This tool wows our agents, and it wows our clients

Vacation.com has taken many unprecedented steps to create and implement EZguider, for we know that this all-in-one leisure-selling tool is a game changer that will give our members a serious edge in the marketplace. But the most important step is still waiting to be taken—by you, our members, who now need to adopt this new technology and use it in your daily business.

The roadblocks to this step are understandable. It’s not easy changing habits or taking time to learn something new. That’s what Vacation.com member Gerry Blanchard used to think, but now she’s singing a different tune, saying, “You have to be willing to change. I’m 57 years old, and for me there was no alternative than to embrace EZguider or our agency would fall behind. Thankfully…it was an easy change to make.”

Coming from a family of tour operators on the island of Haiti, it’s safe to say that Gerry has travel in her blood. Fifteen years ago she moved to Florida from Oman in the Middle East, where her husband was project director for an American company. Together they now own Global Tours & Travel, a successful
agency with five fulltime agents. Fluent in four languages (English, French, Spanish and Italian), Gerry has extensive experience in international leisure and corporate travel programs, specialty groups, mission group travel and complex itinerary planning and execution.

The Waiting is Over

So why did such an accomplished owner give EZguider a try? “What puts me most over the edge as an agency owner is when my agents tell me they spent 30 minutes waiting on the phone with one cruise line or tour operator! Then they wait for a fax, and if the fax doesn’t come, they have to call the supplier and wait all over again. Time is money, and that is too much wasted time for one
transaction.”

If time is money, then Gerry’s team now has more time to make more money. “I’d say my agents can book 50% more with EZguider than they could on the phone.”

This increased efficiency is critical for Gerry, who, like all agents nowadays, has felt the strains of the current economy. “Times are tough in today’s industry,” she said, “so I was forced to scale back my staff. Before, I needed more agents, because they were tied to the phone lines for half the day, sometimes unable to help new clients who just walked in. With EZguider, fewer agents can book more quickly, and new clients are helped faster.”

Impressing Clients

Helping clients faster is crucial, but EZguider’s effectiveness does not stop there. Said Gerry, “In times past, clients walked in with a vague notion of what they wanted, such as a cruise to somewhere in the Caribbean, which forces us to call one cruise line after another, sitting on hold and making the client wonder if they came to the right place. Now the whole process takes seconds with EZguider. This tool wows our agents, and it wows our clients.”

Wowing clients in today’s internet age is becoming more and more difficult, unless, as Gerry counters, you have EZguider on your side: “Clients…expect us to know as much as is on the internet and then more. EZguider is the tool to beat the internet, since it immediately empowers us to give them multiple cruise and tour options that fit their time and budget in a way they could not have found on their own. This is why clients come to us—to provide great options fast.”

The speed of EZguider also helps Gerry make the most of the few moments she has with clients. “One thing I love about EZguider is that, even after talking with a client for just a few minutes, I’m able to print out or email an itinerary that fits their wishes. No longer will I waste time cutting and pasting from a cruise line’s Web page – EZguider gives me the info I need, which I gladly pass along so that the client has a takeaway in their hands or waiting for them in their inbox,” said Gerry.

Significantly Improved From Six Months Ago

As one of our earliest agencies to test-drive EZguider, Global Tours & Travel experienced the same “glitches” as other users. However, Gerry has been impressed with Vacation.com’s dedication to improving the product, saying, “I first tried EZguider five or six months ago, and, as Vacation.com warned me, it had a few bugs. Now, with all the changes, the difference is night and day. The improved EZguider is so much better. The extra steps I used to take are gone…now it’s faster, more direct…and I can trust it.”

Gerry Blanchard has taken the next step, adopting this new technology and using it in her daily business. Now it’s your turn! As Gerry said, “A lot of agents will love EZguider, even more once air is included.”