CRM for travel agencies: Not just a solution, but an actual need...

19.04.22 09:10 PM By Rafa
CRM4 Travel Agency technical article

One of the questions that my clients ask me the most is: Why would I need a CRM? I already have a system that works and I manage it quite well. It's hard to get rid of a bad system that "works" and you've been using it for a long time, with the promise of a new one. Even the most difficult system, once you get used to it, it is very difficult to leave behind. But it's like a bad relationship, where you get used to it but you know you deserve better, well here it is, Zeus4 travel agency solution is the "best" you deserve!


There are some important facts that everyone seems to know about CRMs: you can manage all the information of your leads and customers, so you can have the full context of the situation of each customer, during, before, and after the sale of the service. , not only general information but also specific aspects that can be useful to define the best action to take this client through the sales funnel. Customer interactions with your social media posts can be monitored and leads imported based on a simple set of rules you can set yourself, or you can manage your email campaigns directly from here, getting Customers leads has never been so easy. Everything is integrated, everything is connected so that everyone gets the right information at the right time, easy to use, you can access it from your mobile, the interface is user friendly, it has great scalability so you can integrate your system with your website, and your provider's systems is highly customizable allowing you to strengthen your brand at all levels... the list goes on.


These reasons should be enough to convince anyone, but not necessarily inasmuch as it is always difficult to get out of your comfort zone. Never mind if your daily routine includes 10 people waiting in line for you to attend them while your data platform system takes forever to respond, while you have over thirty emails to answer and one of your customers arrived 3 hours before to the airport of Costa Rica and you misplaced the email where he informed you the change in one of the thousand subfolders you have in your email inbox, is high season and you can only pray so that the client doesn´t complain in the social media about your awful services.


In the meanwhile on your computer, you have over 5 windows open, a system for the customer’s data, another for your provider’s flights, another for the accounting, spreadsheets with uncompleted quotes, and copy/paste is your only integration tool for all that, lots of reminders in your email, notes over your desk, a guy hired to take care of your website (what is it he does exactly? ), you manage the company´s social media yourself whenever you get a chance, and email campaigns… what’s that??. Results: Clients are unsatisfied, compensations are needed to keep your reputation, bad reviews threats from sensible clients, delays, stress… just another day at work.


For someone who is not in this industry, this may seem a little futile. "It’s just a bad review" some may think, but after years of working in this sector one client can make the difference, one mistake in a group reservation can cause you sleepless nights, worries, and headaches. Paying more attention at work is impossible, is only human to make mistakes once in a while, you are not a robot, you can´t control it all… or can you??

Yes, you can!!!!! With Zeus4 solution for travel agencies, we implement our 360 automation vision. We integrate your customer and leads management, with the operations and the finances. Our Crm in the Zoho platform is complemented with an Application from Zoho Creator, and Zoho Books, allowing you to manage everything from a single place.


The first step is the backbone of every business: customers, only by getting to know them well and registering in the best possible way his expectations, we will be able to convince them that our services meet their expectations. The simple act of sending a potential client a happy birthday or anniversary email can make all the difference… can set you apart from the competition, can make them feel special, and see your services are personalized, and that’s the direction this business (tourism) is taking more and more: customize trips are the future, and for that, you need detailed info and skillfully manage it. With this system, you can accomplish all that.


Next stop: Operations, and this is the tricky part in every business since it lies on many variables often out of your control, but we are here to give you the utmost control of what you DO can control. You can make your personalized itineraries with beautiful, appealing pictures and very detailed information, and make the quotes all in the same place, just with one click you can choose among all the activities that you have previously recorded and make a whole quote in a matter of minutes. With a couple of clicks and you will have your trip created and bookings generated and you can manage all this and see what clients arrive today, tomorrow or next week, the emails exchanged with him, your providers, your bookings confirmations sorted by date, the pending ones, the trips canceled…


And if it isn't enough you can also manage your finances! Not only bookings will get generated automatically when you confirm a trip, but also the invoices you will send to your customers, the bills to pay to your providers, the incoming commissions associated with these bookings, and the outgoing commissions you will pay to your sales agent, all with one click.


With this high level of automation, you can easily take care of inefficiencies in your team or business processes and still have enough time to focus on other priorities to improve productivity and business growth.


And this is only the beginning. Zoho has over 40 applications to manage every aspect of your business in the easiest way you can imagine. A single bill, only one user login, and enterprise editions for all company applications.


It’s hard to take the leap, but if you don't do more than what you already do, then you´ll never be more than you already are. Ever since I left my job in a Travel Agency I've said that if I´ve ever had had a system like this I would have never quit. Will I ever work in the tourism industry again? Maybe… but only after I get sure that where I go there is a CRM ;-).

Rafa