Cruise Planners® New Technology Sizzles with CP Maxx™ Rollout
Cruise Planners®, an American Express Travel Representative, rolled out its newest proprietary technology solution, CP Maxx™, a next-generation booking and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system exclusively for its travel agent network.
“I started in this industry 35 years ago as a travel agent so I’m proud to say that I tapped into my understanding of an agent’s needs and frustrations and I know time is precious for a home-based agent,” said Michelle Fee, CEO and Founder of Cruise Planners. “We build tools not just for the sizzle, but to help our agents tackle their business quickly, easily and more efficiently. We do the heavy lifting for the agents, leaving them more time to make the personal connections and close sales.”
Intuitive Technology for Business Efficiency
The new streamlined platform was designed and developed strategically with feedback directly from internal teams and most importantly the Cruise Planners Agent Technology Advisory Board – created by travel agents, for travel agents to help “Maxximize” their efficiencies and profits. In fact, CP Maxx, performs up to eight times faster compared to Cruise Planners’ prior platform.
CP Maxx has evolved into a modern and responsive design that works across a variety of digital platforms, including tablets and mobile devices, allowing agents to run their business by accessing the user-friendly site from any device, anywhere and anytime. The system features comprehensive reporting by travel suppliers and supports even more additions to a reservation including events, attraction tickets and visa or passport services.
“CP Maxx is the embodiment of how our franchise owners run their businesses, so great care was taken when creating and rolling out this system,” said Brian Shultz, CIO of Cruise Planners. “We give our agents the necessary training to utilize the right tool for each part of their business; helping them be more efficient and freeing up time to close sales.”
New User-Friendly Functions Include:
- Global Search: This function searches the entire platform for all topics including clients, sales opportunities, travel reservations, research buckets and even eSource, our extranet which serves as a knowledge center for our agents. This allows travel agents to search by keywords, suppliers, programs, confirmation numbers, dates and more, helping agents move through their workflow more quickly.
- Buckets: Gone are the days of sticky notes and notepads for saving your research. A new feature called, “Buckets,” allows agents to save research for a customer, destination, itinerary, etc. and can be easily searched and referred back to at a later date. This is similar to a Pinterest board or a wish list and allows for increased accuracy when quoting a trip and can even be shared with a client during the planning process.
A Travel Franchise First: Skills for Amazon’s Alexa
CP Maxx also connects with the industry-first, voice-activated, artificial intelligence Cruise Planners Alexa skills. The company designed two skills; one for Cruise Planners agents and the other for their customers. Developed in-house by Cruise Planners’ award-winning technology team, the Alexa skills are designed to be yet another great benefit of working with a Cruise Planners travel agent.
- Consumer Alexa Skill called “Cruise Planners” - Travelers can ask Alexa about details of their upcoming trips, cruise line information, ships and more . Video: Travelers can ask Alexa about their upcoming trip, final payment and more.
- Agent Alexa Skill called “CP Maxx” - Video: Cruise Planners travel agents can exclusively run their business with a voice-activated virtual assistant.
“Just as our franchise owners rely on technology to run their business, we know that technology is essential to how their clients book travel and if we can think of it, our IT team can build it,” Fee said. “We are proud to say Cruise Planners has kept up with the fast-paced world of technology and we are not slowing down. We want to be the high-tech solution, so our Cruise Planners agents can be the high-touch ingredient to better serve their customers.”
