximately 70% to 40%, a 42% reduction in unnecessary contacts. Because total volume doubled during the same period, the felt impact on the team is estimated to be at least half of what the burden would otherwise have been.

Extended multi-turn LINE conversations became significantly less frequent. Staff reported that guests' anxieties were being resolved through the FAQ, with the majority of questions now answered independently rather than requiring personal exchanges.

Guest feedback was positive. One comment: "I was planning a long stay, so it was great to be able to find out so much detail in advance." The FAQ also helped guests who had already decided to book, who naturally start thinking of follow-up questions, to find answers independently without diminishing their sense of being cared for.

"The FAQ experience resembles Instagram Reels. While browsing, users imperceptibly become deeply familiar with the service, absorbing details without it feeling like effort. For a hospitality business with a distinctive service concept, the FAQ is not just a support tool, it is a medium for communicating what makes the hotel unique."

Mutsumi Saito, President & Representative Director

Looking Ahead

For a hotel offering a service category that guests have never experienced before, investing in a rich, well-designed FAQ directly supports booking conversion, guest satisfaction, and operational efficiency simultaneously. Saito's view: the FAQ entry point is a customer's first window into the service. Enriching that content converts anxious uncertainty into confident, informed interest, ultimately supporting bookings and allowing the team to scale without being overwhelmed by inquiry volume.

“The FAQ experience resembles Instagram Reels. While browsing, users imperceptibly become deeply familiar with the service, absorbing details without it feeling like effort. For a hospitality business with a distinctive service concept, the FAQ is not just a support tool, it is a medium for communicating what makes the hotel unique.”

— Mutsumi Saito, President & Representative Director