How Flexible Phones Brought One Travel Company Closer to Its Customers

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Nothing inspires summer vacation plans quite like a winter in Boston. But as 110 inches of snow blanketed the city throughout the 2014-2015 season, one nearby travel agency was struggling to take advantage of local wanderlust.

Dangerous driving conditions had forced many Crystal Travel & Tours’ employees to work from home, leaving them disconnected from the hardware-based phone system hosted at company headquarters.

“We’re a business that does not sell through its website, and I’d say 95% of all our customer communications occur on the phone,” explained Kevin Kelly, Director of Business Development. “So trying to manage everything through our personal cell phones was a real problem.”

Although Kelly was eventually able to forward a few of the office lines, productivity inevitably fell as snow levels rose. So when the company’s phone system contract came up for renewal later that year, he knew it was time to make a switch.

Free The Phone

Flexibility was Kelly’s top priority when searching for a new provider. The phone had to become as portable as the rest of the team’s business tools — and not just for work-from-home days. Working in the international tourism industry naturally requires frequent travel as well.

Though several softphone solutions were capable of meeting that criteria, Aircall distinguished itself by offering Kelly the ability to instantly set up local numbers in key business regions abroad.

This simple convenience has a significant impact on customers.

“When one of our guests has missed a flight or misplaced travel documents, the last thing we want them to worry about is what they might be charged to place an international call,” said Kelly. “Now our customers benefit from reduced rates and our business benefits from the added authority of a local presence.”

Converse In Context

A good phone system transmits calls. A great phone system improves conversations. And after tapping into Aircall’s full potential, Kelly can now proudly say his team has the latter.

The Aircall-HubSpot integration automatically pushes key customer data into view as calls come in. That means staff start more conversations with the context they need to provide personalized recommendations. Then, once the call is over, all notes and tags they added are synced back to the CRM system along with a full recording.

“The promise behind our brand is a completely customized travel experience,” said Kelly. “For me, that really begins with giving my team the tools they need to feel prepared and focus on what they do best.”

Decide With Data

Aircall’s ability to eliminate restrictions and add context quickly won the approval of frontline staff. But more importantly for Kelly, he needed to know how this morale boost was impacting business.

“My old phone system had some reporting features, but the interface was so clunky that I probably only looked at it a few times a year,” Kelly admitted. “With Aircall I now have a dashboard I look at daily, and the live component really helps me monitor the pulse of the team when I’m away on travel.”

Moving forward, the feature Kelly is most excited to explore is call whispering. Instead of merely reviewing call recordings after the fact, he’ll be able to quietly advise colleagues in the moment without disturbing the caller.

It’ll be just one more way Crystal Travel & Tours uses smart technology to empower its employees and deliver exceptional guest experiences.

Published on June 25, 2018.