Like any brand new tool, it takes time and effort to learn how to master it. A lot of new CRMs are aiming to be ready out of the box. Still, it’s worth it to go slow at first, especially if it’s going to be a large team using a new CRM. What’s more, the best CRM offer customization options. Here are four ways Portway Systems is making this possible for its travel agency customers.
1. Select an industry-tailored CRM
There are often free trials to take advantage of. Premium CRM plans can even get you live implementation assistance. Medium to larger businesses surely could leverage that setup help. This also includes data migration. During any implementation period, you need to consolidate customer information from several other data sources. You’ll also want to make sure that you select a CRM that is tailored for the travel industry which will take your business further.
2. Set a data standard
Once onboarding and implementation are done, you need to think about customer data and metrics. What’s important here is to set data entry standards so that it’s consistent across the board. Not all departments will have the same kind of data. Nor will they be analysing it by the same KPIs and metrics. But CRMs are great for giving everyone in an organization full transparency. With a CRM system, you can automate what kind of customer information you’d like to use. It’s also a good idea for very small businesses and start-ups to set data standards as part of their early CRM strategy. This way, nothing gets lost or obscured when a business starts to scale up.
3. Automation is key
One of the great inventions of any Travel CRM solution is automation. There are so many ways a CRM can take over repetitive tasks for sales reps and other staff. The huge benefit here is that you can focus on higher-level activities and less on data entry. This means better marketing campaigns, more sales, and a superior customer experience.
Automation can be simple, like getting importing data from GDS, bedbanks, cruise, car, and aggregators, to notifications and reminders. They can be workflows for invoicing and other automated operational and marketing services. It’s easy to move leads through the pipeline when several steps in the sales lifecycle are automated.
4. Leverage analytics
One of the good things about customer relationship software is analytics. A lot of activity goes on in a company or organization. This activity is spread among many departments. CRM solutions are able to translate that disparate activity into something usable to everyone, from the CEOs to individual reservation team.
You can customize your analytics and reporting. This means you can train your reports to show you the travel stats you decide are most important. It could be when, where or how potential customers move through a booking journey. It could show you stoppages and pain points in your operational process. It could display how each sales agent is performing, and what your current statutory obligations are looking like when it comes to IATA, CAA, and ASTA regulation. Reports are great for seeing how marketing translates into profitability.
Analytics and reporting are equally as useful for ERPs. They can monitor travel content inventories, supply chains and operational processes. They can also help plan deliverables and enhanced customer experience. Finally, analytics are forward-looking. The right Travel CRM can help spot trends in the market.
Portway Systems is a fast-growing travel technology company that powers the global travel industry, offering a comprehensive suite of products including Mid & Back-Office, Reservations, ERP and Reporting technology. Headquartered in Birmingham, UK, Portway Systems serves customers in more than 30 countries around the world with regional offices in North America and Asia. For more information visit https://portwaysystems.com/
