Is it time to reconsider how you collect customer registration data? Here are three of the top danger signs that you could be compromising your clients’ privacy and security:
- Copying: if your staff are copying registrations from emails, forms, agent communications and pasting them into your database.
- Office spreadsheets: fine for very small business to manage inventory, administration systems, client sheets, trip lists etc. but if you are being serious about business your program should be too.
- UNSECURE storage: this can put your business and your clients at risk. Credit card storage is an obvious risk to avoid and storing/transferring client personal data without secure service or storage is also subject to theft and a law suit. Make sure you use a PCI compliant system.
These are just a few business operations that can be done inefficiently and cost a company in wasted staff time, negative customer experience (with lost or erroneous data) or in a damaging business closing scale law suite.
You need all the information possible from a client to ensure you give them the best tour possible. Information about them, information you will share guides, accountants, agents, vendors, the list goes on – but the important thing is to keep this information secure from hackers. You also want to do this as efficiently as possible and free from errors. An online reservation system like Adventure Engine can do just that and more. Watch the video below to review a few of the features Adventure Engine offers, such as a customized customer check out questionnaire form. If you are focused on growing a successful adventure tour business here are a few things to check for in your system.
Customization by trip: when looking at the reservation system, make sure it’s possible to customize questions for each trip. Often each trip will have its own unique set of information that you need to gather from customers and not just one standard for across all trips.
Question type: a good online reservation system will include the capacity to customize questions for each trip. You should be able to program different types of questions to ask clients such as drop down menus, multiple-choice, text entry, demographic auto fills, and more.
What about Group bookings: tour operators should be able to program whether or not a reservation question is posed to the first person in the group or whether every person in the tour has to complete the question. This allows for a much more streamlined process for both the group leader and the adventure tour operator when collecting information for large groups.
Customer login: this feature allows clients to log back in and fill in the information after the tour has been booked. This can be used when clients do not have all the required information yet, such as flight information. Some operators will direct clients to the website to complete portions of registration information after the base reservation has been made. Lastly it allows for clients to login and pay balance owings (see more on this topic at http://www.adventureengine.com/?p=2167).
These are just a few business operations that can be done inefficiently and cost a company in wasted staff time, negative customer experience (with lost or erroneous data) or in a damaging business closing scale law suite.
Make sure the reservation system your company is using has the functionality to manage all of your tour questions and forms effectively and securely. When purchasing a new system also consider the growth of the company to ensure it can grow with you.
Check out the video below demonstrating some of the Adventure Engine capacity to customize registration forms: