ClientBase Help

CRM and marketing tips for the travel professional

Posts Tagged Profile Tips

Get The Birthdays And More

Dec 29

Posted by John Frenaye in Profile Tips | No Comments

I know it is hard to get all of the information for a “complete profile”, but if you resolve to get the critical pieces right away and then fill in the blanks down the line it will be a lot easier.

Just listen to your clients and prospects when you talk to them in person, online, or on the phone. They will give you clues and an easy entrance to get the information you need.

For example, if a client casually mentions the trip he is considering is for an anniversary—ask the date! Now in the future you are set to impress him by remembering. Or you might just save his butt by reminding him! If you take some time to listen to your clients, you will be surprised at what you will learn.

So what are the critical pieces of a profile. They will differ from agency to agency but in my opinion the following needs to be known after the first contact:

  1. Name
  2. Phone
  3. Email
  4. Trip Name

After the second contact, you should be getting more information:

  1. Address
  2. Work Phone
  3. Cell Phone
  4. Family members or traveling companions
  5. Marketing preferences (some)
  6. Dates of birth*

* Coming in 2009, DHS will be requiring birth dates in PNRs. So even if you are not using a GDS, you will need this information to pass along to the tour operator–hopefully by LiveConnect!

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Never, Never, Never

Dec 25

Posted by John Frenaye in General Tip, Profile Tips | No Comments

First of all Merry Christmas!

Now back to ClienBase!  One of my clients called yesterday asking about deleting old clients when they had reservation cards or activities attached to their profiles.

The answer is you NEVER delete old clients. If you are confident that you will not be doing business with them, you can change their PROFILE STATUS to inactive, but never delete them.  Even death is not a reason.

The information you are tracking is vital. Maybe you need to see if all of your clients ARE dieing off. But more realistically, don’t you think the info about past trips, or perhaps the comments about trips you planned is useful in planning your future?

You can move a profile to inactive on the main screen of the profile or you can do it globally (like maybe you queried clients who have not purchased in a decade?)

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Importing Tip

Dec 20

Posted by John Frenaye in Profile Tips | No Comments

At some point, you will want to import some names and profile info into your database. Maybe you attended a Bridal Show or are just trying to get your names out of the old Outlook program.

ClientBase has a great import program that is included with the software but runs outside of it. Look in your default directory (START–>ALL PROGRAMS–>TRAMS–>TRAMS PROFILE IMPORT).

The best suggestion I can offer is to do this alone, and completely uninterrupted. It is a simple process, but missing a single step can prove to be disastrous. Take your time and follow EACH step and you will have a successful import.

Another best practice is to add a separate “identifier” to the import in case you screw it up. For example, if I get my original file in an Excel format, I will open the file and create another column and for EVERY profile in that file, I will put some sort of source code.  When I do my import into ClientBase, I will import that source code into some UNUSED field (I use the website field for leisure profiles–I personally don;t see the need to have people’s personal websites). That way, if you happen to import the last names into the first name fields (or some other oops), you can easily re-query by the website and delete them and start over.

I don’t recommend importing the code directly into the source field because if it is not unique to this import, you could have a problem.

Think about your imports and be careful. There is nothign more embarassing down the road when doing a mail merge marketing piece and sending a letter or email out to “Dear Smith”

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