Search Travel Market Report

cruise planners
ALG Sponsored
ALG Sponsored
mainlogo
www.travelmarketreport.com
  • News
  • Tours & Packages
  • Cruise
  • Hotels & Resorts
  • Destinations
  • Retail Strategies
  • Niche & Luxury
  • Well-Being Travel
  • Training & Events
  • Who We Are
    • Anne Marie Moebes
    • Brian Israel
    • Dan McCarthy
    • Denise Caiazzo
    • Marilee Crocker
    • Paul M. Ruden
    • Dori Saltzman
ALG sponsored

Still Haven’t Embraced CRM? It’s Time to Get Onboard

by Marilee Crocker / October 13, 2015

This is part one in a three-part series.

Travel agents who aren’t making good use of a customer relationship management system, or who lack access to a CRM application altogether, are losing out in a big way.

“Without question, a serious travel agent should have a CRM system. If you don’t, you’re just playing,” said Scott Koepf, CTC, senior vice president of sales for Avoya Travel/American Express.

“From our perspective, client relationships are the most important asset a travel company has,” agreed Karen Yeates, executive vice president of information technologies at Signature Travel Network. “The only way to stay on top of that is to have a CRM system.”

If you are among the many agents who still are mystified by CRM systems, or challenged by the technology, Travel Market Report offers the following primer.

What is CRM?
At its most basic, a customer relationship management application gives agents tools to record, track, and manage everything they need to know about their clients, from personal data to information about trip preferences and upcoming travel plans. It acts as a central repository for information about each client, and can be used for both transactional and marketing purposes.

“It is the one place where all of the data is kept, so you can retrieve it in an easy manner,” Koepf said.

Having all that data in centralized client profiles enhances three critical aspects of an agent’s business: sales, customer service and marketing.

Building lifelong relationships
Client profiles allow agents to respond to and reach out to customers in a way that “enhances the relationship, so the customer feels the agent really knows them, is looking out for their needs and thinking about them,” said John Werner, CTC, president and COO of MAST Travel Network.

It’s all about providing communications to customers that are personalized, timely, and relevant.

Sabre’s Sharon Meyer offered a big-picture explanation. “The heart of it is the customer and what we know about that customer, so we can leverage this lifelong relationship with them.”

CRM really “enables an agency to evolve its brand through effective marketing, exceptional service, and high-touch client strategies,” added Meyer, director, agency back office and CRM for Sabre, whose Clientbase application dominates the market. (Other CRM offerings for agents include ClientEase, newcomer VacationCRM, and a few home-grown proprietary systems, such as one that Avoya makes available to its agents.)

High-touch service
Agents can use the applications to manage all phases of client contact, from trip planning and booking to follow-up. Ideally, an agency’s CRM system is “the cornerstone of all client interactions,” Yeates said.

It begins when agents create an electronic client file in the CRM, ideally when a customer makes his or her first inquiry about a booking. Then the agent uses that file to record their interactions every step of the way, including research, vendor quotes, client itineraries, documentation, payment reminders, notes about client conversations and preferences, and more.

This client file, which in Clientbase is called a Res Card, is key to the kinds of high-touch strategies that can differentiate a leisure agent from the competition.

Signature Travel Network, for example, uses Clientbase as a platform for tools that make it easy for its agents to push out information and reminders, such as prompts about buying insurance and booking trip add-ons, as well as content about destinations, and messaging during and after the trip.

The idea is to use branded communications to excite the customer and keep them tied to the consultant throughout the whole process.

“They’re touching their customers with basic things, like welcoming new customers when they come in, bon-voyage and welcome-home messages, passport renewals, celebrating anniversaries,” Meyer said.

Targeted marketing
CRMs create a huge marketing advantage for an aegncy, providing tools to deliver targeted and timely promotions. As Koepf explained, agents use customer relationship data “to make sure they’re sending the right offer to the right person at the right time.”

Increasingly, travel agency consortia use CRM to power their marketing programs, using data gleaned from client profiles and Res Cards to market more effectively on their members’ behalf.

MAST, for instance, ties some of its marketing to Clientbase. “Our email marketing and even direct mail customer list segmentation is very reliant on Clientbase as a tool,” Werner said.

Signature uses Clientbase to get what Yeates called a “unified view” of clients, including their responses to Signature marketing, such as which messages they opened and clicked on. “We use that whole picture to make the best choices to send them the most relevant messages.”

The consortia also provide those analytics to member agencies, so they can follow up with clients who have demonstrated interest in a product, product category, or destination.

. . . and more
CRMs incorporate many other functions as well.

They interface with web-based booking engines and/or GDSs, allowing agents to export profile data into the passenger name record (PNR) and in turn import reservations back into CRM customer profiles, saving agents time and increasing accuracy.

They provide efficiencies, such as agent reminders and daily to-do lists, and facilitate business functions such as invoicing, financial accounting, and internal reporting.

They make it possible to analyze sales data, useful both in supplier negotiations and in guiding future sales and marketing efforts.

And they can be a big help to agencies involved in the group market, streamlining management functions, such as creating group reports and rooming lists, and group marketing.

Next time: How to get more out of your CRM

  12
  2
ALG Sponsored
Related Articles
What Travel Advisors Should Know About 2021 Taxes
The Sitata App Offers Travelers Peace of Mind While Abroad
Delta Air Lines CEO Talks the Future of Free WiFi, AI and More at CES 2020
8 Ways MedallionClass on the New Sky Princess Stands Out
7 Reasons Why Small Ship Sailings Lead to Unforgettable Experiences
Perillo Travel VR Rebrands to Travel World
Holiday Fraud Season Picks Up, and Travel Advisors Need to be Wary
Travel Impressions Closes a Tough Year at Cancun Event and Looks Toward a Better 2020
Why You Should Use a Travel Agent, Now More than Ever
Hahn Air to Issue Airline Tickets Using Blockchain Technology

MOST VIEWED

Brought To You By
  1. European Union Will Drop Its Mask Mandate for Travel Next Week
  2. CDC Moves Four Destinations Into “High” Risk COVID-19 Level
  3. 5 Client Types You Can Immediately Disqualify for a Virgin Voyages Cruise
  4. Trivago Hit With Massive Fine from Australian Federal Court Because of “Misleading” Conduct
  5. How Is the War in Ukraine Affecting the European River Cruise 2022 Season?
  6. American Express Confirms End to its Franchise Program

MOST EMAILED

Brought To You By
  1. European Union Will Drop Its Mask Mandate for Travel Next Week
  2. Japan Could Reopen to North Americans Next Month
  3. Japan Confirms Plan to Start Its Travel Reopening This Month
  4. 5 Client Types You Can Immediately Disqualify for a Virgin Voyages Cruise
  5. CDC Moves Four Destinations Into “High” Risk COVID-19 Level
  6. Greece’s Vaccination Requirement for Inbound Travelers Ends Next Week
ALG sponsored
TMR Subscription

Subscribe today to receive daily in-depth coverage, analysis of industry news, trends and issues that affect how you do business. Subscribe now for free.

Subscribe to TMR

TMR Recommendations
Daniel Zim
Zim Travel Law, PLLC. Demystifying Complexity with Down to Earth Advice. Attorney Advertising.
hbar
Rodney Gould
Rodney E. Gould concentrates in travel and tour-operator litigation and regularly counsels travel-related entities worldwide.
hbar
Tom Carpenter
Carpenter Law Office - Representing clients in the travel and tourism industries. Attorney Advertising.
hbar
Top Stories
Travel A.L.L.I.E.S. Society Launches Advisor Mentorship Program
Travel A.L.L.I.E.S. Society Launches Advisor Mentorship Program

The six-month program is designed to develop, promote and inspire young travel professionals.

Read...
MasterAdvisor 51: What's Trending In The Cruise Industry?
MasterAdvisor 51: What's Trending In The Cruise Industry?

What are clients asking about before they sail away?

Read...
ASTA’s Legislative Day Is Just Weeks Away
ASTA’s Legislative Day Is Just Weeks Away

Scholarships are still available for U.S. advisors interested in attending in D.C. next month. 

Read...
More Consumers Interested in Travel Insurance than Pre-Pandemic
More Consumers Interested in Travel Insurance than Pre-Pandemic

Online searches for travel insurance have increased by 70% since 2019.

Read...
ALG Vacations Shows Its Amped-Up Appreciation to Travel Advisors
ALG Vacations Shows Its Amped-Up Appreciation to Travel Advisors

For the entire month of May during Travel Advisor Appreciation Month, ALG Vacations® is showing its appreciation to its travel advisor partners with “amped-up gratitude.”

Read...
Headquarter Happenings: Avenue Two Travel's First-Ever Collective
Headquarter Happenings: Avenue Two Travel's First-Ever Collective

“We have long dreamed about hosting an event like this. It's so incredible to think the dream has come true on the heels of some of the most devastating times of our lifetimes." 

Read...
TMR Outlooks
Multi-Gen Outlook
Distribution Outlook (1)
New to Cruise Outlook
Expedition 2020
Wellness Outlook
River Cruise Outlook 2019
View All
Advertiser's Voice
https://img.youtube.com/vi/87ira8MA_b8/0.jpg
MasterAdvisor: What's Trending in the Cruise Industry?
About Travel Market Report Mission Editorial Staff Advisory Board Advertise
TMR Resources Webinars Calendar of Events
Subscribe to TMR
Select Language
Do You Have an Idea Email
editor@travelmarketreport.com
Give Us a Call
1-(516) 730-3097
Drop Us a Note
Travel Market Report
71 Audrey Ave, Oyster Bay, NY 11771
News|Leisure Travel|Land Vacations|Cruise|Canada Retail Strategies|Well-Being|Luxury|Training
© 2005 - 2022 Travel Market Report, an American Marketing Group Inc. Company All Rights Reserved | 243 South Street, Oyster Bay, NY, 11771 USA | Telephone (516) 730-3097| Terms and Conditions
Cookie Policy Privacy Policy