Embracing Modern Technology and Empowering Communication for Travel Advisors

Cruise Planners Releases Groundbreaking SMS Tool for Franchise Owners

Written By: Michelle Fee, CEO & Founder – Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative

 

Tech Days are back in person at Cruise Planners and this year, the nation’s largest network of home-based franchise travel agents is ramping up their offerings to help advisors maximize their time and profits using technology. Cruise Planners hosted a sold-out, two-day workshop dedicated to familiarizing advisors with the emerging technology designed to streamline the booking process and beyond.

 

 

Cruise Planners invited travel advisors to its Home Office in Coral Springs, Fl. to provide a hands-on experience and explain the features of Cruise Planners signature booking systems and apps. Tech Days focused on productivity, interactive Q&A’s, and gave advisors the opportunity to get one-on-one tech advice.

 

“Equipping our agents with the tools and knowledge to work smarter and not harder is something we place a big emphasis on,” said Michelle Fee, Cruise Planners CEO and Founder. “Time is money and every single app or tool that we create for our advisors has that in mind so they can work more efficiently and take their sales further.”

 

Tech Days exclusively offers the franchise owners an opportunity to engage, ask questions and in turn learn about how to best leverage technology within the Cruise Planners platform.

 

“Every technology we present is simple to use despite the sophistication of the tool, largely because we’ve spent months testing and tweaking to make sure they’re the best iteration for our advisors,” said Brian Shultz, Cruise Planners Chief Information Officer. “Our team puts a lot of work building the tools, but the feedback from our advisors helps us continue to provide industry leading technology solutions.”

 

 

Cruise Planners kicked off the event by unveiling the CP Maxx Automated Text Messaging program. Advisors also received a refresher course on how best to utilize many of the tools already available to them. In addition, workshops included:

 

• Private Groups – This session focused on using the tools in CP Maxx to properly manage, and promote, private groups created by the advisor.
• Task Manager – This session was a deep-dive into all things Task Manager. From templates, to tags and everything in between, our team took the attendees on a guided tour of how Tasks can help keep them organized.
• Ask Maxx – A free-form session where advisors got to ask the Tech leadership any questions they had from any of the various tools they have to work with.
• Social Media – The exclusive CPsocial Program continues to help franchisees grow their digital marketing with tips and tools on social, search and online reputation.
• CP Mobile, Data Protection & Best Practices – CP Mobile focused on all the features of the Cruise Planners Mobile App for consumers. Data protection and best practices was an opportunity for the advisors to learn the best ways to protect themselves and their business online.
• SEO – This workshop focused on SEO basics and how to leverage your website tools in CP Maxx for maximum search engine exposure. content using key words and best practices.

 

“I came to learn more about certain tools that I already use so I can utilize these tools to their maximum functionality,” said Rick Carlson, a franchise owner based in Boston. “I’ve been with Cruise Planners for 22 years and had many ‘aha’ moments over these two days.”

 

 

“Tech is not my strong suit, and I just needed the extra help and Tech Days has been incredible,” said Robin Sherin, a franchise owner. “Learning more about the new CP social media platform was also another reason I wanted to attend.”

 

Tech Days attendees also got a sneak peek at the initiatives the CP Technology Team is working to finalize and present at this year’s national convention Nov. 11-13, at the Intercontinental Hotel in Miami, Fl. The next Tech Days workshop will take place Oct.12-13.