Performance management process for International travel agencies: file quality and guest outcomes
Sales numbers are easy to see on an international desk. File quality, guest experience and the trouble avoided are harder, and those are what separate a good consultant.
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Share your requirementsWhy performance management process matters in international travel agencies
Many agencies review consultants by monthly sales. The consultant who spends an hour making a visa file complete, who calls a guest before travel and who spots a clash in dates earns no more than the one who sells quickly and leaves problems for others.
A performance process adds a few measures to sales. It looks at first-time-right files, guest feedback after return, repeat and referred bookings and teamwork with the visa and ticketing desks. Reviews are short and regular. Imagine a consultant whose sales fall for one month because of a complex group booking. The review should show the reason and not only the figure.
How to set it up
1. Pick four measures per role
Sales, file quality, guest feedback and teamwork, with a plain way of counting each one.
2. Collect feedback after return
A short form or call within a week of the guest's return, kept by someone other than the consultant.
3. Hold a monthly one to one
Ten to twenty minutes on the numbers, one example of good work and one thing to change.
4. Hold a seasonal review
A longer review after the peak, with an eye on growth, region and pay. See incentive design.
5. Act on what you learn
Praise the right behaviour in the open, and use repeated errors to guide training, not blame.
Check these first
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These take an afternoon and use your own records.
- Ask consultants what they believe they are measured on, and compare it with the plan.
- Count files that needed rework last quarter and by whom.
- See how many guests were asked for feedback after return.
- Check whether one-to-ones have taken place in the last two months.
GullyHR can do this with you. Read how we approach performance management process in general, or share your requirements and we will tell you where to start.
Questions owners ask
Use a short form with two or three questions and ask all guests. Look at patterns over a season and not single comments, and separate faults of partners from those of the consultant.
Include quality measures in reviews and in incentive. If speed is the only reward, expect shortcuts in files and itineraries.
A brief one to one monthly and a fuller review each season. Annual reviews alone come too late in a business that runs on seasons.