Imagine a world where all your travel business operations are taken care of by a reliable software solution. One that can take care of payment collections and trip management; creates a wholesome experience for your customer and can safely manage bookings and pay suppliers. And very importantly, provides you with all the support you need.
With the right platform, that dream can easily become a reality.
When scouting for new tour management software, it is important to start by understanding what features to look for. This will help you when pitching the tour management software needs to your company's higher-ups.
What To Look For In Tour Management Software
The software you choose needs to be a one-stop shop for all your travel company’s operational processes. This includes streamlining procedures to create efficiencies for your day-to-day operations and create a seamless customer experience by easily helping clients to book tours and manage their travel experiences.
When putting your pitch together, conduct thorough research into the different tour operator software options to ensure that it meets all your business requirements.
Here are 10 fundamental features to keep an eye out for when conducting your research for your pitching strategy.
Increase In Productivity & Efficiencies
Tour management software is designed to make your life as a tour operator or travel business owner easier and improve the productivity of your team.
Instead of wasting hours on menial tasks, the software can streamline these processes for you. This gives you more time to handle your customer base, focus on important matters and grow your business.
Increasing productivity is key when implementing tour management software, illustrating how effective it can be is essential when presenting to shareholders and top management.
Understand the full capabilities of the software in terms of its administration and automation functionality.
Highly Flexible
Your software solution should be customizable so that it can be adjusted with the specific dynamics of your business. This could include setting the software up for team members' personal preferences or tailoring the booking experiences of your customers.
Many software solutions come with a multitude of features, however, you might not require all of these. Find a free software option that covers the elements you need, and you can always upgrade to a version with more advanced features at a later stage.
It is therefore paramount that you consider your business's growth plans and find a solution that can scale according to your company.
Strong Implementation Method
One of the hardest parts of adopting a new software solution is the implementation stage.
How long will it take until the entire company has transferred to the system? What kind of training is required for the software transition? What kind of setup will be required for each team member?
Compare different software solutions and try to find which one mirrors your company best. Change is hard, so, the onboarding and implementation process should be well-structured and be a smooth transition for your team.
Improves The Customer Experience
The software doesn’t only exist to make business operations more efficient - it also plays a major role in the customer experience.
Your tour business needs to offer a seamless journey for your customers, from the moment they discover your business, throughout the booking experience, until well after their trip.
Using software to facilitate this journey is vital. For example, the right online booking system makes it a lot easier for interested customers to book and schedule tours. Get this right, and it can result in a lot more revenue. Your company’s higher-ups can take that to the bank.
Comprehensive Trip Website Builder
As mentioned, your software needs to be a one-stop shop for all your travel company needs. This should comprise a daily itinerary builder, which gives you the functionality to add beautiful itineraries to your booking pages and proposals.
Another core feature is a custom registration form builder. As the name suggests, it will allow you to build a custom form for all the information you need to collect (surveys, checkmark questions, agreeing to your terms, etc).
In order to satisfy your clientele, customizing your different packages is crucial. Tailoring your offerings to suit different availability, deposits, payment plans, and cut-off dates are all fundamental details that your software should customize to your preferences.
Trip Management Dashboard That Ticks All The Boxes
You need a central hub where all the magic can be managed. This so-called hub should set admins so that you can add unlimited team members to your account, and set permissions according to your needs. It should also have the functionality to allow team members to access or manage trips.
Google Analytics Functionality
In this digital age, tracking your online efforts is non-negotiable. Find a platform that encompasses Google Analytics so that you can analyze customer behavior and track visitors on your website.
Exportable Payment & Registration Reports
Expert reporting is key. Your tour management software tool should include excel reports that you can download for specific trips with all the customer and payment information.
And, make your finance team’s life a little easier with accounting and financial planning reports for all your trips.
Seamless Payment Processing
Arguably the most important functionality of tour management software is payment processing. The software you choose needs to have the ability to accept international debit or credit cards (seeing as your clientele might be spread out across the globe).
It should be a reliable fund transfer solution that includes flexible options and optimized cash flow.
Other valuable qualities include sending funds that are accessible in your account directly to third parties (this could be suppliers, contractors, vendors, etc).
And have no nasty terms and conditions like holds on paying money out or transferring funds as soon as bookings are added. There should be no lock-up periods, transfer minimums, or administrative hassles.
Saving Money On Fees
Having a full understanding of the costs incurred by tour management software is imperative. Have you conducted cost analysis, and figured out whether there are smarter alternatives?
The best tour operator software shouldn’t necessarily cost you a fortune. Instead, it should help you run your business more efficiently without any extra unnecessary costs. If your software is costing too much, it might be time to look for a new solution.
Do you know which software checks all these boxes? WeTravel's Booking and Payment Solution!
Request a demo today, free of cost and commitments, and learn how your business can grow with our software.
How To Pitch Tour Management Software To Upper Management
Convincing upper management to accept your tour management software proposal can seem like a daunting task. However, you’ve done your homework, you know what features are essential and can benefit your travel company. So, with the right tactics, it could be easier to win them over than you think.
Here are some of the key strategies to keep in mind when presenting new software ideas to management.
1. Show The Value Of The Software
One of the best ways to show the value of new software is by demonstrating how the software works.
This can be achieved with a free demo that will walk the key decision-makers through all the processes and showcase the features, and illustrate the value it can bring to your team.
2. Highlight The Problem And Benefits
Ensure that you are well informed about the problems that exist and how upgrading software can assist in solving them.
Highlight the use cases of how the problem is affecting the business, and what kind of opportunities could be unlocked if the problems are solved.
Explain how the new software can eliminate the problem, and talk about the unique benefits that the software offers.
While there are many benefits that this could include, the general idea is that the software should make the company run more smoothly and ultimately increase productivity and profits.
3. Trial Free Tools
An effective way to seal the deal with your software pitch is to outline that there are many software tools that you can use for free.
For example, you could try out a booking management system that offers a free version. If this system is a success, you can always upgrade to the paid version. No money is wasted, and you know that you're investing in a tool that can enrich your business and help it grow.
4. Implementation Strategy
Any satisfactory software pitch should include a well-structured action/implementation plan. It's not just about showing the management team how the software will be beneficial, but rather, it's also about showing how you plan to amalgamate the system into the company, and the exact timeline/duration of the implementation process.
Operations are likely to be affected, so it's imperative that you clarify how this will be accounted for.
5. Collaboration
Consider how the software will affect your entire team and general operations. Will the new solution improve collaboration and make sharing information and communications easier?
Creating a highly collaborative and cohesive dynamic in your business can be hugely beneficial for communication efforts and overall productivity. Ensure to exemplify during your pitch how your tour management software solution will achieve this.
6. Pitch To Your Direct Manager First
Before you pitch your ideas for tour management software to the company’s executive team, start by getting your direct manager involved. This will allow you to practice your pitch, and iron out any potential drawbacks.
Pitching to your line manager might also provide more insights into what details the company's upper executives will want to see and find out about the new software solution. And they might even suggest some added beneficial information that will strengthen your presentation.
7. Prepare For All Possible Questions
Considering every angle and preparing answers to every avenue the presentation can take will provide more clarity and understanding of the possible benefits of the software. It will also show that you've done thorough research.
Some important questions/areas to cover include:
- Have a clear understanding of all the costs involved (compare free and paid plans)
- Can the software integrate with existing systems
- Is it still possible to refer back to the old software system if need be
- What will training and installation for the new software system look like
- Is there a strong support structure in place with the software provider
Conclusion
Preparing a pitch for the company’s tour management software needs to your company’s higher-ups requires thorough research into the key features needed by your preferred solution.
Understanding what these features are, and how exactly they will benefit your travel company can strengthen your presentation in many ways.
Your software platform should ultimately improve productivity, create efficiencies by streamlining processes, include an array of nifty features like a dashboard that allows you to perform a range of actions at the click of a button.
Most importantly, presenting a free demo to showcase the software’s abilities will convince the executive team of how valuable the right software can be. Lastly, find a solution that has a range of free features and/or a trial period that allows you to test the product before committing.
Effective tour management software can change your world as a tour operator or travel business owner, make your customers extremely happy and give them seamless, enjoyable travel booking experience.
