Best Practices for Managing Customer Data in a Travel Back Office and Reservation System CRM

We all look at data to find patterns & trends, we interpret the data and draw conclusions. Your conclusions are only as good as the data. Poor and inaccurate data leads to inaccurate conclusions which can lead you in the wrong direction. We look at some best practices to understand how you can keep your data accurate, secure, and actionable.

Does your CRM and reservation systems work for you? There are some great CRMs on the market available but do they work for your travel business, do you have the fields that you need to capture, can you customise to ensure you are capturing everything you need.

The moonstride travel CRM and travel online reservation software is designed specifically for travel businesses with customisable, bespoke field and list creation to ensure you capture all the data you want and all the data you need to collect.

Do you use multiple programs and software? Having a single source where data is input and stored removes the duplication of data entry and duplication of data records. Having multiple sources of customer data leads to difficulties collecting, inputting, and reporting.

Having a single solution CRM, online booking platform and reservation management system like moonstride removes the duplication of work and provides easy access to all your customer data. From the simple things like not having to type customer details into an itinerary or quote document to having dietary requirements and travel preferences automatically be included and sent to suppliers.

Can you categorise and segment your customer data? Being able to segment allows you to simplify handling your data, provides deeper insights, helps targeted marketing and gives the ability to personalise customer communication.

As well as all the standard fields you would expect from a reputable travel CRM and reservation management platform, moonstride has a system wide bespoke tag management module. No matter what you want to measure, our flexible fields and bespoke tag creation and reporting allows you to define any data set, report and analyse the data.

Can you integrate with other solutions such as marketing platforms? Having the data is great, understanding the data is great, but can you easily use this data? Sure, you can export data, which raises questions about data security, and import into other platforms but having integrated solutions allows seamless transition of data enabling you to make the most of the data you have collected.

Our moonstride travel agency CRM software and booking management platform is integrated with a number of third parties from mailchimp to hubspot to accounting software like Xero. Every integration removes a manual task improving efficiency, reducing human error, and adding a level of data security.

In many cases data collection can be automated whether it is through contact forms, customer portals or any other digital touchpoint, but a large amount of data can still be manually input. Ensure staff understand the importance of customer data and its accuracy, have a clear vision of the data you require and follow a standard practice of collecting and documenting customer information. Encourage adoption of these processes by highlighting the benefits of consistent and accurate data input.

Do you know how to access all the data, do you know how to read the data? Training is not just about input, it is about how you access, use, and interpret the data.

Our moonstride CRM and travel back-office software is user friendly and we provide platform wide, including CRM and reporting, full staff training as part of our comprehensive onboarding process.

Over time your database will grow and without quality control, it can get messy. Validation rules, processes, and regular cleaning help to ensure data accuracy and completeness. Regularly auditing and updating customer information, removing duplicates and errors will help prevent your data being diluted and outdated. Data hygiene enhances data consistency and system efficiency.

moonstride provides a number of functions, tools and resources to help you keep your customer data at a consistent high level of quality.

Customer self-service options such as mobile apps or customer portals enable clients to manage their own data and information. The ability to self-manage empowers customers and leads to accurate and up to date information. Every customer input is one less input a staff member needs to make.

The moonstride B2C & B2B portal allows clients to update a host of information from contact details, emergency contacts, preferences, passport information and more. We also have white label and non-branded mobile app options available.

Be transparent with customers regarding data handling and storage. Clearly communicate about privacy policies, data usage policies and how data is used in the CRM and reservation platform. Ensure you comply with any data privacy laws such as GDPR. This will instil a higher level of trust and understanding with your customers.

Safeguard your customer data by implementing robust encryption methods and security measures. Ensure regular backs ups are implemented and a disaster recovery plan is in place. Limit access to data with role-based access controls.

moonstride has a comprehensive access rights and access control configuration so you can put in place controls to limit access to any customer or reservation data. Security of your data is a priority; you can find details of moonstride data security here.

Do you have access to all your data, can you run reports and extract key, relevant data? Having data stored in one source and a flexible and efficient reporting suite allows you to access the key information needed to make decisions.

A common theme that comes up time and time again is the number of different software in use, the need to run several reports from different platforms to get one large data set that takes time to create and is challenging to navigate. The moonstride travel CRM software and reservation management platform comes complete with a full reporting suite allowing you to access all your key required data you need from measuring KPI’s to analysing trends.

Following all the above practices will provide the most accurate data, leading to accurate trends and analysis enabling you to make smart data lead decisions.

You can effectively manage reservation and customer data enhancing your customer relationships, customer satisfaction, efficiency, and drive business growth.