Headquarter Happenings: Avoya Travel's Focus on Land and New Technology
经过Cheryl Rosen/
There’s a new co-president, a new focus on land vacations, a new office, and new technology. But at Avoya Travel, the purpose is the same as ever: To enrich lives through inspiring travel experiences.
安德森家族生意刚通过the third generation, with Michael and Jeff as co-presidents. Brad now has joined Van as Avoya’s co-founders no longer running things day-by-day but never out of reach.
在公司的12Thannual conference, held last month onboard Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Seas, the Andersons and their energetic team offered up details of their “Shared Success™ model, where our agencies win, the suppliers win, and Avoya Travel wins.”
与以往一样,这包括关注教育和客户服务,包括从客户评论中挑选的每个代理商和供应商的跟踪和共享净启动子分数。但在作品中也是大胆而广泛的变化:朝着陆基假期迈出了巨大的推动;客户和代理网站上的技术创新;以及培训计划的重大变化。
On the consumer-facing website, Avoya in a month or two will “completely revolutionize how things work,” by no longer leading with the cheapest trips, but instead with those that offer the most value.
“It’s important to bring the best opportunity to the customer, to save time and make it a quick option for them,” said Michael Anderson. Avoya Top Picks™ will factor in group amenities, special offers from suppliers, supplier ratings and exclusive Avoya pricing, thereby highlighting Avoya’s competitive advantage.
“如果客户无论如何都要购买这些东西,为什么不预先包含它,以便您委托呢?”他说。
Even as that effort is progressing, the executive team is working on the 2025 initiative, creating “the travel brand of the future,” said Senior VP of Marketing Sam McCully. For now, Avoya has rolled out a new logo, new typeface and new colors; soon it will offer new customizable fliers and business cards for its Independent Agencies (IAs), and “a new level” of digital marketing pieces and videos for them to share with customers.
Focus on land
不过,今年最有趣的变化也许是对全包和陆基假期的兴趣日益增长。以及与出售它们的供应商(例如Club Med)的合作伙伴关系。
在传统上,克鲁斯(Cruise)是阿沃亚(Avoya)机构的最大业务部分,而出售全包度假胜地对于一家吸引如此多的新代理商的公司来说是很有意义的。值得追求的商业计划是一个值得追求的商业计划,将年轻和时髦的全包客户群带入旅行社频道,并将其转换为高档巡洋舰。
麦库利说:“我喜欢我们的业务机会进入通常不太熟悉Cruise的新客户池,并将其引入市场。这个潜在的市场是巨大的。”
“We used to say that mass market cruises were the easiest for a new agent to sell — but now we’re saying this is another option,” said Senior VP of Sales (and former travel advisor) Steve Hirshan. “If I went back to being an agent today, I’d be selling Amtrak Vacations. It’s yes or no, I need to go on this day, a structured price, no complications. It’s a simple product to sell, and customers book closer in, so cash flow is accelerated.”
Since it’s good for new agents to focus on a niche until they really get to know it inside and out, Avoya will help each one choose whether to focus on land or cruise, Hirshan said, and then choose “vendors or destinations, Carnival or Las Vegas.”
净启动子分数
Even as it moves forward with new initiatives, Avoya will continue its focus on Net Promoter Scores, a quality-assurance system used by many large corporations to track customer satisfaction through a simple metric: On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are customers to recommend your company to their families and friends?
在这个世界上,人们比其他任何人都更信任朋友的建议,每个给您9或10评级的客户都是“促进者”,将您免费介绍给新客户;每个年级6或以下的每个人都是“批评者”,通过警告人们来伤害您的业务。您的分数是促进者的百分比减去批评者的百分比。
Avoya asks every customer to rate its suppliers and its Independent Agencies after every trip, tracks the scores and shares them with its partners. Agents’ scores are factored into the algorithm that determines lead distribution, so in addition to bragging rights, IAs with the highest scores are rewarded with more referrals than those with low scores.
Hirshan说,大约30%的客户对调查的答复,尽管预订销售的总分为84,而服务业务的总成绩很高,但许多IAS的得分为100。
业务计划
Overall, the system is working well, Hirshan said. Avoya grew 20% overall last year, to 1,250 independent agencies, and has a 50% retention rate among its new agents. Hirshan attributes that in part to the Avoya Mastermind Program, its popular and well-received sales training.
Begun six or seven years ago for elite members, over time it has warped into teaching selling skills to associates of all levels — and especially those who are new to travel. Now it’s working so well that new-to-travel IAs are performing within 85% to 90% of established agencies in about nine months.
也有利于底线是booking program. Avoya blocked 30,000 group beds in advance this year, allowing it to lock in rates and availability. Said McCulley, “Finding leads to feed the network has not been a challenge.”
专注于技术
在技术方面,Avoya正在研究其代理电源技术平台的更新版本,以提高其速度,安全性和可靠性。完成后,网站上的页面将加快34%,代理商将能够在一秒钟内访问客户记录。在一年中,AP6 S将节省整个网络的七年使用价值。
Through 2025, said Mike Anderson, the technology team will be looking at the foundational technologies and how they interoperate, using RESTful APIs, changing the front-end interfaces, and adding advanced performance and error-monitoring systems. “At the end of the day, efficiency is so important, whether by shaving seconds off the pages or changing where information is to save you time, we’re trying to make the incremental changes that really add up over time,” he said.
目的是使IAS和客户能够在不到一秒钟的时间内对36,000次巡航航行进行分类,而Avoya的顶级选秀权在顶部,应用所有费率代码,设施和交易,以便他们清楚地看到了最佳选择。
这就是你所知道的
On the education front, 680 IAs (almost half the network) have enrolled in the Avoya Mastermind Program, which offers sales coaching, webinars, and Q&As. There are three Mastermind academies: Early Success for new agents, Success, and Ultimate Success (for agencies “that are starting to soar”). IAs in the program have a 60% higher close rate than those who are not.
策划者非常成功,以至于6月10日启动了第二级策划计划。
There are also Avoya Mastermind Success Academies and Avoya Institutes, which are smaller and more regional; and a Certified Avoya Specialist program is in the works.
2020年,Avoya将在Med Cancun俱乐部开设其第一家土地学院。