How the travel consultant is using Tourpaq as a personal assistant

In this blog, you will meet Mark, who has been working for nearly a decade in the travel industry, in roles related to sales and marketing – primarily focusing on leisure and tailor-made travel. Mark has obtained a comprehensive understanding and in-depth knowledge of the many heavy and manual processes, that are part of the daily processes in traditional small and midsize leisure travel agencies.

Mark is now a valued team member at Tourpaq. We asked Mark to Explain how Tourpaq – based on his experience in the travel industry - can simplify operations and make a travel consultant day the most productive, while at the same time enhancing the customer experience. Here is what he said:

Different travel agencies - the same pain points ‍

‍"Due to the manual nature of the processes, a travel consultant can only generate a limited number of sales while still providing good service to their customers."

In my experience, the customer journey is often not very well documented, as the standard CRM systems on the market today, do not support the many special workflows and processes within a travel agency.  

Regardless of which travel agency I have worked for; I have experienced the same pain points and the same challenges - and often these are - the manual and slow processes, storing data in multiple systems, and lack of overviews - working 5-6 hours in the GDS system -and it can take several days from the first customer contact to closing. I think many, who sit with the manual processes and tasks can nod their heads in recognition, that it can take up to one whole working day to create a day-to-day program, where, among other things, you have to search for flights, obtain prices, calculations, etc.  

Tourpaq is definitely a system that you’ve got to invest in because there are so many benefits - it's everything from handling customers and servicing them to making offers, automating payment flows, and keeping your suppliers informed.

The beginning of the customer journey

The beginning of the customer journey is a long, troublesome process. I will try to highlight, which stages I go through from start to end.  

• It starts with receiving a lead either in form of an e-mail request, phone call, or from the contact form on the website.
• Contacting the customer, to get a better knowledge of their travel dreams, budget, requirements, etc. all this useful information is written down on a piece of paper on my desk.
• Contacting my suppliers and going through pricelists, to find all the rates needed to calculate the full cost of my customer’s tour within my spreadsheet.
• Search for available flights through my GDS system, which often can be quite time-consuming – trying to find the best route and pricing.
• Create the itinerary for the customer, usually in a word document, with quite a long day-by-day description and lots of pictures, which is also quite time-consuming
• Sending out my offer to the customer and using at least 5-6 different programs/systems.
• Approximately 4-5 days after my initial contact with the customer, I follow up and am now ready to get a successful sale or a rejection.

It’s always a success when the offer is accepted and we have a booking, however, the manual processes are then far from over – could be anything from keeping both customer and suppliers and hotels up to date regarding any change that may occur, ensuring payments are retrieved in a timely manner and issuing vouchers. This is also where I see the great benefits of working with Tourpaq.  

How my day got more effective with TOURPAQ

Incorporating TOURPAQ into my every day, allowed me to free up time that had previously been spent on administrative tasks, such as creating quotes and trip plans. This gave me the opportunity to better assist my customers.

With TOURPAQ I now have more time to dedicate to giving each customer exceptional service.  

All my customer data is now stored within TOURPAQ, and I can work on the quote and itinerary for my customer while having them on the phone, having access to previous bookings, preferences, and satisfaction rates – All in Tourpaq.

‍"With Tourpaq I don’t have to ever copy-paste any customer data."

In my previous jobs, I often spend too much time searching in various systems to find the right flight. With Tourpaq I am now also able to find the perfect departure date by searching for flights directly within TOURPAQ, instead of doing a lot of manual typing and searching in my GDS afterward.

I can create my customers’ itineraries and do my quotation in a matter of minutes instead of hours. I do not have to open a spreadsheet or word, to create the quote or itinerary. All information is now stored within TORUPAQ as well for easy look-up, statistics, and better customer relations next time they call us.  

"Tourpaq stores all data in one place, which also makes it easier for all my colleagues to help service the customers and take over my tasks, should I be absent. As a result, customer satisfaction is also greatly increased."

Another process that I have had to manage based on email reminders, excel sheets, and other stand-alone tools is the process of following up on payments, sending out travel documents, and following up on guests upon return is now automatically done by TOURPAQ, giving me much more time to focus on my sales.

‍"Once the customer has confirmed and finalized the booking, TOURPAQ automatically takes charge of all the necessary tasks, allowing me to maximize my productivity."‍

So, what are the best features of Tourpaq?

TOURPAQ has so many great features no matter if you are doing Leisure, scheduled departures, or group tours. They all help in a busy workday, making all travel agents more effective, and saving time, giving them more time to focus on their clients.

My top 5 key features:

• The offer module – this feature improves our internal workflows, so we can create offers faster and more easily. This feature also provides an easy-to-read overview of the entire offer stack. 
• Tourpaq's fully automated email process runs a customer journey where everything runs automatically—from ticket issuing and payment reminders to predefined emails and vouchers. Customers are held by the hand all the way, which ensures them the best experience possible and makes them feel special.
• Room selection can be booked on the spot. The traveler then gets a detailed overview of all the rooms in their hotel and can choose one within seconds. Additionally, the customer can make sure that all travelers stay in the same room, or that they are located close to each other
• Choosing airplane seats – one of the most used features is choosing airplane seats and giving the customers the ability to choose their seats, giving the opportunity for upselling.
• Online booking flow – is an online booking engine for travel agencies that makes it easy for customers to get the price upfront and place the booking when they have been intrigued by the offer. The booking is placed within minutes and the ticket and invoice are automatically sent to the customer while at the same time cutting down the allotment.  

"After I started working with TOURPAQ, I feel I have my own personal assistant, taking care of all the boring, but necessary tasks for me, which allows me to focus on what, I am good at – Creating the best tours for my customers and giving a world-class service."

Is Tourpaq all worth it?

The way Tourpaq organizes all the data is simple and intuitive, which helps you to find, what you need in seconds – This allows you to spend less time on administrative tasks and more time on creating great tours, and that is why we are here!  

So, if you want to utilize your resources and time and have tasks automated, then Tourpaq is the perfect solution for you.

Want to review if TOURPAQ can help you to be more efficient and organized in your job?
BOOK A FREE STRATEGY CALL WITH MARK

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