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"Delighting Clients with Travefy: Subtle Branding and Professional Expertise"

Roslyn Ranse: Hey everybody, it's Ros here from Travel Agent Achievers. Welcome back to another podcast episode and today we have a very special guest with us. Stephanie, Steph, Steezy, Grees to say Gries, Steph is “Grees”. Yeah.

Stephanie Gries: Well, we see “Gries”. But I think it's technically “Greece”. We went to the yes, because it's German. And they would say, sorry. So I say you say either one. Whichever you feel.

Roslyn Ranse: I'm just gonna call you Stevie. So we've got Stevie from Travefy. She is the education manager and marketing coordinator there at Travefy, which is an incredible platform that helps travel advisors get this stuff, organized surprise and delight clients. And that is one of the things that we are talking about here, inside our achievers mastermind this month. Now, not only does she do all the education, she travels a lot, she attends conferences, and we will touch on that. But she is also the host of the lounge podcast, which she curates produces hosts does all the things I listened to it. I love it. She is an incredible human being. I'm very grateful that she's here with us today. Welcome, Steph.

Stephanie Gries: Oh, wait. Thank you. And thank you for having me on your podcast. And we had you on our podcast to do a lot of podcasting here. It's great. We love it.

Roslyn Ranse: Yeah, from one podcaster to another. We absolutely love this platform. Thank you for being here. I wanted to kick off today, just with a little bit about your background. Because this isn't all about Travefy it isn't all about the platform. I do really love to be able to focus on systems, everybody knows sales, marketing, surprising and delighting our clients making sure they come back to us for repeat and referral business. But actually working on our business to do things better make life easier. So can you just share a little bit about your background? Because you've been with Travefy for a while. And the changes that you've seen over the last few years that you've also been with them too?

Stephanie Gries:  Yeah, oh, it's crazy. The differences, it's been really fun to be on the ride with them in the travel industry. So basically, I started out in the like startup area, you know, just start up seeing doing working for newer businesses. And then I actually ended up meeting David Chait, who's the CEO of Travefy, when I was still I was still in college, and I love what they're doing says travel. I mean, you're like, This is awesome. So I was always watching them always keeping my eye. And then finally, the opportunity presented itself. And it was in 2015. And funny enough Travefy actually started out as a consumer platform. So we were an itinerary builder for you know, if you want to go on your bachelor-bachelorette party, or whatever you want to call them, or just like group friend trips, you know, you could get on Shopify, and you can plan it together. And you even could like share payments, do all this stuff. But then we quickly realize it was in 2015. At same time I started, they started realizing that travel advisors were using it and they're like, wait a minute, this is a this is a better market. And this might make more sense. So they literally started pivoting right within the first six months. So I was in the very early like doing the demos at the very beginning with agents and just hearing I mean, when Travefy was just bare bones of just an itinerary builder. And so it was really cool to see. And it honestly took off pretty fast. 

The cool thing is, is we did start just purely itinerary builder. And it was interesting how watching over the years how like 2015 to 2018. There was a lot of people who were interested in using try find saw the value. But there were still a lot of people who are like, I already have my systems, I don't need this. And we're like no, but this makes you this sets you apart, this helps you look really professional, really cool. But there's still a lot of people coming in, but we still had a little bit of the like, new technology don't want that. But then I don't know what it was. But everything totally shifted within the last few years.

I think the pandemic definitely had something to do with it as well, where everybody there's first of all, there's a lot of new people entering the industry and Travefy is a perfect platform for someone who's new and you know, it's really quick and easy to get in. It's not super expensive. You don't have to, you know, be part of a agency, a brick and mortar agency to be using it. It's pretty easy tool to jump on. So it was really cool seeing that but then also through the pandemic, a lot of people are spending time creating new workflows and their processes and all of that so that's where we came up with many new features which I know we'll talk about but it's been really cool to see and now Travefy’s becoming this all in one platform because our whole goal is to make this workflow environment for travel professionals were, it's like a one stop shop, you know type of a thing and really helping them in multiple areas of their business. So it's been crazy over that just the past eight years, I feel like I grew up with Travefy the, the builder you see today. So it's really cool to see.

Roslyn Ranse: It is really cool to see. And you also, I mean, now in your role as well, because you have worked with agents right from the start. So you've seen the transition of systems and organization and structure and how the advisors role has also evolved. But I'm sure that you've also been privy to a lot of archaic systems. And I say that, because as travel advisors, you know, we are using platforms that were initially delight designed many, many years ago. And we saw during the pandemic, they don't work backwards, like we're seeing so many things in the tech space now, come forward. But for you, you've seen this real transition. Are you seeing that advisors are more tech savvy these days as well?

Stephanie Gries: Yes, big time, there's a huge, there has been a really big shift where people are understanding that it's going to help them set them apart, I think, because there are a lot of people, especially those who have been in the industry for a while are seeing people who are new entering the industry and doing really well because they're using these new systems. And I think it's just a little bit of a lightbulb moment going off like, oh, maybe I need to do that. And I mean, we can see it with so many things, how you just have to keep evolving with technology. I mean, look at a chat, like AI now. I mean, that's there now and it's not going anywhere. Yeah. And it's just so it's like I think people are realizing you have to stay up because it's going to make your life easier. Yes, you have to learn new things. But if you're not learning new things, and you can't keep, it's gonna be hard to keep growing, with everybody else moving forward. So yeah, definitely been seen it too. 

Roslyn Ranse: Absolutely. And you also get I mean, how good is it now that you can actually see people face to face again. So you've been doing, as you said, the demos and everything was online, you've got the podcast, you do a lot of online webinars and training, you've got an incredible training platform itself, which is super cool. And I'm so grateful that you've asked me to also be a part of it with you, which I love. Because you and I are on the same wavelength. We just want to help other people succeed. We just want to give everything that we've got to see them. I was asked the other day, you know, can you just describe, four words that describe you? And I was like, oh, you know, I show empathy, compassionate. I'm very patient. But it was the last one. I said, Well, I'm the people's champion, because I love being able to celebrate the successes of others. And seeing somebody else say, “hey, I've now got this brand new client, or they just saw my itinerary and everything worked smoothly.” I love being able to celebrate that success. But you have been doing it online for a long time. And now you're able to do it in person. So what is your role when you attend events, because I saw recently you were down in Puerto Rico at the Astor conference, I will of course be seeing you at virtuoso Travel Week. So we will be setting that data up in August. I can't wait to see your person. And hopefully some other things. I would love to have you in Fiji, which we will continue to talk about. But what are you what are you doing now from an online perspective to face to face with Travefy? And in your role as education manager? What sort of things are you seeing people struggle with?

Stephanie Gries: Yeah, so it's actually been really cool. This, this is something that was supposed to happen, like in 2020. And so God pushed off a couple years, but it's finally happening now. But now when we go to these when we go to conferences, and yes, Puerto Rico was awesome, cannot wait to see you virtual so Fiji, David Shade Co. if you're listening, we need to go. Because it would be a really good time and awesome. So love that little plug there. But yeah, we do. It's been really cool seeing face to face. People are definitely looking for, they're just more interested in really going with a new mindset. I feel like before, there was just so many conferences and stuff, you just have to go and for the travel advisors to you know, they just go they know what they they're expecting the same thing every time. And now it's like they didn't have it for a couple years. And so now when you go, you're trying to get as much information as you can, you know, and taking home that and continuing it. But one thing that's really cool is we have actually put on a couple of educational, like presentations, and they don't have to do a Travefy as a product. They're actually just how to grow your business.

So one of the big ones that we see a lot of times is honestly, what we're talking about is creating a system, whether it has to do for sales, you know, just setting up a sales workflow. You know, I mean, it's these things that we talk about, like even the keyword sales workflow, but when you really break it down, it's like, what are you doing this, this this and maybe people aren't but it's actually really easy to implement. And so we're starting to do a lot of things like that. So we were in Vegas last, I think was last month. And we had multiple sessions. And I did one on like marketing and just different ideas to do social media, video, all these things that they could actually apply while they're at the conference. But then also take away, you know, once they get back home and understanding like, hmm, how can I do that. And I think that's the new thing, though, is just the education, everybody's really hungry to learn right now and see how they can step, like, make processes better. And then, you know, get the clientele that they want to.

Roslyn Ranse:  Yeah, absolutely. I'm also seeing a lot of suppliers come back and say, Oh, hey, now update your training and your knowledge. So trying to differentiate from an advisor point of view, because I can put both hats on and say, as an advisor, it's overwhelming. I just feel like there's a lot of stuff coming at me right at the moment to say you need to do this, and he get your gold status and become a specialist in this area. And that from a supplier point of view that I find really chaotic. But one of the things that I know that I do in my business, and that I like to talk about is actually saying, what is it that you want to focus on. So if I'm focused on cruising, for instance, then sure do the cruise training. But it doesn't mean that I, I should ignore or not do other things that are completely done a different avenue that I may not actively sell or promote, but to have it there in the background. But I always think that we need to be focused on our business to some degree, you can go over the top sometimes and say, “hey, I'm spending the next two months working on my business.” And then I'll I'm out of touch or out of date. And I don't know who a supplier is to do something for my travel client. Or you can swing the other way and be so focused on your suppliers and not focused on your business. And then the business falls over and we become overwhelmed, stressed, burnout is happening again. It's a really crazy time. But I do love how you and I focus on the education portion and say, you need to work on your business, even if it is one hour a week or a couple of hours a week that you can dedicate the time to get in and actually implement. So one of the things about Travefy that I wanted to talk to you about is is it easy to actually implement and set up the systems and the workflow? Because it is a new thing. And for an advisor that doesn't use, use it, you can just tell me what what it actually does first, and then I will actually come back to that because I think that we need to understand what it is. What is Travefy?

Stephanie Gries: That's a good point. Yeah. So what is, let me tell you, so my Travefy is. So I would say just saw online software tool for travel advisors for travel professionals, actually, I like to say professionals, because we have tour operators who use it do like destination marketing, tourism boards, then your travel agents, the majority who are using travel agents and travel agencies. But really what it is, so we started as an itinerary builder, I would say that's our bread and butter. And then we also have a proposal side of it, where the if you're building an itinerary or a quote or proposal, it's the same workflow, except for you can turn on this option that if it's a proposal or a quote, that your client can actually approve it. And so it just puts them through this different workflow where they can electronically sign their name, and then it turns that itinerary into or turns that proposal into an itinerary. So it's nothing extra for the advisor to do, it's just this workflow really, of just, you know, finalizing it, which is really cool to really need. And then over the past couple years, we then released our I like to say it's a light CRM, because it's really simple and easy to use, but it has all the things that many advisors would need it really so you know, we've talked to so many people, and they're like, I don't need like a salesforce or something that has tons of bells and whistles, you know, it's just too much. And so we have one that you can just keep your client contact information in. You can see the trips you've shared with them, you can keep any notes you have, you can even upload documents, all kinds of stuff. But then what goes what works with that is we also have a form builder. So we have the forms, which actually it's funny that has become a feature that people will come up to me and be like, Yeah, this game changing its forms you would never think it but it is it's there's so many people who had who were buying a form technology separately. And it's crazy. And so now you can just create any form you need. So if it's new traveler information or getting credit card authorization or you know, whatever it is and it just syncs directly into your Travefy account with those with that CRM site as well. So that's really cool.

And then, then my personal favorite part of Travefy that we this was this is a product of COVID is a marketing side. So we have a website builder. But if you already have a website, that's okay, you can use it for landing pages. So that's personally my favorite thing to like train. And when I watch people get it or when they start using it, it's like, oh, it's just magical, because it's where they can create a landing page to promote one trip. Or maybe it's for like a group trip. And you know, they can just create all these different one off pages as marketing materials. And just it's so cool. So that's really fun. 

But then the final thing that we just released a couple weeks ago is invoicing. So now you can actually get like your service fees or planning fees, consultation, whatever you want to call them, you can actually get those through Travefy now, which is really big. So that as you can see, we're really trying, I know it was huge. And so we're really trying to encompass everything and really make it a place that you can do your business in this one travefy.com.

Roslyn Ranse: So cool. I love the landing pages, because I think that when even if you're part of a consortium, or a host agency, they often hold the website. And this is if you are working through that sort of platform, you're not a standalone. And so sometimes it's really difficult to be able to get a landing page if you want to promote a specific group, or if you want to get inquiries to certain things. So from a technical question here, can you embed forms on those landing pages?

Stephanie Gries: Yes. And so that's what's really cool. So in those landing pages, you can, you can import a form you've created, which is amazing, and it stays in a landing page, too. So that's what's really cool. And then you can also import trips. So another thing people do is they'll build an itinerary that's maybe marketing, just itinerary or sample, and then you can import that as well into the landing pages.

Roslyn Ranse: Oh, this is so cool. This is definitely a game changer. All of these things, the simple simple CRM I think, let's keep it really chilled. A lot of us are also have to put all of that data into another system for invoicing and tracking and suppliers’ commissions, and you know, booking fees and all those sorts of things. But having something that's really simple, that you can share with clients, have them fill out their details and send it through to you so that you can collate it without missing things. And this is one of the biggest things that I see with advisors is somebody might email you and say here is my American Airlines frequent flyer number, well, that might stay on email. But what we can be doing is using forms right at the beginning of the process, or even in those CRMs to capture data for clients and say, “This is who they like to fly with”, or “these are the trips that they like to go on.” And as you say, you can customize these things, we're not going to get into the details. So I want everybody to go and check out Travefy and we'll talk a little bit more about that. 

So where where we're talking about that trip up before in building those systems and actually implementing my I see the same thing with tools that I love, like Canva. It's an amazing tool. But I see advisors get tripped up over and over again, with having a workflow. How do I create? I'm not a graphic designer? What are the simple steps? What are the easy ways to get started? So do you find I mean, and that's also with other CRM systems. I think for me personally, if you invest a bit of time to get it set up properly, that's when it will really work for you not doing it halfway, not just signing up and saying I'll come back to it later. So in actually getting it set up and structured so that it is usable. What sort of time do you think needs to be dedicated to it? For Travefy?

Stephanie Gries: That's a good question. Hmm. Honestly, I would say, maybe a couple hours. Sometimes it could be more, it depends what you're doing. But the reason why I just say, like maybe two to three hours, just because we actually have we created a certification program, it's free to do. But if you do that certification program, you're going to learn everything. And I would say it would take just a few hours to complete. So that's how I feel. But I will say though, when it comes to, like building just trips like itineraries, I always feel like you need maybe your second, maybe your third trip that you're doing, you'll start getting really fast, you'll start knowing where to click and go and get around. So yeah, it depends what you're doing. But yeah, just like anything. I mean, Canva is a good example, too. It looks like it's so simple. But then it's like, wait, what colors do I want? How is this my branding?

Roslyn Ranse: Is this my font? Is this my color? Is this the clean? Is this how the layout is supposed to look it can get really complex very fast, and then it becomes overwhelming and then people won't do it. So to make it simple. I love what you said “just get started and you will learn how to build from it.” So you don't have to have all the bells and whistles right up front when you're just starting to use a system. But you do need to take action. So starting somewhere, if you're unsure, I love that you have that certification program behind the scenes as well. So our theme for this month inside Travel Agent Achievers is “Surprising and Delighting our Clients.” I love that we can do little things that they may not even realize we're doing behind the scenes that we can. And often, we might think as an advisor, or everybody does that. I can guarantee you listening. They don't, not everybody does everything. And so as an advisor, I love to be able to surprise and delight our clients. It's part of our process and part of our system. How can Travefy, surprise and delight clients? It’s a system. It's, it's not something like a bunch of flowers. It's not a bottle of wine. It's not created on board. It's not an activity. So how can it surprise?

Stephanie Gries: Yes, I, by the way, I wish Travefy was a bottle of wine. That'd be great. That'd be perfect. I love it. But no, there's, there's so many ways I actually have I have a few that come to mind where it this is real stories. And exactly like you said, not everyone is doing this. So there's no way that you if you're worried about losing a client, because some so many people are already doing it. That's wrong thinking it's not true. They're really, you really will stand apart. 

So the first thing that there's really big about Travefy that we have, you know, obviously, it's made for it to make your life easier. But at the end of the day, it's to help you look professional. And so when you build those itineraries or proposals for your client, we need to make sure that it's an easy, beautiful look and user friendly for your own client. Otherwise, we do not have a product that works. And then also we have that mobile app, so that mobile app your clients get to use. So one thing with that mobile app is that there is a chat function in there. So I've actually heard of agents, they will do like a little “bond voyage” message through the app, or they'll be like, hey, because they can see because you have your app, and you can see when things are happening, and you can see their itinerary. So you can say like, “Oh, hey, I'm so excited. Let me know if you have any questions.” But another one, we also have flight updates in that app as well. So if their flight gets delayed, which is huge, they that's a big one. And one thing that a lot of times they'll do is you'll also get notified if their flights’ getting delayed. So you can always just send them a I mean, you could be out running an errand, and then just send them a quick chat in the app and say, “Hey, I just saw your flights delayed. Let me know if you have any questions.” I mean, something like that's so simple and takes just a couple seconds to do. But it's it makes them feel like you're there. And it's white glove service, which is really cool.

Roslyn Ranse: Yeah, I love that you said that. Because one of the things that we talk about is with surprising and delighting not everybody is doing it but being on hand. And I often say to my clients, we are there behind the scenes without you even knowing. So they're like, What does that even mean? And I'm like, Well, you know, it's kind of like I'm stalking you on your trip, I kind of know what's going on with your travels, but I'm behind the scenes, I'm not actually going to jump out and go home, you know, do you want me to, you know, make sure the bath is running for you. When you get back to the hotel. It's not that it is purely to make sure that everything along that process and their trip is going smoothly. Or if I see a hurdle coming up that I can preempt it or if I know that something happens at the last minute that I haven't been able to control it didn't know about it that I can jump in and fix it. So I love that this is using technology and an app so that you can communicate with clients, but it's not intrusive. It's also not in a way that you feel as though it's just another thing I've got to do. It's right next to him. Like that's really cool to have it all built in. It's not an extra.

Stephanie Gries: Yes. And that's the thing. That's really cool. And other things too, that you can easily do that. Once again, it's like they would no would it feel intrusive. But you can add so much more to the itinerary. Like we have destination content already built into Travefy. And you can always add your own if you wanted, but you could drop it or drag and drop. That's literally all you do to add it is we call them city guides. And you could put one in there and your client I mean, you're not doing extra work for your clients like oh my gosh, thank you for like, all these ideas. Like I know that I told you not to book anything for me to stay for this day. So thanks for going out of your way to give me some options even though I said I didn't need that from you. And I think I think things like that is pretty cool to just simply adding the most basic things into their trip. Just so they have it is really cool.

Roslyn Ranse: But it's funny that you bring that up because I was only speaking to an advisor a couple of weeks ago and she was showing me how she puts the itinerary together and she said, “Oh my god, it's so cool. You can just drop in those city guides.” And if I've got these extra things, I can add that in as well. But she said, it's already done for you. So it's not having to recreate the wheel, it's not having to do all that extra thought that she said, it just saves so much time to drop it in. And the client feedback that she gets from those things as well, is outstanding. So, kudos to you guys for adding those little bits and pieces in and really listening to the advisors to say, what is it that we need? And what would make our lives easier to make sure that your product also makes life easier as well. So thanks for doing that. Just shout out once again. 

You and I both. Yeah, I know, we're just getting to know. So you and I absolutely. We both love systems, we both love the organization and the structure around it not as something boring. And this I was on stage in Sydney two days ago. And somebody said to me, we're talking about crisis and risk and resilience. And I said, Yes, it may sound like a really dry and boring topic. But it's what we need to understand, we need to understand and learn these things. So systems, I put in the same basket, because a lot of travel advisors are like no, but I get so much joy from creating the itinerary or talking to my clients or sitting down and having coffee and dreaming with them. That's the sort of thing that they love. But it has to, for a business to be successful, you need to have structure and systems in place so that things don't get dropped to having those clear workflow flows. Just making sure that it all goes to plan. And as I said, you don't drop a ball. So from your experience, and you speak to 1000s of advisors all over the world. What do you see as some of the key drivers for a Travel Advisor having a successful workflow? What are some of the things that they need to do?

Stephanie Gries: I would say so, really taking a step back and looking like writing down just, you know, where is it starting all the way from that lead generation form or their marketing or whatever it is, and having those systems like some things that come to mind or even like something that will just email templates, you know, things like that, where if somebody just reaches out. So a good example would be if someone reaches out and they're like, I want to go on this trip, and you're like, This is awesome, but I don't have if you can't find the words that you need, or you know, and just, if you have something ready something to go, stuff like that can really help. Another one is just organization of I love organization as well, like just different tools to use and stuff. And in travel, I can actually do, you can set tasks and reminders for yourself. And that's really big i because before we had that I would use tools like on if you've ever heard of Notion or Asana or Trello, you know those I hear about those ones a lot. And they'll have those where they're kind of templates that they're always working and they can see visually cuts the thing for me, especially visual, it helps so much. I really think that's big stuff. But just having that in. 

And also the other thing that I hear a lot of times too is there's a little bit of trial and error. And that's okay, too, I know that that's a thing as well, because you might want to switch up, you know how some things are, maybe you're realizing something's not working as smoothly. So maybe you're gonna switch out, you know, how you do that, or things like that. But I think that the other thing, too, that's really important with the systems is something that I'll see in here is that the part of the system that people forget about, I think, is the envy of you know, the client just went on the trip. Okay, they're done. And yeah, there's nothing after that. Yes, and that's a big one, I see that we see it all the time. And I hear it too from other advisors like, like yourself, who are, you know, experts in the industry and teaching educating how to do stuff in that one always. I'm always like, “Oh, my gosh, I can't believe that. But I could totally see that happening.” Because the part that you spend the most time on is the getting the client planning the trip, making sure they get home, they do everything and they get home safe, but then there's no like, follow up or marketing to them can constantly happening. Yeah, that is an interesting one.

Roslyn Ranse: It is really interesting. The one thing that I love about that and saying that is you can put together the system. But it's it can also be a chore that last one, or it can be to get over it's like oh, do I ask them how their trip was in case it wasn't? You know, right? Do I want that sort of feedback? How am I gonna know if it was a good thing or a bad thing? I just think it's all a learning experience. Everything that they give you feedback on is really powerful information to help you grow as a business owner grow as an advisor, whether it's good or bad, and sometimes it's it's hard as well to hear the good stuff. I know for me if somebody says, Wow, that was so amazing, thank you so much, you know, writes a beautiful testimonial, I'm almost embarrassed to then share it. And it's I mean, that's just my own personal stuff that goes on. And I also think that that's a cultural thing, an Australian versus Americans. We see it all the time, that we're almost pushed down a little bit here. Like, don't get too big for your boots. If somebody says something, you'd be really gracious about it. Don't Go and shout it from the rooftops. But I'm like, No, let's shout this out. Let's be the people's champion for everyone else. So it is something that I work on. But I still get embarrassed if somebody says something nice. It's just one of those things.

Stephanie Gries: Oh, yeah. Well, I felt the same way. Yeah. Yeah. Because it's different. Like when I think about it with just Travefy, I'm like, that's easy. You're just talking about the tool, I can shout out one to the rooftops and share. But if it was about like me, personally, I bet. Oh, my God, that's so awesome. But I don't know if I feel comfortable. This like putting that quote out there on a graphic like I would for Travefy, I totally get it.

Roslyn Ranse: Yeah, that's it, you're quiet, you should do it. For others, we'll absolutely should, we should shout it out. Because we do take care of our clients. And we are wanting to surprise and delight them, we're wanting them to have an incredible experience. And Travefy is one of those tools that you can use to enhance that experience, of course, in addition to just being a beautiful human yourselves, but continue the process. So I love that at the end of the trip, don't just drop that client, there needs to be extra things that you can do. And if you want to know what sort of extra things then definitely reach out to Stephanie. She's got some ideas, grab her at a conference, when you see her and go, Hey, Stephanie, what can I do? Or you know, also have a look at all the things then resources that we've got inside Travel Agent Achievers on our website, because there is plenty there to help everybody. All right. So I've got a couple of quick questions to wrap up now, because everybody has a different business model. So I just want to see how we can actually use Travefy as a system and doesn't work for all sorts of different businesses. So for instance, I have a “Groups” style business. So I might have anything from 10 passengers through to 500 passengers that are traveling at one time, can Travefy help me?

Stephanie Gries: Yes, it can. So yeah, it absolutely can. So one thing that's really cool is a couple of things you can do with Travefy is you can build the itinerary for you know, your week, if we're just looking at the itinerary part itself, you can build it and you can also copy it so you can copy it. So you can create new versions for other couples or families or people.

But the other thing you can do is we actually have a tool called tagging, where you can tag people in specific parts of the trip. So like flights, for example, a lot of times they might have different flights they're coming in and going out on. And yeah, you can tag them on those. And then that way, you just send the itinerary to everybody all at once. And it's already personalized to them. So they can see what's personal and what they're part of, versus maybe what someone else's. And you can choose to make it private or public. So if you if it's you know, a family, for example, and they want to see what other people are doing, then they can switch it out. But that's one way that's really cool with the group trips, and then the, yeah, so that's nice. That is really cool. And that's that is kind of a hidden feature, I have to say, a lot of times people have been doing these group trips. And then when I say oh, we're using tagging. And they usually say “No, what does that mean? What? Oh, my God, I haven't been using tagging.” So you've been doing it a different way. So it still works. So that's good. But the other thing too, is that you can use those forms to collect information, which is nice, because when you need to get all that information in, you can do that. 

And then one of my personal favorite things, which we talked about a little bit at the beginning was the landing page where you can create a landing page for that group and send everybody there and say, Hey, go there, you know, if you're interested and see what the itinerary is looking like you can see, fill out the form if you're interested. Or maybe they are, if you want that form to be where they actually you start collecting the information for them to travel, you know, so it's actually really friendly for groups, which is cool. And it's fun that getting into that realm and starting to educate that side because groups is growing. I've noticed big time. 

Roslyn Ranse: Oh, yeah, absolutely. It is great. Well, that's really cool. I love those extra little features. And I hope we can continue to talk about those specifically for my business, Steph. Just so you know. We’ll talk about it.

Stephanie Gries: Yes. You got it.

Roslyn Ranse: Yeah. Cool. The next one is so FIT. So the individual complex itineraries how how does Travefy really surprise and delight and work with advisors that have those complex itineraries that it's a different hotel every time.

Stephanie Gries: Yes, and that's actually were back in the day when Travefy I when it was usually The only people who did FITs they saw the value of Travefy because they're like, Oh, perfect, but it's funny because you know, any type of trip you're doing, you can use Travefy, but FIT especially because it's not only going to, you know, be a great looking itinerary for your client, but it helps you stay organized as you're even planning. Because you can start putting everything in, you know, you can keeps it all organized. You can upload documents, even all different things. Another thing that I see, sometimes it doesn't get, it depends who you're working with, if you're ever working with a supplier, and they're helping you plan things, you can actually invite them to collaborate on trips with you, too. So you can kind of bring them into the conversation. Yeah, which is kind of nice, if that ever is something that you have to work with. Yeah. And then we also do work with suppliers as well, many different suppliers and currently trying to get a lot more Australian ones in. So for Aussie friends, we're trying to get all the suppliers, because that really helps too, because then you're not making mistakes, because that's the other part about it, too, is, you know, when you're entering all this information and try not to make any mistakes possible. So trying to help with that, too. But yeah, so FIT is.

Roslyn Ranse: So is that how you like, is traveling by system that you already have a lot of that stuff loaded? So if I wanted to do a specific, specific tour, you know, you might have the agreement with the supplier behind the scenes that you can extract that information and just pop it straight into the itinerary. So that I don't have to top it up?

Stephanie Gries: Exactly, yep, exactly, yes. So that's a nice thing. I know, it's so, it's so nice. So that's a great thing.

Roslyn Ranse: So cool

Stephanie Gries: I know, and adding those. So we have like a tour database, we have a cruise database, flights, you know, so you can pull stuff in quick. But then we do work with some suppliers directly, which means you are just typing in the confirming station for your specific client and bringing that all in. So it's really cool. And for those who are Travefy users listening, if you're not seeing suppliers that you use, just let our team know, because it's constantly a work in progress, where we're just trying to get, you know, suppliers in so we always want to hear to which ones are needed the most. And then we try to go get them. Try our hardest.

Roslyn Ranse: Yeah, absolutely. I love that because it is about the mistakes. I don't like mistakes. You know, human error is a really big thing. And we're all busy. We're just trying to get things done. So if we can eliminate that, that's awesome. Is that the same for hotels? So you have a database of hotels that can also be pulled straight in?

Stephanie Gries: We do. Yeah. And one thing that's really cool. So we do have a database of hotels for virtuals so we have virtual property information already loaded, which is really nice, because you get really fabulous photos. It's amazing. And then you get all the amenity information, all that. 

But then just it was like a week or two ago, we launched a whole new hotel content database. So now when you go to look up most hotels, you're going to automatically get multiple photos information about where it's located information about the hotel. So yeah, it's all in there. But if you ever do need to create something manually, you can, you know, but yeah, it's there's a lot already in there for you to grab.

Roslyn Ranse: All right. So that's our group business. That's the FIT business. Now what if my clients aren't tech savvy, they don't want to use the app, just trying to get them to log in to fill out a form is really annoying for them. But sharing itineraries and things, is there a way that you can work with clients that aren't as tech savvy, being with Travefy?

Stephanie Gries: For sure, and I still hear that a lot at conferences, especially some people will come up with a blank, I just can't get some my users to use it. And like That's okay, maybe there's a PDF option. You know, if you do want that print off, there is a PDF option. Something which this is a cool, I would say surprise and delight a little bit too, is that a lot of times, they'll just set up a quick call, or maybe walk them through the itinerary. Where, you know, that's kind of cool, too. So you can pull it up on the screen, whether you know you're in person, or you're just you're on the phone even and you're like Do you have an open? Do you see this or, or if you send them even a PDF copy, and you're going through it. So there is a PDF, which is nice. But the good thing too with the whole, you know, getting it up on your screen, you can view it on any device. So if a lot of times, you know some people might have tablets, or iPads, and you can pull it up on that, and you can have it downloaded on there. So it makes it easy. And then for the mobile app if if they truly don't want to use the app, that's okay. They can still view it many other ways. But one thing we've done too is we've created a landing page that that agents can share with their clients. And we have a video and then just kind of a walkthrough of here's why the app is really cool. And then here's how you download it type of thing. So hopefully we can still capture those people who are like hesitant, but time after time again, I hear people who are like, “My clients loved the app. They couldn't believe how cool it was.” And it seems so simple, but it really is game changing.

Roslyn Ranse: Absolutely. I love it. It's on the iPad, you can get it on your phone. Yeah. And also see it on your browser on your computer. That super cool. So finishing are wrapping up. Now, I love and I'm really appreciative that you and I have been able to have the conversation on the lounge podcast. So for anybody that's listening, if you want to go back to that, where Stephanie and I talk about systems and structure in business, I would love for you to listen to that. So I'll make sure that that's linked for everybody in the show notes. We also have many sessions that people can join in, of course, this week, we've got a special group session coming up, which is with Travefy. You've got a lot of mini trainings, which are awesome for advisors to just jump in and learn more about the business and behind the scenes how to make your life easier. 

So with all of that if anybody doesn't have Travefy yet, they would love to sign-up, test it out and really explore how this platform can surprise and delight your clients. We have a very special offer just for you. Would you like to share what it is, Stephanie?

Stephanie Gries: Yes, absolutely. Okay. So basically, so to tell you Travefy, so it's a subscription product. So it's, you can subscribe monthly or annually, monthly and I apologize, I didn't have the Australian currency in my mind. But it's $39 USD a month, or you can go annual and save 20%. So it makes it $31 A month USD, however, we can give another 20% on that annual, which is really cool. Or if you do want to start off monthly, you can still apply this coupon code and get 20% off your first three months, just by using the code “TAA20”. Which is amazing. It's really good. And it's nice too.

The other thing I would want to mention too, is that we do offer a trial. So don't worry, you're not like oh my gosh, I have to just sign up right away. So you can do a trial. And then with our team, you can do demos you can get on our support page, watch the videos that I was explaining, telling about and all that stuff. So there's a lot of assistance that we are there, we can hold your hand if you want, or we can just let you learn on your own, whichever you prefer. We can do that. So really cool. And it's awesome that we can partner with you and share that discount.

Roslyn Ranse: I love that. Thank you so much. So it's the travefy.com. There's the 20% discount for an annual on top of everything else that's there, which is just incredible, using the coupon code TAA20. That's 2-0. We will list all of that for everyone as well. Now I just have one last question. Stephanie. 

Stephanie Gries: Yeah.

Roslyn Ranse: So with advisors that might have an assistant, or they have somebody who is handling their administration behind the scenes, are they able to use my login? Or do we have to get a second login? Like how does it work and the structure for for an advisor that might have support staff?

Stephanie Gries: Yeah, that's a really good question. You will, they can get their own login. So what you'd want to do is create what's called a team. So you can go on your account, and then you just click on the team option, and then you can add them just with the name and email. And then you do automatically get a discount for them. So you get 15% off when you add one, when you start adding more that that discount will increase. But what's awesome is that they will be able to have their own login. So then that way, it just helps with security. And then they can access every, they can see the trips, you're working on the library that can help do things and you can, you know, share trips with them. And they can also go in and edit if they need to, and all that kind of stuff. So there's a lot of really cool functionality with that. But yeah, it is the security part, especially since we now have you know, credit card authorization invoicing, it's just kind of a way but which is a good thing at the end of the day.

Roslyn Ranse: So add a team member, get that in there. And make sure that everybody is able to use it same time as well. And so whether you've got small groups traveling, you got FIT passengers, you've got a team, anything that you can do, then make sure you jump in, test it out if you haven't already and give us your feedback. You know, this is a really good option and opportunity to be able to talk to Steph and myself. Tell us how you're using it. What's working for you. What do you need help with. Because we absolutely both want to see you succeed. 

Stephanie, thank you so much for being here today. I love talking with you. I can't wait to see you in person. I think you know we're firm friends already and mates and you know, it's going to be such a really cool ride for Travel Agent, Achievers, members listeners as well as Travefy so thank you so much for being here.

Stephanie Gries: Oh, thank you so much. And I know I can't wait to meet in person and and feel free to anyone who's seen if you have questions just email us, ask for me. I can help you out. But yeah, just thank you so much. Again, this is awesome. It's it's a really amazing partnership. So I'm excited to keep working together.

Roslyn Ranse: Thank you. All right. So if you do want to get in touch with Stephanie, you can find her on LinkedIn. We will add all the details on our show notes as well for you. Thank you so much for being here, Steph, everybody. Have a fabulous day. Make sure that you're out there working on your business, whether it is for an hour a week or a day, a week, whatever it is that works for you, helping you build a super successful business and have an amazing day. Thanks, everybody. Talk to you soon.