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
Some 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.
Seasonality distorts the figures. Summer holiday and year-end peaks bring a rush of bookings, and the quiet months show low sales whatever the effort. Consultants who build relationships in quiet months for next season's groups look weak on a monthly chart. Reviewing across the whole season shows the real picture.
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. Review across the season, not just the month
Compare each consultant over a full travel cycle, noting enquiries nurtured, repeat guests and groups planned for the next peak.
6. 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. Use your own records for a defined period and note gaps in the evidence. The review may take longer if records are incomplete or spread across teams.
- 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.
- Check whether quiet-month work, such as group planning, is visible in reviews.
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.
Use accuracy, speed with fewer corrections and how well they support consultants. Their work shows up in complaints avoided, so track errors found late.
If you pay commission, keep it simple and clear. Add a quality condition such as file accuracy so the sales target alone does not drive behaviour.
We set up the interview and hiring process for international travel agencies
Every business interviews, but few have a written process that works the same way for every role and every interviewer. GullyHR designs yours, from the role brief to the offer, trains your managers to run it, and can run it for you on the roles you hand us.