Owner and managing director John Hays said the new platform, named Hays Advisor, would enable agents to offer an enhanced level of customer service by building a “single view” of their customers’ preferences through the programme’s use of booking data.
He told TTG that Hays Advisor would collate customer’s feedback on hotels for agents to show to their clients, as well as tracking customers’ booking habits, including the style and duration of their holiday and whether clients had made any additional purchases with Hays, such as currency.
“I always ask myself ‘why should people book with Hays Travel?’ and service is one of the most important reasons,” Hays said.
“We have so much rich data and using it in this way will enhance the sales process for both our travel consultants and clients.”
The system, which is currently being piloted at selected branches, has been built by a team of six full-time developers.
Hays said he hoped to roll out the customer relationship management system across the rest of the Hays Travel Group at the end of November.
“Personally, I think it’s better than anything else on the high street and it feels like we’re taking personalisation to the next level. At the moment we’re just looking at how we can present the data in the easiest way for a travel consultant to access it and use it in-store,” he continued.
Hays added that the platform had been created to offer agents a “credible” resource amid a plethora of online review sites.
“We all know that with many online review sites you have to ask, ‘how many people actually stayed at that hotel?’ – they are wide open to abuse and there’s been well-documented evidence of it, but with Hays Advisor we know these clients have actually been and it gives us and our staff real credibility when they recommend a property,” Hays added.
“If anyone across our distribution network is looking to send a client away to a hotel they can look at that hotel and look at what genuine Hays Travel clients think about it.”
