Signature Travel Expert Certification Course

Transcription

1 Signature Travel Expert Certification Course Module 14: Client Reach Introduction Revised May 18, 2017 First Introduced in 2014, Client Reach has quickly become one of our most popular client communication tools; for travel consultants as well as owners and managers. As you ll learn in the lesson below, it s easy to use (virtually automatic), yet powerful and effective. While this module is not an in-depth course in using Client Reach, you will learn the most important features, benefits, and uses. This module covers the following: Overview - What is Client Reach? How Client Reach Works Using Client Reach as a Travel Consultant Client Base Res Cards

2 Lesson 1: Client Reach Overview You ll find Client Reach on the SigNet menu under Marketing. It was created by Signature to solve a problem that has challenged travel professionals for years: staying in touch with clients and prospects in a timely, meaningful, and relevant way. Staying in touch about the right things at the right time increases loyalty, improves customer service, encourages sales with prospects, and even helps with add-ons and up-selling. The problem is that today s consultants are juggling so many things that it is difficult to do this consistently. Client Reach makes it easy! It does most of it automatically, and if you use ClientBase, you already know most of what is needed to make it work! In simple terms, the Client Reach system reads the client and trip information (if applicable) from the Res Cards you create in ClientBase. With just a few simple fields you probably already use, it gathers information about their trip including the itinerary, ports of call for cruises, destinations visited for tours, dates, travel insurance, and more. Then, it takes all that data and communicates via , with your clients, about just the right thing, at just the right time. Client Reach automatically sends thank you for booking messages, reminders to purchase travel insurance (unless already purchased), sends links to our own trip specific destination and supplier microsites, invitations to download destination guides, bon voyage wishes and welcome home messages that contain the service survey. It can also be used for sending a different set of messages for quotes and consultations where a booking has not yet been made. The system is highly customizable at the agency level, the consultant level, and even down to specific custom settings for individual clients. So far, you might still be thinking that it must be a complicated, difficult or time-consuming system to use. On the contrary if used properly, Client Reach can actually save you time, and impress your clients! Tip: New to The Industry In the days before Client Reach, travel consultant employed numerous reminder methods, tickler files, datebooks, Outlook alarms and more to get the job done. With Client Reach, you can stay in touch when it matters the most and do it almost automatically. This Signature-exclusive tool is one more reason to feel proud about being part of the family. We ve got your back! Signature Travel Expert Course Module 2: Client Reach 2

3 Lesson 2: How Client Reach Works Client Reach takes information ClientBase Res Cards to generate the various messages it sends to your clients. Agency owners and managers can set the default text of messages, which ones are included and more. We ll look at the messages normally generated. First, let s look at Cruises: Initial Thank-You Message for QUOTES (not bookings): 24 Hours after Res Card *Eligibility Date *the Res Card should be set to QUOTED in both the Res Card and Reservation fields Initial Thank You Message: 24 Hours after Res Card *Eligibility Date * the Res Card must show that a payment or deposit has been made Insurance: One week/7 days after Res Card Eligibility Date o Sent to eligible Cruise and Tour Res Cards o Triggered if no Insurance reservation detected o Message suppressed if a separate insurance reservation exists within a Res Card (confirmed only, quoted reservations still trigger an insurance reminder) o Message suppressed if there is a service provider within the reservation for insurance o Message suppressed if insurance is itemized within a cruise/tour type reservation Pre/post hotel Options: 14 days after Res Card Eligibility Date Will not be sent if a Hotel, Tour or Air reservation is detected on the same Res Card. All hotels pull from Signature's Hotel and Resorts program and/or will include online booking links to Classic Vacation s hotel program. Will show any hotels available in the start/end ports of the cruise. Shore Excursions Group/ShoreTrips booking link: 30 days prior to Trip Start Date Will only be sent to clients booked on cruises with available ports for excursions and for agencies that participate in the Shore Excursions Group or ShoreTrips program. The message will not be sent to clients with a tour reservation present with the cruise booking. Cruise Microsite: 21 days prior to Trip Start Date Destination Microsite & PTG: 14 days prior to the Trip Start Date Will only be sent if we can find a matching Signature destination with matching content Final payment reminder: 7 days before the Final Payment Date Sent only when a final payment date is detected on the reservation Bon Voyage and Booking Onboard: Two days prior to the Trip Start Date Message while traveling: Two days after the Trip Start Date Welcome Home/Referral: One day after the Trip End Date Signature Travel Expert Course Module 2: Client Reach 3

4 Land Vacations: Initial Thank-You Message for QUOTES (not bookings): 24 Hours after Res Card *Eligibility Date *the Res Card should be set to QUOTED in both the Res Card and Reservation fields Initial Thank You Message: 24 Hours after Res Card *Eligibility Date * the Res Card must show that a payment or deposit has been made Insurance One week after Res Card Eligibility Date o Sent to eligible Cruise and Tour Res Cards o Triggered if no Insurance reservation detected o Message suppressed if a separate insurance reservation exists within a Res Card (confirmed only, quoted reservations still trigger an insurance reminder) o Message suppressed if there is a service provider within the reservation for insurance o Message suppressed if insurance is itemized within a cruise/tour type reservation Destination microsite 14 days prior to the Trip Start Date Will only be sent if we can find a matching Signature destination with matching content. Final payment reminder 7 days before the Final Payment Date o Sent only when a final payment date is detected on the reservation Happy Traveling! Two days prior to the Trip Start Date Message while traveling Two days after the Trip Start Date Welcome home One day after the Trip End Date As mentioned previously, agency owners and managers can choose certain defaults for these messages, including the text that will be included. As a travel consultant, you can further customize things down to each individual client s trip. Signature Travel Expert Course Module 2: Client Reach 4

5 What Do the Messages Look Like? In addition selecting which messages, and the default text that is included, agency owners and managers can also choose the look of the messages. Below are typical examples from the various possible messages: Thank You and itinerary link Insurance Reminder Shore Excursions reminder Travel Consultant signature The various messages are automatically spaced out over time; however you can change the scheduled date and customize the text (within default parameters set by your agency owner or manager). Signature Travel Expert Course Module 2: Client Reach 5

6 Lesson 3: Using Client Reach as a Travel Consultant For the purposes of this course, we will be providing you with an overview of the most important features and functions of Client Reach. You ll find detailed Client Reach How-To Guides elsewhere in SigNet. When it comes to using Client Reach, most of it is automatic! As you ll learn in the next lesson, normally all you must do is complete a few fields in Client Base that you probably already use, and that s it! But, there are times when you might want to have a little more control over the messages generated by Client Reach, including turning them off entirely, turning off certain individual components, or making changes to the dates and text included. Everything you need is in the Client Reach Dashboard in SigNet. Keep in mind that your agency owner or manager can control certain settings for the graphical look, default messages to be included, and default text (among other things). Still, there are many controls available to you as a travel consultant. To access the Client Reach Dashboard, simply click Client Reach under Marketing in the SigNet menu. The Client Reach Dashboard offers seven tabs that each contain easy ways to find, and control Client Reach messages down the individual trip. Dashboard Home: The first thing you ll see here are the Next 10 Upcoming Scheduled Messages: Tip: Experienced Consultants The Scheduled Send Dates are automatically spaced to avoid sending too many messages in a row. If you have a client travelling soon, or perhaps you ve booked a trip for several months into the future, you can create your own schedule to coincide with other tasks, activities, or milestones around the trip. Signature Travel Expert Course Module 2: Client Reach 6

7 The columns displayed are mostly self-explanatory: Client, Consultant, Trip, Message Type, Scheduled Send Date, and Options. Some have additional features as follows: Client: click the client s name to display and edit their Client Reach Subscription details Message Type: the type of message such as Final Payment Reminder, Shore Excursion and more. Trip: a clickable link that will display reservation details (from the ClientBase Res Cards). Scheduled Send Date: shows the date the individual message will be sent unless you change it. You can use the icons under Options to change the date, add custom text, delete the message or send it now! Options Column Icons = Preview the message = Edit the message text, date and other details = Delete the message = Send the message now Below the Next 10 Upcoming Scheduled Messages are the Last 5 Recently Sent Messages: Recently Sent Messages only show two icons in Options: Preview and Send Now (to re-send if needed). Signature Travel Expert Course Module 2: Client Reach 7

8 Messages By Res Card From this tab, you can search for messages by Res Card data including: Reservation Type, Client Name or , Trip Title, Confirmation Number, Consultant, Vendor, Trip Start Date or Service Provider (supplier). Enter your desired criteria above and then click the Filter Res Cards button. You ll then receive a list of matching those Res Cards (and related messages): Click the button to expand and show sent and scheduled upcoming messages. Here you can add additional traveler s s to be copied on all or select messages, add an OfferID to include more destinations or just add additional destination guides and microsites to cover all of your client s stops. Signature Travel Expert Course Module 2: Client Reach 8

9 From here, you can click any of the same icons previously mentioned to Preview, Edit, Delete or Send Now. The Edit icon will allow you to add custom text to the message text and the scheduled send date while also showing you a preview of what the message will look like when sent: Get Personal! The Client Reach system is very good at automating the very important task of staying in touch with your clients at the right time, about the right things. Still, you can make it much more personal. Once you have created a Client Base Res Card for an upcoming trip (see ClientBase Res Cards following), we suggest you add short but personal notes to some of the messages in the queue. For example, in the Final Payment Reminder example above, you could add Custom Intro Text similar to: I am so excited that your cruise is almost here! I still remember chatting with both of you about the many choices but in the end, I truly think this is the right one for you. Even simple and short personalized notes like the one above can completely transform otherwise automated messages into something very special. Signature Travel Expert Course Module 2: Client Reach 9

10 Client Reach Dashboard Tabs, continued As the name implies, the All Messages tab shows all message! When clicked, you can search for individual Res Cards in the same way previously described. The Excluded Res Cards tab is very important! It includes those Res Cards that contain some type of exception preventing the reservation from inclusion the Client Reach messaging. As with the other tabs, you can search for Res Cards meeting specified criteria to make corrections. Once exceptions have been corrected, you ll need to wait until the next ClientBase overnight sync before Client Reach becomes updated, and the messaging can proceed. The types of Exceptions that can prevent a Res Card from inclusion are: Invalid Rescycle (Reservation cycle) Client not matched, or no address available for the client Promo ID doesn t match a Signature Offer (cruise reservations only) Res Card has incomplete information A Promo ID (offer ID) has NO CR which means No Client Reach Sending Agent not matched to an active SigNet agent Cannot find a ship match (cruise reservations only) Signature Travel Expert Course Module 2: Client Reach 10

11 Client Reach Dashboard Tabs, continued General Messages: This is where you ll find messages like Happy Birthday and Happy Anniversary and the very popular Passport Expiration Date! Of course, those messages depend on having entered the information in your ClientBase profile. Excluded Profiles: Much like Excluded Res Cards, the Excluded Profiles tab will show profiles that contain an exception preventing inclusion in Client Research messaging. Settings / Tools: the features and functions in this tab are primarily for owners or managers, and are detailed in other training materials. Signature Travel Expert Course Module 2: Client Reach 11

12 Lesson 4: ClientBase Res Cards So far, you might be thinking: this looks like a lot of work! Don t worry - Client Reach does a lot, but most of the magic is nearly automatic. But, you will need to ensure that your ClientBase Res Cards are complete and accurate for Client Reach to work. Luckily, the requirements for Res Cards are very simple and are likely already familiar to you. Whether you use ClientBase Online or ClientBase for Windows, the requirements are the same, even though they might look somewhat different. ClientBase for Windows Res Card ClientBase Online Res Card Signature Travel Expert Course Module 2: Client Reach 12

13 In both versions of ClientBase, the following fields must be completed for Client Reach. Note: the order of the following may differ between systems. Status: must be set to ACTIVE Reservation Cycle: must be one of the Reservation Cycles listed in the Client Reach Dashboard, under Settings. (Quoted, Under Deposit, Invoiced, Paid in Full) Destination: must use a ClientBase default, not a region Trip Dates: both the start and end dates Vendor: must be complete Booking Status: must be Confirmed Promo ID: Sig Offer ID not required, but very helpful! Travel Category: Cruise, Tour, or Hotel Service Provider: Ship or Hotel name (see SigNet) Spelling is very important here! Signature Travel Expert Course Module 2: Client Reach 13

14 Summary Client Reach is truly a remarkable tools and service for travel consultants. Although the handout for this Module was longer and more detailed than some, hopefully you can see that it is a very easy system to use. Here are a few highlights of important points we covered. Be sure you understand them before moving on to the Module quiz. What Client Reach is and how it can help you and your clients The essentials of using the Client Reach Dashboard to locate messages How view and manage messages Personalizing message content How ClientBase Res Cards connect with Client Reach The minimum Res Card Requirements for Client Reach to work Resources The following link directs you to additional training available on SigNet: Client Reach How to Guides and Res Card Quick Reference Guides Learning Instructions This handout provides a general overview of the key objectives of this module and is designed to support the learning process of participants taking the online course. It is highly recommended that all learners complete the online version of this module as it provides more in-depth details and practical applications related to these topics. All quizzes must be completed online to fulfill certificate requirements. Questions If you have questions, please contact the Signature training team: training@signaturetravelnetwork.com Signature Travel Expert Course Module 2: Client Reach 14