Expert Articles

Communication is the heart and soul of any travel agency. Agents not only keep in close contact with their clients, but they offer the personal services that only a professional and experienced travel agent can. By booking their clients' trips; informing them of travel specials, deals, and tips; and by offering personalized suggestions and imaginative alternatives, travel agents rely on consistent personal communication to maintain close relationships. In today's age of canned responses and mass e-mails that can seem impersonal and cold, it becomes even more important to establish relationships based on speaking person to person. New technology, like virtual phone services, that helps agents optimize time and efficiency in regard to communications not only provides better service and value to clients, but helps solidify the most important aspect of a sale: the one-to-one personal relationship between an agent and a client.

One reason why clients call travel agents is because they are looking for specialized information. Travel agents are great sources for finding out about the best deals, options, tips, special promotions, and giveaways to desired destinations. However, due to the fact that the Internet has sped up the time it takes for anyone to find information, a missed call could mean a missed sale, and the potential for the gap between the client and agent to widen in the relationship. However, a system like virtual phone service that is able to take every call and effectively generate leads would be invaluable to any travel agency. Virtual phone services effectively reduce missed calls and turn every call into an opportunity.

With virtual phone service, automated recordings letting callers know about special offers can greet every call. When a caller reaches an extension, they can be greeted with a recording for special promotions and giveaways, which allows travel agents to capture the caller's information for lead generation and follow up. Providing information through virtual phone services has cost-cutting processes inherently built-in. Instead of spending resources, time, and money to mail out fliers and brochures, a virtual phone service provides the same and more personal information over the phone. What makes virtual phone service inherently more valuable than printed brochures, however, is the fact that it involves two-way communication, from client to agent and vice versa, which is a far more effective way to close a sale.

The caller receives valuable information that he or she has been looking for, and with this new information from a virtual phone service, is more prepared and ready when he or she speaks with a travel agent. The caller has already been hooked and is interested when the agent follows up. Value is created twice - when the caller calls and receives information, and when the agent receives the caller's information and is able to follow up. This new communication model is extremely efficient, as a call will never be able to slip through the cracks.

Virtual phone service also opens the door to many new possibilities in business, which may include cost-saving measures such as the possibility for telecommuting. Travel agents no longer have to be tied down to one single location to take calls and interface with clients. Instead, a virtual phone service allows for flexible call forwarding which enables travel agents to be mobile and quite accessible. The flexibility that an agent gains means that agents are better apt to multi-task and be more productive. Instead of waiting for a call at the desk, virtual phone service allows agents to work with one client and rest assured that if they are receiving multiple calls, those calls will not be missed. Agents can follow up with any call at any time without wasting any resources.

Because communication is so important for travel agents and their clients, a reliable system that also provides great value to every caller can go a long way to improve communication. Travel agencies turn every call into an opportunity, gathering vital information from each call so that agents can provide accurate follow up from newly generated leads. Callers that receive information they are looking for are more inclined to communicate with an agent that calls them back and are more open to a relationship with an agent. Call forwarding capabilities will also increase efficiency and cut waste by allowing agents to multi-task. Virtual phone service helps solidify relationships between clients and agents by improving and adding value to communication.