Charter :: Travel Manager

August 9, 2010 – 9:01 am

We’ve been pretty quiet on the blog the last few weeks because there’s some major updates under development. Apart from some minor bug fixes the developers have been busy working on a total redesign of how a Private Hire / Charter Quote or Booking is entered into TravelManager.

Key feature requests such as the support of mutliple days, movements and vehicles is now included. So the software will have the flexibility to enter any type of scenario e.g.

1) An over the road booking where there’s multiple days and detailed day by day itinerary.

2) Large shuttle service for a conference with multiple vehicles

3) Unusual services such as a full day service following by an evening with a different driver and/or vehicle

4) And more.

*Here’s a few screenshots to give you an idea of what will be live in a couple of weeks.

New Quote Entry Details Section Major Update – New Quote / Booking Entry Design (Coming Soon)

New Details Section

Locations Tab in the New Movements Section

Comments tab in the new Movements Section

Fees tab in the new Movements Section

Regards,

Eamonn

June 25, 2010 – 9:00 am

Documents such as PDF’s or Word Docs can be attached to any email template created in TravelManager. This feature allows for operators to attach terms and conditions, marketing information about their fleet and company or any type of document that would be of value to send with an email template.

As will all features of the email templates the user can override the default options to remove or add additional attachments on per charter / private hire basis.

Some recommended templates would include:

1) Terms & Conditions

2) Company History & Fleet Profile

3) How to Charter/Hire a Motorcoach?

4) What additional fees/services are included and not included?

5) Etc.

Setup requires administrator level access under MyAccount -> Admin -> Email Templates.

Regards,

Eamonn

June 21, 2010 – 9:00 am

The Quotation template and PDF is undergoing a major redesign at the moment so based on some great feedback we’re adding the ability to add Custom Fees as standard to your quotes. This custom fees can be specific surcharges that may apply to your area or fees that are company policy e.g. A fee for having a restroom / lavatory on the vehicle.

As these charges maybe standard across the majority of your quotes, you can now have them as default fees that will appear automatically. As with everything with the templates you can overide a standard option on a per quote basis. This should really help insuring that you’re billing as consistently as possible as well as avoiding any possible confusion with your customers.

Custom Fees in TravelManager

*This new feature goes live this week but here’s a quick screenshot of what it looks like in the admin section of TravelManager.

Regards,

Eamonn

June 10, 2010 – 10:15 am

We’re in the process of redesigning the PDF templates in TravelManager for Quotations, Confirmations, Invoicing and Receipts. Based on feedback over the last few months we’ve been adding additional fields such as breakdown on fees, comments for pickup and drop off locations and whole range of other requests.

New Design for TravelManager Quotation PDF Template

The design is still undergoing some final changes but I thought it was time to share what’s been created so far. We’re hoping to launch this update for the 19^th of July.

*As ever we always appreciate comments and feedback.

Regards,

Eamonn

May 31, 2010 – 9:00 am

In Saturday’s rollout we’ve updated the email templates section with “Cancellation Penalties” so now you can have automated calculations of penalties for a cancelled charter. A TravelManager Administrator can now edit fees based on the date of cancellation ranging from 30 days to 24hrs before the booked service.

ancellation Fees as a percentage over time

The software automatically calculates the difference between the date of cancellation and the date of service to generate the correct penalty (if applicable). This facilitates a consistent company policy and reduces potential lost revenue.

New Merge fields have been added to help display the charges in your cancellation email template so the customer can clearly see the fees that maybe applied to a late cancellation.

New Merge Fields for Email Templates

Tip: It’s recommended to include your cancellation policy in any terms and conditions document that you may attach to emails to your customer.

Regards,

Eamonn

May 9, 2010 – 9:00 am

In the latest rollout we’ve added an upload facility to attach files to Charter / Private Hire Quotes / Booking. This facility allows for TravelManager users to attach documents that a client or subcontractor may have provided.

File Upload Facility in TravelManager Quotations

File Upload Facility in TravelManager (part 2)

The email templates section has also been updated with the addition of some new Merge Fields such as “Customer Company/Group Name” and “System Generated Reference”. The layout of the fields have also been improved by grouping them into Customer, Quote and User/Company details. We hope this makes it easier to create your dynamic email templates.

New Layout for Email Templates in TravelManager

Finally, the HTML email template has now been moved ahead of the plain text template. The HTML email template is the default template and the plain text template is only displayed if the customer opts to view plain text rather than HTML.

Regards,

Eamonn

May 1, 2010 – 5:11 pm

As promised in last weeks blog post we’ve rolled out Email Templates this week so you can now create a range of emails to handle regular scenarios during the charter process. You have the full flexibility to have different templates for every step of the process from sending a quote, to confirmations and payment acknowledgement emails and more…

You’ll find the setup under MyAccount -> Admin -> Email Templates and to send this emails just click on the new button in Quotes.

TravelManager New Email Button

Some of the advance features include:

Send both plain text and HTML emails
Send HTML and Plain Text Emails from TravelManager
Automatically have attachments to your email templates
Automatically Attach Documents to Email Templates
Preview your emails before sending
Preview with Image and Attachment

Emails are stored in Notes

TravelManager Emails are copied to Notes

We’ve more updates to follow next week to automatically trigger Status changes based on the email templates you use but more to follow on that early next week

*I’m running Webinars this week for any TravelManager user that wishes to get some training on this new feature. Email info@gotravelmanager.com for more information.

Regards,

Eamonn

**To keep up to date with the latest news and feature updates you should subscribe to our RSS feed and follow our going effort to make TravelManager the best software solution for the Bus, Motorcoach & Chauffeur industry.

April 23, 2010 – 9:00 am

We’re fortune enough to work with a diverse group of Bus and Coach companies ranging from 1 vehicle businesses to 1,000+ vehicle business. Not only do we work with different size of operations our TravelManager users are geographically spread from areas as far as Australia to Iceland as well from Asia to North America so we really get a global perspective on the industry.

A key area for all customers is how then can become more efficient in managing the large amount of administration that occurs during the booking of a Bus or Coach. The client communication such as emails, phone calls, quotations, confirmations, contracts etc are all time consuming and critical in converting leads and providing good customer service.

So over the last few weeks we’ve been documenting all the feedback and building a really strong process to implement in TravelManager factoring all the different states of a quote from “New” right until Invoicing and Payment.

I think we have it cracked by giving our users the facility to track the status of every Charter/Private Hire and an email template engine to create multiple emails for every step of the booking process.

**Here’s a couple of screenshots for some of new features rolling next week.

Email Template Engine adding default File attachments and Labels

*This feature allows users to create multiple email templates with the ability to label, associate with a “Status” of a quote and select files that will be attached by default e.g Terms & Conditions PDF or a Company Overview PDF etc

Create your own HTML Email Templates

*This new feature gives you the ability to create you’re own email templates so you can send nicely designed / styled emails with your logos and branding. Really helps your correspondence stand out from your competitors.

Regards,

Eamonn

We’re testing some of the new features at the moment on the Beta server and if we’re happy with the results I think we’ll push out an early rollout next Tuesday rather than wait until the usual Saturday update!!!

January 27, 2010 – 7:00 pm

Internet technology is changing the world and today Apple release their vision of the future of Internet access. The iPad Tablet is the starting point for an even more connected customer, but do your staff have the right tools?

TravelManager Lauching App for iPad Tablet

If you’re not online, you don’t exist to a growing customer base. This customer wants to work with you on their terms, when and where they want. Is your business ready for the future?

**TravelManager are leading the group travel and transport industry, why don’t you join us when we launch next month at UMA in Las Vegas.

Regards,

eamonn Is your Business ready for the future?

Eamonn Hughes

October 9, 2009 – 3:00 pm

This is a common discussion I’ve been having with operators over the last few years. The typical reaction is that’s too hard to generate an accurate price in real-time and also there’s a fear that online booking will facilitate shopping around for the cheapest price.

The reality is the Motorcoach is not seen as a viable alternative for a large percentage of the population. In fact the figure of 7-9% is quoted regularly at conferences about the percentage of North Americas that use Motorcoaches. So why is it that the remaining at worst 81% don’t ever use your services?

1) Lack of Awareness

2) Unfashionable image of a “Motorcoach” (an old Bus)

3) Not marketing to new markets / customers (too much focus on older/traditional audience)

4) Inability to get a fast quote/price

5) All of the above and more…

I see the Motorcoach Council are trying to coordinate an industry wide campaign with their “Motorcoachified” message which is a step in the right direction on the awareness front but….

Internet Sales coming soon

It’s not enough the industry needs to change how it sells to the new customers who will what the convenience of real-time booking before they see the Motorcoach as a real alternative to taking a car, train or flight.

It can happen but does the industry what this? – We think at TravelManager that 2010 is the year for it happen

Regards,

Eamonn

**Not convinced of the benefits? Here’s a good article from the LCT (Limousine, Charter & Tour) website: http://www.lctmag.com/features/features-story.cfm?id=1537

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