Surviving the Chaos: How Effective Systems Saved Me and My Luxury Travel Clients

When I first started in travel in 2013, my ex-husband and I were running a concierge service for professional footballers The Limelight Collection . I had no prior experience and, admittedly, learned everything on the job! I definitely learned the hard way, but despite a few close calls, I'm amazed and delighted to say that I managed not to let any of our clients down (at least not too badly). ??

Looking back, I can't believe how close to the wire I was at times. Without a proper organisational system, I found myself in some tight spots.

I'm embarrassed to say, clients would call me a couple of days before their trip, asking why they hadn't received their documents and I had no idea where I had saved them.

On one occasion, a client and their family arrived at their hotel to find only one room booked instead of two in all their hotels booked as part of a larger itinerary across the USA. A huge shout-out to Carrier Luxury Holidays for saving my ass on that one!

Learning the airline GDS system was another rollercoaster; once, I accidentally turned a client's Virgin Upper Class return ticket into a one-way, which meant I had to pay for four one-way business class flights back—an expensive mistake!

I'm proud to say that no matter what went wrong on the back end, I ALWAYS made sure the client was okay. It was stressful, but those experiences made me more resilient and adept at handling live situations.

The Turning Point: Realising the Need for Systems

As time went on however, I realised that my nervous system couldn’t take that kind of stress forever. It became clear that I needed, not just better systems but systems, full stop.

As the business grew, my cousin came to work for me, and her experience as a project manager was instrumental in helping us get organised. We started with a simple spreadsheet to track clients, travel details, and tasks, but she also emphasised the importance of documenting everything. She once told me, "If all the information is in your head, what happens if you get hit by a bus?" That was a wake-up call.

Financial Management with Xero and Stripe

My sister Justine, who runs Pinpoint Bookkeeping introduced me to Xero for our accounting needs. With real-time updates, we can keep on top of our finances and cash flow, an it's accessible from my phone or laptop anywhere in the world.

For card payments, we use Stripe Though it's a bit pricey at around 1.5% card processing fees, it offers the convenience and security we need.

Project Management with Monday.com

A few years ago, I discovered monday.com and it was truly love at first sight. This tool completely transformed our operations. With its highly customisable workflows, we can efficiently track everything from initial leads to post-sales tasks. It has streamlined our processes to such an extent that it feels like we've gained an additional team member. The ability to tailor the tool to our specific needs has allowed us to manage more trips with a higher level of detail and accuracy, significantly improving our overall efficiency and client satisfaction.

We use it for CRM, currency conversion calculators, client preferences, flight details, hotel information, and much more. It's a realtime, collaborative software that can grow with you and your team and you can tailor it to suit the needs your particular clients.

SOPs and Training with Loom

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) have also been a game-changer. My other sister Lisa, who runs her own bookkeeping agency Tidier Books Inc. in Canada introduced me to the concept.

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) have truly transformed my business. If you're trying to grow your team or outsource tasks but find yourself thinking, "No one can do it as well as I can, so I might as well do it myself," consider this:

a) How will you grow your business?

b) How will you manage everything without experiencing burnout?

c) What happens if you're suddenly unavailable or need to take a break?

SOPs provide a clear, consistent framework for your team to follow, ensuring that tasks are completed to your standards even when you're not personally handling them. This not only facilitates growth but also brings peace of mind and the ability to scale efficiently.

We’ve created detailed checklists in Monday.com for every task. I’m not sure my team loves the amount of admin involved, but over time, it becomes second nature for them to handle it as I would, ensuring every client requirement is covered—whether it's a hotel booking, flight change, restaurant reservation, or transfer. This has significantly reduced mistakes and has built our clients' trust, giving them confidence that we will ensure seamless trips even when last-minute changes occur.

Additionally, we use a recording software called Loom , which allows us, as a team, to record videos of ourselves performing various tasks and providing instructions. These videos are stored in a library on Monday.com, creating a permanent resource for our everyone. As we grow, new team members can access these videos during their onboarding process, saving us countless hours of training time and ensuring consistent instruction.

Incidentally, a piece of advice that has helped me to delegate is to ask myself: if my team can do something 80% as well as I can, is that good enough? For some tasks, the answer might be no, and those are the tasks you should keep. However, for everything else, pass to your team. They will improve over time, so nurture their growth as much as possible.

Communication Tools: WhatsApp Business and Slack

For client communications, we use WhatsApp Business , which allows us to set up welcome and out-of-office messages plus shortcuts for frequently sent information like quoting or booking confirmation checks . This also ensures consistency of message and team efficiency.

We also have WhatsApp groups for our travel clients, ensuring that there is always someone available to answer questions or perform tasks. This setup also gives me the chance to oversee all client communications and step in with advice on the best hotels or destinations when needed.

Slack is our go-to for internal communication. With different channels for various aspects of our business, it helps keep everything organised, especially during peak travel times when our professional footballer clients are all travelling.

If we relied solely on one WhatsApp channel, important questions and internal messages could easily get missed. On Slack, we have dedicated channels for pre and post-sales, concierge requests, hotel/flight/leads information, and quality control checks for itineraries.

Additionally, Slack’s handy reminder settings and automations sync with Monday.com, ensuring that, for example, the day before our client arrives at their destination airport, we receive a notification to provide them with their driver’s name and number. These useful reminders help us keep our clients informed and ensure our systems run smoothly.

Digital Itineraries with Travefy

Travefy has revolutionised how we create and share itineraries. Clients love the mobile access and professional presentation. If something on their trip changes, we can update it in real time and it automatically tracks live flight time changes. It integrates seamlessly with our workflow, making itinerary management smooth and efficient.

We use Paperform survey software to collect client trip details and gather post-trip feedback, and we also communicate these forms via WhatsApp shortcuts.

Embracing AI

The new frontier is AI which is both exciting and scary! In my opinion, at the luxury end of the travel market, our knowledge, experience, and human touch will always be invaluable. However, I believe we can leverage these new tools to enhance our business and provide an even better client experience.

We’re already using ChatGPT to summarise client conversations in WhatsApp, extracting structured details about flights, transfers, accommodations, allergies, preferences, restaurant reservations, VIP airport services, and more. There are countless AI applications that complement what we do, and I’m fully embracing this technology to give us, and our clients, the edge.

Building and Nurturing a Strong Team

The right team is crucial. Regular meetings and feedback sessions help us stay aligned and continuously improve. As the team grows, experienced members mentor the newcomers, ensuring a strong, cohesive unit. Additionally, thanks to our robust systems, I’m no longer as fearful of losing a team member. As much as I love them all, if they do decide to leave, we can now seamlessly integrate new hires into our operations more efficiently than ever before.

The Freedom to Innovate

With these systems in place, growing a team allows you to step back from the day-to-day operations of your business and focus on what truly drives growth—Income Generating Tasks (IGTs). As a business owner, your attention should be on these strategic activities.

Once you're no longer bogged down by the more basic details of your clients' trips, you can elevate your perspective and view your business from a broader angle. This enables you to continually improve systems, invest in your new and existing clients, team, and plan for new business opportunities, steering your company in your desired direction.

Conclusion

I’m delighted to say, I've now reached a stage where, thanks to implementing these changes, I have been able to pursue exciting and fulfilling projects like founding Travel Sisterhood with my friend Alexea Grech . I've gone on to build this collective with the help of other 'Sisters' within the group and we are continuing to grow this supportive network for currently 80 female luxury travel agents around the globe who share destination information, business strategies, and general life advice.

Are you a woman in the industry who owns a luxury travel agency and is seeking support with like-minded professionals, check out Travel Sisterhood for valuable resources and a thriving community. To learn more and sign up, please send me a direct message.

https://www.instagram.com/travel.sisterhood/

Also, I’d love to hear from you! What systems have become indispensable in your business? Share in the comments which tools have been game-changers for you and your company.?

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