It’s officially Q4, aka the perfect time to audit your clients & workflow to prep for the upcoming holidays!. With so many clients departing and arriving home, it is especially important that you make time in your day to audit your upcoming trips and make sure all details are correct BEFORE clients arrive at the airport.
Because let’s face it, it is easy for that 6 to turn into a 9 when you are input birthdates or passport numbers at 11pm!
Use the checklist below during your next CEO day to audit all trips traveling in the next 2-3 months. Oh, and Niche members have access to this complete, ready to be filled in spreadsheet inside the resource library. Happy trip auditing!!
Confirm that each traveler’s name & birthdate match their travel documents.
If you have been burned one too many times by clients mistakingly sending you the wrong information, adjust your client profile form to include a document upload section. That way if a client fills in the wrong details, you have an image of their passport to cross compare with!
Check for any flight updates.
We like to check these directly on the airline’s website instead of relying on suppliers to communicate these changes. With most airlines short on pilots, these details are changing constantly! Verify that all documents have the correct flight number and departure times!
Verify that all transfers are confirmed.
This includes being ticketed. Inter-destination travel always seems to be one of the very first things to fall through the cracks. Also make sure to clearly communicate where your transfers will be picking your clients up and how they can identify their drivers in the crowd!
Ensure all COVID entry requirements have been communicated.
This includes entry into the country they are traveling to as well as on the way home. We all know that these protocols are ever-changing so be sure to link the government website and coach your clients to always reference that link for the most up the date information. If testing is required before travel, be sure to include those requirements (in bold) inside of their wrap up documents.
We prefer to send travel documents between 2-3 weeks before departure, but if you are concerned that your clients will forget to test add a canned email to your automated workflow that sends 1 week before departure as a reminder to schedule their testing!
Verify all confirmation numbers & contact information is included for each component of the trip.
The clients itinerary should be there one stop show for all the information they could possibly need when checking into their hotel, flight, transfer, or guided tour! Make sure the confirmation number is in bold and easy to find, along with any contact number. There is nothing worse than a 4am wake up call from a frantic client stressed about their late tour guide when they could have easily just called the guide directly to ensure everything was good to go.
Communicate any itinerary requests to the hotel ahead of time & share other relevant information that will help make their trip special.
If client’s are looking to book spa or dining reservations, make sure to send those requests to the hotel ASAP to ensure you can lock in space. We also like to send our hotel partners a little email about our clients upcoming trip (names, dates, & room category) along with a little blurb about the reason for their stay. This not only gives you one last check that everything is confirmed and the staff is aware of the reservation, but also allows for staff to be able to personalize the experience on-site!
While auditing trips is not the most fun part of the job, taking the time to sit down and spend a day reviewing all your client trips can ensure that your client’s next trip is as smooth and seamless as possible! How often do you audit your client trips?! Tell us in the comments below.
Thanks for this informative checklist. I will definitely add this to my workflow to audit each client booking.
We’re so glad that you enjoyed it, Karen!