Quick wins for tour operators: Interacting with your customers and partners online. Kevin O Sullivan CEO, Open Destinations

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1 Quick wins for tour operators: Interacting with your customers and partners online Kevin O Sullivan CEO, Open Destinations

2 5 quick wins for 2016 Automate additional manual processes API connections Product information management Customer satisfaction monitoring Process outsourcing

3 About Open Destinations Provide reservation systems for tour operators, wholesalers & DMC s 10,000+ users per day using our software in over 30 countries Growing at rate of over 25% per year for the last 5 years Team of 400+ spread between London and Goa offices 2015 & 2016 ranked as one of the fastest growing companies in the UK by the Sunday Times BT Business SME Export Track 100

4 Clients in over 30 countries across all continents

5 Our approach to technology Every tour operator needs to approach a technology project with quick wins Has to be flexible and adaptable Mature, agile development process Need experts from different backgrounds to achieve the quick wins tour operator, OTA, wholesaler experts large team of developers, testers, outsource people

6 Implement business change in stages Modular software gives you a platform that you can build on for the future You can implement your software in stages alongside your legacy systems Implement what you need for the short term Also think about how your business is going to change for the long term Will you have multiple brands? Expand from B2B to B2C? Open more offices?

7 Quick win #1: Automate more of your manual processes Automating more of your process and getting more efficiency from your existing staff is key to increasing your bottom line Always a struggle to get rid of manual processes, it takes time for change to happen in your business Draw up a To-Be showing where you want to go Product Management Rules and Special Offers Confirmation / Enquiry s Checking price updates Reviewing Flight Savings Automated Sales Invoicing / Reminders Automated Purchase Approval processing Margin Analysis

8 Quick win #2: API plug-ins The right product at the right price is key to winning new customers You need a booking system with API compatibility so that you can replace different components of your business at different times CRM Financial systems Documentation Costing Reservations Flights Your website Groups FIT

9 Quick win #3: Product information management It s critical that you are storing your product information in a central place product & supplier data Other parts of your operations can still operate independently For example using contracting system offline You can uploading booking information without using a booking engine powering cost or selling price searching from a contract library storing products and or contracts optional ability to interface with supplier extranet and channel manager API Contracts

10 Quick win #4: Customer information monitoring Customer satisfaction & retention is key to success Ideally you will have all the components of CRM integrated with your booking information There are 3 rd party systems that can help What components that you need to integrate with CRM? sales lead tracking Booking/payment history B2B & B2C customer portals on your website Post purchase follow up (ie. questionnaire, marketing)

11 Quick win #5: process outsourcing Not every quick win needs to involve software Are there processes or systems that are working inefficiently and stressing the organisation? Are you lacking expertise in-house? What challenges that are limiting your growth? Struggles with recruitment/retention Challenges with QA Office space limitations Support for new time zones

12 How to make outsourcing succeed Don t outsource your key USP s ie. specialist knowledge That probably includes your sales process Performance metrics that justify the spend Crucial to get detailed reporting Different types of frequency Involvement of the management team Invest the time in defining a tight process manual and keep refreshing it Many of our clients make frequent visits Frequent and relevant reporting ensures the process delivers to key stakeholders Outsourcing teams work towards team objectives & individual targets

13 Case Studies Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Increasing demands on administrative processes as company has grown Decided to outsource mid and back end processes Hotel contract loading Supplier invoicing and reconciliation Created dedicated teams at our offices in India Bespoke training programme with targets and priorities Comprehensive procedure manuals Detailed reporting & business reviews Content tailored to management requirements & the defined business processes daily/weekly/monthly

14 Next steps finding a technology partner Look for a company that understands your industry Open, flexible partner that has resources and expertise Ability to solve specific issues, enterprise level issues and everything in the middle Team that has a proven track record of improving and maintaining quality Long standing client relationships built on performance and reliability Quality HR processes, an ethical partner

15 Thank you