CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. — With an unwavering commitment to innovation, Cruise Planners launched a new interactive product called “LivePlanner” during its annual Convention. This product allows Cruise Planners agents to showcase vacation options with imagery, videos, and more to help their clients plan the perfect vacation whether it’s a cruise, all-inclusive resort, and FIT Packaged trip. All of it is done live and in real-time, making this an innovative technology for the travel industry and is patent-pending.
Clients can use either a laptop or desktop device creating a live session experience between themselves and their travel advisor and plan a vacation in real-time. This revolutionary software will have the capability for clients and agents to be on video and screenshare, further contributing to the interactive experience. All of this without needing to install any special software.
“We have been diligently developing this tool by using focus groups made up of team members and experienced advisors to ensure it’s both easy to use and to fine-tune important details,” said Brian Shultz, Chief Information Officer. “Our advisors can now add this to their arsenal of proprietary tools to help them close more sales and showcase their expertise in travel.”
New clients can access this feature and request a consultation from the agent’s website while existing clients can schedule their own sessions via their myTrips account on the agent website. Once a client makes a request for a LivePlanner session, they’ll be able to:
- View their upcoming consultation dates scheduled
- View all past consultations with the option to view a session “summary” which outlines the information shared during the consultation
During the session, clients may utilize the built in video feature if they wish to share their camera. They can also “favorite” or “unfavorite” items shared during the session by their agent, which helps the agent narrow down the search toward the perfect vacation. Any items that are favorited will be captured in their CP Maxx client profile and once the consultation has ended, clients will be sent to the “Session Summary” screen. There they can view any attachments sent by the agent during the consultation and share any and all trips with others via email.
“LivePlanner will change the game on the consultation aspect of working with clients to plan travel,” said Michelle Fee, CEO and founder of Cruise Planners. “We are excited to create a tool that will help advisors better understand what excites their clients about a vacation and helps clients understand more about the experiences and trip options, allowing agents to interactively consult with clients located anywhere in the world. Additionally, LivePlanner allows advisors to personalize a unique experience for their customers. We’re proud to offer this industry-first tool to our Cruise Planners advisors.”
Company Background: Cruise Planners was founded in 1994 and is the nation’s largest home-based travel agent franchise network. As a leader in the travel franchise industry, Cruise Planners positions a nation-wide network of 2,500 franchise owners for success by providing innovative marketing programs, proprietary and cutting-edge booking and technology tools, as well as professional development and hands-on training with the industry’s top executives. The company continues to be an industry leader and was named the No.1 travel franchise by Entrepreneur magazine for 18 consecutive years and awarded by Franchise Business Review as “Best-In-Category” for 2 years.
Franchise Business Review also ranked Cruise Planners #3 OVERALL on their list of Top 200 Franchises of 2022. Cruise Planners was recently featured in Entrepreneur as one of the top 30 franchise innovators in technology, has been consistently named as one of the Top Women-Owned Businesses by the South Florida Business Journal, is on the Inc. 5000 list as one of the fastest-growing private companies in America, and was recognized as one of the Top Workplaces by the Sun Sentinel.
Visit our website, www.cruiseplanners.com, for more information or to view the complete list of awards and honors. For those interested in becoming a franchise owner, please visit https://www.cruiseplannersfranchise.com/.
SOURCE Cruise Planners