Hello, this is Matsubara, CRM Evangelist.

For travel agencies, remembering each customer's travel preferences and memories greatly influences the quality of their future travel suggestions.
However, many travel agencies rely solely on the memory of the staff member to know what kind of trip a particular customer prefers.

This time, we will explain how EMOROCO CRM Lite can be used in the operations of a travel agency.

table of contents

1. Unique challenges faced by travel agencies
2. Why are there limitations to using Excel or paper customer ledgers?
3. Specific Examples of Entity Design
4. Record your travel history and preferences to use in future suggestions.
5. Automation of itinerary and booking management workflows
6. Managing the expiration dates of passports and visas
7. Common Challenge Scenarios for a Travel Agency
8. Proposal strategies that take seasons and anniversaries into account
9. Target repeat customers based on seasonality and special occasions.
10. The perspective of managing companions and family composition
11. Managing relationships with partners (airlines, hotels, tour operators)
12. Visualization of customer satisfaction
13. The challenge of handing over responsibilities when the person in charge changes.
14. How to proceed with implementation
15. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
16. Summary

1. Unique challenges faced by travel agencies

Travel agencies face the following unique challenges:

- Customer travel history, preferred destinations, and hotel types depend on the employee's memory.
- Managing information such as passport and visa expiration dates, which can lead to major problems if overlooked.
• When traveling with family or in a group, it is necessary to accurately manage the information of multiple travelers.
Relationships with partners (airlines, hotels, tour operators) are also a major factor in business operations.
- Timely suggestions tailored to the season and special occasions are required.

2. Why are there limitations to using Excel or paper customer ledgers?

Many travel agencies manage customer information and past travel history using Excel spreadsheets or paper ledgers.
In this state, the following problems occur:

- It takes time to confirm "what kind of travel destination that customer wanted last time."
- When the person in charge is transferred or leaves the company, customer preferences and memorable stories are lost.
- Checking the expiration date of each passport must be done manually, which carries a risk of overlooking an entry.

3. Specific Examples of Entity Design

Using EMOROCO CRM Lite's no-code functionality, you can design entities for travel agencies as follows:

・Customer entityManage your name, contact information, passport expiration date, and preferred travel style.
・Travel history entity: Manage past travel destinations, travel dates, and travel plans used.
・Companion entity: Manage information about travel companions during family and group trips.
・Inquiry/Consultation Entity: Manage the content and response status of travel consultations.

By using the relationship management function to create structures such as "Customer (parent) → Travel History (child)" and "Customer (parent) → Travel Companions (child)," you can view each customer's travel records on a single screen.

4. Record your travel history and preferences to use in future suggestions.

For travel agencies, accurately understanding customer preferences greatly impacts the quality of their proposals.

- Record your favorite types of travel destinations (resorts, city sightseeing, nature-focused, etc.)
- Record your preferences for accommodations (e.g., luxury preference, cost-performance ratio).
- We will use the trends of popular travel plans from past trips as a reference for future proposals.

Having these records allows us to continue providing personalized suggestions at the same level, even if the person in charge changes.

5. Automation of itinerary and booking management workflows

Managing travel reservations involves many things to check.
Using the workflow feature, you can incorporate automations such as the following:

- A reminder will be sent to the customer a certain period before the departure date to inform them of final confirmations (passport, belongings, etc.).
- Encourage contacting relevant parties in case of reservation changes or cancellations.
- After a certain period has passed since the trip, send a thank-you message and a notification to discuss when to suggest a future trip.

6. Managing the expiration dates of passports and visas

When traveling abroad, discovering that your passport or visa has expired just before departure can lead to major problems.

- Record each customer's passport expiration date and provide guidance with ample time to spare, working backward from the planned travel date.
- For destinations requiring a visa, set reminders based on the application schedule.
- Allow customers whose expiration dates are approaching to be listed and viewed on the dashboard.

These are important management items for protecting the travel experience itself.

7. Common Challenge Scenarios for a Travel Agency

To give you a concrete idea, let me share a scenario from a travel agency.

At this agency, each employee kept track of the expiration dates of their customers' passports by writing them down individually in notes.
Just before a customer's departure for an overseas trip, it was discovered that their passport did not meet the entry requirements of their destination (such as having more than six months of validity remaining), leading to a frantic situation where we had to deal with the problem.
Fortunately, the update was completed before departure, but the person in charge said they regretted not noticing it sooner.

By centralizing passport expiration dates on their CRM system and implementing a system that sets reminders calculated backward from the departure date, this agency has been able to prevent these kinds of last-minute problems.

8. Proposal strategies that take seasons and anniversaries into account

For travel agencies, the timing of proposals significantly impacts the conversion rate.

・Proposals that take seasonality into accountDesign proposal timings that take into account seasonal demand, such as family trips before summer vacation, homecoming/overseas travel during the New Year holidays, and graduation trips in the spring.
・Proposals based on anniversariesRecord milestones such as wedding anniversaries and 60th birthdays, and use this information to suggest special trips.
・Suggestions based on past travel patternsFor customers who travel at the same time every year, we will make suggestions for their next trip a little before that time.

By systematizing these timings as a workflow within the CRM rather than relying on the employee's memory, you can avoid missing opportunities to make proposals.

9. Target repeat customers based on seasonality and special occasions.

For travel agencies, relationships with repeat customers are a crucial asset that supports business stability.

- Understand past travel patterns (e.g., taking family trips every summer) from a nurturing score perspective.
- Record special dates that serve as inspiration for trips, such as wedding anniversaries or birthdays.
- Suggest travel plans at the change of seasons or as special occasions approach.

Having these records allows us to make decisions based on data, not just intuition, such as, "It might be time to suggest next year's travel plans to that customer."

10. The perspective of managing companions and family composition

For family trips and group trips, managing information about not only the representative but also the other travelers is crucial.

- Record changes in family structure (birth, growth of children, etc.) and reflect them in travel plan suggestions.
- For group trips, record each participant's preferences and limitations (e.g., food preferences, physical condition).
- Link the information of accompanying persons to the representative's customer information and manage it all together.

11. Managing relationships with partners (airlines, hotels, tour operators)

Relationships with partners such as airlines, hotels, and tour operators are essential for the successful operation of a travel agency.

- Manage contract terms and contact information for each partner.
- Record and store information on new products and campaigns from partners.
- Keep a record of communications with partners so that relationships can be maintained even if the person in charge changes.

The customer entity can also be applied to managing these partners.

12. Visualization of customer satisfaction

Customer satisfaction after a trip is an important indicator that will lead to repeat business and referrals.

- Conduct a survey (such as NPS) after the trip to understand customer satisfaction.
- Record the relationship with the customer as perceived by the person in charge, as an emotional temperature.
For highly satisfied customers, we will consider prioritizing future travel arrangements and providing special support.

13. The challenge of handing over responsibilities when the person in charge changes.

Travel agencies face the risk of losing customer relationships due to staff transfers or resignations.
BeforeHow to eliminate reliance on individual sales personnelAs explained earlier, this risk of reliance on individual expertise can be mitigated by keeping records of the information.

- Record customer preferences and stories related to past travels as activity history.
- When the person in charge changes, these records should be used to enable the successor to make proposals that take the history into account.

14. How to proceed with implementation

For implementation at travel agencies, we recommend the following step-by-step approach.

- We will start by implementing basic tasks such as recording customer information and travel history.
We recommend implementing a passport expiration date management workflow as soon as possible, as it should be a high priority.
Seasonal suggestions for repeat customers and partner management will be added once the system is operational and stable.

15. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q. Can it manage information for multiple people, such as for family trips?
Yes.
Using the companion entity, you can manage information for all family members by linking it to the representative's customer information.

Q. How can I manage the expiration date of my passport?
You can add an expiration date field to your customer entity and automate reminders using the workflow function.

Q. Should relationships with partners be managed using the same CRM?
Yes.
By utilizing the trading partner entity, you can also centrally manage relationships with partners.

Q. Is it possible to migrate from existing customer data (Excel)?
Yes.
You can use the Excel import function to migrate your data while importing existing data.

Q. Is there any benefit to introducing this even for small travel agencies?
Yes.
In fact, for smaller agencies, the relationship with each individual customer is directly linked to their business, so keeping records becomes even more beneficial.

16. Summary

For travel agencies, recording customers' travel history and preferences and using that information to inform future recommendations is a crucial initiative for increasing both repeat business and customer satisfaction.
With EMOROCO CRM Lite's no-code design, you can handle everything from recording travel history and managing passport expiration dates to understanding seasonal timing for suggestions, all from a single platform.
Establishing a system where customer memories and relationships are passed on as organizational records, even when the person in charge changes, leads to the building of long-term trust.

EMOROCO CRM Lite costs ¥1,500 per user per month (minimum 3 users) and has no initial setup fee, with a 30-day free trial.https://www.emoroco.com/You can start from there.
IT implementation subsidy eligible tool number: DL07-0022934.

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Related article

・How to eliminate reliance on individual sales personnel
・A "two-axis matrix" of nurturing score and emotional temperature
・Summary of implementation guides by industry