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TProfile provides a content rich, integrated CRM platform for the travel sector, including a suite of advanced applications, allowing customers to view and manage enquiries, quotes, bookings and more.
Having integrated the Widgety API and created a data management application, their system allows travel agents and tour operators to switch on any and all elements of cruise for their website, and combine them with all the TProfile features, and their existing selling systems. These itineraries and created packages can then be used within quotes, to power website pages and to drive social media promotions.
The TProfile-Widgety integration allows any business to have a full travel website quickly and easily, without having to worry about the costs of their own developers. We spoke to Tony Evans, CEO of TProfile about how and why they work with us, what they really do and more
Damian
Widgety just supplies the cruise component into your system, what do you do with cruises from us in the morning and how does that tie in to a customer producing a quote?
Tony
In terms of the cruise content, we capture your content at various points during the day and put all of that into a central database which contains the content, pricing, and the availability.
Then our middle platform which allows our customers to do certain things with the data i.e., personalise the quote for their client. In a mere 30 seconds the Widgety cruise content gets pulled into quotes, in a visual and informative way. This was fundamentally one of the first reasons that we began talking. We wanted a high-quality level of content which was consistent and made the quotes going out to customers sing.
Further to that, customers can manage products/itineraries as well. i.e., the system allows them to build and store popular itineraries which they can use in marketing, social media or to send out time and time again to prospects. In addition, this content can be used in front end searches on their websites, enabling them control which operators, ships, ports, regions etc.
They can also control certain things, so they can pick an operator and apply a price reduction or increase on it, or repackage if they are working with net fares or sales etc. This can be done an individual ship, a date range for booking or departure. Essentially they have the ability to control the pricing that’s displayed either on the front end of their website or within their quotes that go out to their customers. This is particularly useful when lining up activity in advance of a sale or discount for a specific timeframe.
Damian
And from the front end, obviously you’ve built some really great looking sites for people like Miles Morgan and Affordable Holidays – how easy is it to do that? Does it all translate straight away into the front end of the website as well as the quotes so they’ve got a seamless product between front end and back end? How does it all talk to each other?
Tony
Absolutely. In terms of deploying a front-end cruise site we can do that within the same day. What I mean by a cruise site is, if there’s an existing travel website and the agent wants to plug in a cruise site as well, we can do that almost instantly.
We spent a few years fine tuning the architecture of what we do and to make it work – we’ve got a central code, it’s easy to maintain and easy to deploy. In 2022 we started to reap the benefits of this, and we were approached by new customers to build websites and integrate the CRM/Quotes functionality.
If you wanted a full website; a travel website which included cruise or a full cruise website from scratch, there is a build process involved in creating the home page, about us pages etc. Again we have made strides in this area in 2023. However more often than not, customers will be looking to plug in a cruise section, which is the faster solution
Damian
Is the company all based here in the UK or are you spread out internationally?
Tony
We’ve got a couple of people are based in Europe which is historical and it’s where our connections have been in the past, some of our design work is still over there, but otherwise it’s all co-ordinated by people in the UK, from Kent to Newquay, to the Midlands and the South Coast. We really work closely together, we live on teams, weekly update calls and are constantly communicating whether it’s to do with customers or development, or the vision for what we’re doing.
In 2022 we decided to recruit a Head of Sales to fine tune our sales and marketing strategy. We also joined CLIA and ATAS, which has meant more visibility as a business and as result we have seen a significant year of growth. As the team has started to grow we meet face to face 2 times a year as a minimum.
Damian
And you don’t just do cruise? You offer TProfile for other products as well?
Tony
Absolutely, the majority of our customers sell all elements of travel. The quotes functionality allows agents to do all categories of quotes including cruise only, touring, beach right through to the complex multi-centre complex itineraries. The destination, and hotel content is drawn in from different sources, so you can create that quote and acquire the rich content for that as well.
As a business we have grown significantly in the past 12 months and clients (new and existing) are approaching us to build on their solution. One area we have focused on significantly over the past few months is documentation that agents use when a client has booked. They quickly recognised that their quotes were of an extremely high standard but post booking they didn’t have anything visual to present. In addition, our Customer travel zone and customer app is proving to be a real talking point with more clients asking to explore this area.
One of the big things about the quotes as well is we build in call to actions and feedback into the quotes, so that feedback is along the lines of – ‘I’d like to book it’, ‘it’s possible’ or ‘I’m not interested’. So customers will reply with things like “I like this, but can I have two days in New York? Can I change the flight times?”, so a travel agent can tweak the quote to fit their requirements, and it really works. This is really effective as the agent receives the message real time, being able to engage with the client when they are looking at the quote really aids conversions.
Damian
And am I right in thinking that if you’re a big travel agent with multiple branches then you can add a top level to have a look and see all of the quotes that are created across all of your branches, by who, what’s converting, and maybe take those quotes and allow other members of the teams to see them to send to their customers as well?
Tony
Absolutely, so we have different levels of TProfile. For permission levels, we start with the agent, who’s the front of house contact whether they’re in a shop, a call centre or are a homeworker, and then levels above that. At the manager level you can see all the quotes, the pipeline, the statuses of them, and you can control all of that. Our customers vary from big retail operations to call centres, to specialist groups and we also have some customers in the US, Europe and Ireland as well.
Damian
What are you plans for the future? Not just in terms of your integration with us in cruise, but in general for the TProfile product?
Tony
Within TProfile, we have the core of what we want to do and we’re not going to deviate too far away from that but our plans are to evolve and build on the solution.
In reality, what we provide is designed for customers to be able to take as much or as little of the solution as they require. It can be a huge leap to just take everything, but not so much of a leap to start doing quotes or booking documentation with us.
Our big development that we took to market in Q4 2022 is our Customer Travel Zone and Customer App. More and more clients are wanting a one stop shop to enhance interaction with their customers and these are two key elements that we are being asked for.
Damian
That’s really brilliant, and I have to ask – how has it been working with Widgety? I’m keen to know how important the cruise content is to you, and where you think the partnership is going.
Tony
Cruise content for us was critical to get right. Some of the best quotes we see being sent are cruise, the Widgety content adds value to the quote. From an agent and client perspective being able to see the itinerary, different restaurants, stateroom options, deck plans along with inspiring imagery works really well. In addition, the solution allows you to show more than one price so its easy to demonstrate the value of upgrading a stateroom.
It has been a great experience for us, and we’re delighted to continue with our partnership for our mutual clients.
Damian
So launching the variables on the product, there really is kind of a very low point of entry, at around £500, and with this not-too-expensive cost per month do you now feel like you’re ready to expand quite quickly and maybe take on smaller travel agents who possibly thought they couldn’t have afforded it in the past?
Tony
In 2022 we saw smaller agents come onboard. The reality is that they saw the value. Rather than seeing TProfile as a cost to their business they see it as an investment.
We’ll always be improving it, it’s not a product that ever finishes. We are in a place now where we can deploy quickly and easily, and get it out to customers whether they’re big companies, small travel agents, home workers or anyone else. I think we’re in that place now where we can deliver something to everyone.
Thanks to Tony for talking to us, we’re really excited to be partnering with TProfile to make our full cruise content more accessible than ever. For more information please contact TProfile directly or get in touch with us.
Try the demo: http://www.tprofile.co.uk/demo2/
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