Episode 6 - Email Templates: Streamlining the Client Experience
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EPISODE SUMMARY
The Problem: Pre-Template Era
Came from old-school travel agency (manila folders, handwritten notes)
Every email written from scratch
Rushed, inconsistent messaging
Forgotten follow-ups
Hours spent on repetitive tasks instead of business growth
Time wasted copying from sent folder
The Solution: 90+ Email Templates
Comprehensive library covering entire client journey
From initial inquiry to welcome home messages
Guides clients through every step
Maintains brand voice while ensuring consistency
Key Benefits of Templates
Time Savings
Consistency & Quality
Client Benefits
Template Categories & Examples
Initial Contact
Quote Templates
Cruise-Specific Templates
Visa Information
Booking Process
Post-Trip Templates
Automated Templates
Implementation Strategy
Getting Started
Practical Steps
AI Integration
Template Maintenance
Success Metrics
Call to Action
Start tracking repetitive email tasks
Create first few templates
Share template ideas and questions
Focus on exceptional client service through every system
Implement gradually but consistently
READ THE FULL PODCAST TRANSCRIPT HERE
Hello and welcome to episode 6 of Travel Business Unlocked. I'm Holly Velardo, the owner of HollyDay Travel, which is a boutique travel agency based in Port Noarlunga, South Australia. If you are new here, this podcast is all about me sharing my journey in the travel industry and the lessons I've learned. All the practical tips to to help you build a successful business.
I believe in being real, sharing both the wins and the challenges with you and giving you so many steps and how-to’s so you can implement things right into your business.
Today we are going to talk about something that has absolutely transformed my business and this is email templates and automation systems. It's been nearly 8 years since I started HollyDay Travel and when I first started I had no idea about systems. I'd come from a travel agency where I had to create my own invoices, everything was still in manila folders and we'd write on them. There really wasn't a whole lot going on on the computers back then and it was a very old-school way of doing things.
So when I started, I knew this needed to change, but at that point every single email was written from scratch. That meant that I was rushing emails, trying to get back to clients as quick as I can. The messaging was really inconsistent. I would forget to do follow-ups and I just spent so many hours on repetitive tasks that really I should have been spending that time to grow my business and work on the actual business and with the clients.
So I'm going to share with you today how we have now built a library of over 90 templates that we use.
This guides our clients through every step of their journey. This is from that very first inquiry all the way through to the welcome home messages and then of course everything in between. So I just want to remind you as well that if you are enjoying this podcast, I would absolutely love it, love your support by either subscribing, leaving a review so that other small business owners can also find it and see they may benefit from this too. So your support really helps me with continuing to create this content and reaching so many people in this industry.
So now let's talk about these email templates and the automation that we use. I know for some of you this might sound a bit boring. Yes, email templates, you know, or a bit technical. But trust me, this is one of the most powerful systems that you can really, really implement into your business.
So our templates cover everything from that initial inquiry email that we get. We have an a response that goes out to them through to visa information for specific countries, booking confirmations, quote documents, all sorts of templates for different types of travel, travel pre-departure checklists, welcome home messages, birthday emails, passport expiring and so, so, so much more.
Now what's really important, and I want you to think about this here, is that these emails are not about just being a boring template, being robotic, being impersonal. They're all about reflecting you and your brand. So each of our templates are carefully created. We make sure that we still sound us, we sound professional, we sound warm, and more importantly, we follow the HollyDay Travel values and we all sound on brand.
So we personalize each and every one of them for the clients. But what we have is that core structure and content that's there. So we can grab this template, fill in a few little bits and pieces, whether it's, you know, a country where the visa is going to be or if it's a quote and we've got some information, but we personalise it for that client. Whether we put a paragraph at the top about a conversation we've had with them, we just always try to keep it all about them so it doesn't feel robotic at all. But they're still getting all that information and the consistency.
So there's a lot of reasons and key benefits why you need to have some email templates and automation within your business.
Now firstly, and for me, most importantly is the time savings. Like, this is huge. Before we had templates, I would just spend hours and hours every day writing their emails from scratch, writing the same thing over and over again. Sometimes I would click over into the sent folder and copy information over. But realistically, I was doing most of it from scratch. But now what we've been able to do by having these templates is my team and I can respond so quickly to clients. It's consistent. You know, it's the same thing coming from all of us. And it also means we can handle more bookings without working the extra crazy hours that come with all the extra workload.
So as an example of this, we do a lot of river cruising and cruising and group tours. And one of the templates that we have set up is each cruise line specific template for that. So for scenic we have, you know, here's your check-in information, the check-in procedures, go and fill in your trip personalizer. Or for MSC, we have their check-in procedures and their booking information all in this email. All we need to do is just personalise that couple of details. The template is there, it tells them how to check in for that cruise, what to do, the steps that are needed, the apps that are needed, or if it's the website, it's all there. All we have to quickly put in is their booking number, which you can copy and paste from the CRM and stick in there so the email's ready in a couple of minutes rather than trying to find this information every single time.
So the second major benefit for us is consistency. So whether it's only you in your agency or whether you have a team, it is so, so important that every client receives that same high quality information and experience when they're dealing with you. These templates that we've created ensure that the important details aren't missed. Everything is there. We're not having to always think about what do we need to put in a booking confirmation email, do we need to put in what the changes are for their airfares or, you know, when the deposits are due for that tour or cruise?
We don't need to think about that because it's outlined in the template. We just have to fill in the date that it's due or maybe the amount that it's due. So these things, it just creates so much time saving and incredible consistency.
So this way, whoever is handling the booking, it's all the same as it comes from them. This has also been really, really important with training my team, allowing us to grow our business as well by having this template system in place. It doesn't matter if we've got a junior agent coming in or we've got someone who's highly qualified and has been here for a really long time, it doesn't matter. These templates are showing that we have the same information going out all the time to the clients.
So now you're probably wondering what sort of categories and templates do you actually use?
So there are so many. There are so many. As I said, we have over 90 templates, but the ones that we use are for our initial contact. So we have an online booking system in terms of where clients can contact us to make a time to see us, book in and see us, or if we get an inquiry via email, then we have that first initial email response that goes back out.
That initial response talks to them immediately. A little paragraph on who are HollyDay Travel, who are we as a team, what service are we going to provide them? And of course, we mentioned the fees that we charge for working with us. So this sets the ground rules very upfront. It shows them the incredible service, the relationship, what we're going to do for them very, very quickly. But it also sets the expectation that if you do want to work with us, there is going to be a fee involved. So there's so many different benefits to that.
So that initial email goes out and then obviously we have the quote emails that will go out as well once the clients are happy to pay the fee and go ahead. We have quotes that are set up for all different things. So we have like an all-rounder quote. If someone's looking at doing cruises, tours, flights, accommodation, everything, all in one, then we have that template. Otherwise we do have specific templates just for cruising, just for tours, just for flights. So we can quickly pull these in, put the information we need in, and each template is tailored for that specific booking type. It includes all the relevant information that the client's going to need without you having to rethink about that.
So as I said before, for the cruises, we have so many different templates for the different cruise lines. You know, every single cruise line has a different check-in procedure. The policies are different, they have their own apps. You know, the availability for check in might be different, it could be anything at all there. But we have that documented and, and send that out to the clients to ensure that they're getting that accurate information. They're not missing out on choosing anything it is they want on board, the shore, excursions, any of that stuff. And we're not having to remember to remind them we've sent it out and it's all there for them.
We also have an incredibly large collection of visa information templates. We don't have every single country in the world, but the ones that we use all the time, we just keep creating new templates. We put in a new template as that visa requirement comes up and we, we always link directly to the, either the Smart Traveller link or we will link directly to the visa application company. So wherever they need to apply for that visa or whatever that information is, we're not putting that in the body of the template because that would require so much work and so much updating because as we know things are changing all the time. So what we do is we put that link there for the current visa requirement. They can look at the traveller information, see what it is that they need and, of course, reach out if they have any questions. But they're getting the most up-to-date information by providing that link.
So then once we've got through all of this process, obviously we have our booking confirmation that goes out as well. Talking about deposits, deadlines, all of that type of thing, seat requests, meal requests, any special requests they get asked all of these things within that booking template.
So then we have our pre-departure templates. So these are things like our travel checklist. We have created a really comprehensive travel checklist. You can jump on my website, it's free to download, have a look at it. It is incredibly helpful. My clients absolutely love it. So feel free to jump on and look at that and add whatever's missing from your checklist or use it as a base for your own checklist. There's some really good things on there that remind your clients of what they need prior to travel.
Then we have our bon voyage emails and text messages that we send out and then our final document delivery emails as well. So these just help our clients know that they're completely well prepared for their trips. They know where to find all of their documents, they know where they need to go if they need any sort of support. And they really do feel that they're constantly being in touch with us. They know that we're there if they need them and everything is easy for them to find. And we're also again not having to pre think about what is it that we need to include in that bon voyage email, what is it that we need to tick off? Because it's already there in the template, it's already ready to go.
And then the other thing that we have, of course, is our post-trip templates. These are so important. These are things like your welcome home messages, feedback requests. These are probably the most valuable, I think in my view, templates that we have, we do request these and if we don't get feedback, we do request it again another week later. Because for us, we want to take on positive and negative feedback. We're here to improve. This helps us maintain these relationships with our clients after their trips and gather these valuable feedback. If we don't get these, then how do we know what we need to improve on? Or how do we know what we're doing really, really well? If they're not telling us, then, you know, we don't know and we don't know how to improve.
So these, these are the main templates that we have. We also have smaller templates replying to clients emails, you know, specific things like that as well, or if we get asked a question about, you know, an online booking engine and you know, pricing and comparison and stuff like that. We also have templates set up with how we reply to that.
But the most important thing you need to remember here is what I've just talked about is how these templates are for myself and the team and how they benefit us. But the more important thing is how these also benefit the clients. You know, this is allowing us to be completely professional. It's allowing us to provide exceptional service and people are then learning to trust us with their travel plans. The information is there that they need, they need. They're not constantly having to come back to us to ask us questions, do we need visas? What is this cancellation fee? What happens if I need to change this? The information is all there. It's given to them in the beginning so they know that they have this.
So from their perspective, it means that they're going to receive very quick and prompt responses. The information's thorough and it's very accurate as well. They're not waiting days and days and days for us to gather all that information, scramble around trying to find it all. It's there, it's very easy, we can just send it straight through.
Of course we also have travel insurance templates. That's a big one. Making sure that we ask all of the questions, you know, whether they're going to do any skiing or mopeds or activities or pre existing medical, whatever it might be. That's also another one as well. And as I said before, you know, allowing us all to have this consistent tone and level of service… rhis is really important across all the client communications. Our clients are always replying to us. They understand what's going on. It doesn't matter whether I've sent it or my team. That same template goes out, you know, they know that the, the level of my team, they understand it, they understand what's going on because there is that template. They can just pop in, send out to the client and the client feels at ease and feels like they're working with professionals as well.
There's so much time that we're saving by communicating this way. This means that I can dedicate so much more time to my clients. I've said before, this is what I love doing. I love sitting with them, I love getting to know them, I love learning about them, their preferences. Are they celebrating something special while they're away? Is it a special occasion? All of these things. But because we have these systems and these templates, you know, we send a happy birthday email. I cannot tell you how many of my clients respond to that. “Oh, wow. Thanks, Holly. That's amazing! Thank you for remembering!” Well, I'll tell you a little secret: I don't remember their birthdays. I don't remember it. We have it set up in our system. This is something we've automated. So on their birthday, there's a photo of me with some balloons in my hand and a little card personalised with their name saying, “Happy Birthday. Have a great day.” And they absolutely love it. That's probably one of the biggest ones we get a response to is the happy birthday email.
So what I really just want to talk to you about was that there's 90 templates that might sound incredibly overwhelming. Okay? Really, really overwhelming. Now, remember that 90 templates includes quite a lot of countries, you know, for visa destinations, a whole lot of cruise companies that cruise lines that we use. It's not 90 different templates for, you know, completely different? Let's say they're just 90 or more sitting in our backend that we use.
So don't worry about that number. What I want you to think about is that just, you just need to get started. Just start somewhere, start gradually. Because to think about all of these templates that I've set up, it can be so overwhelming. And, yeah, it took me a long time and a lot of effort to do that, but I didn't do them all at once. I started with what was the most essential one, and then I gradually expanded our library. Every time I was writing an email or I was copying and pasting something I was researching for something I'd done before, then I just created a new template then and there. And when you do it like that, it takes 10 or 15 minutes and it's set up, and then you've got them set there and you can use them for, you know, to duplicate them for other templates as well.
But trust me, the investment of getting started on your templates and slowly building them up is absolutely worth it. It has been one of the most absolute valuable tools in scaling our business and maintaining our highest service standards. People are always commenting to us about it, about our emails, about how professional the team is, how quick they are to respond. These are things, the feedback we get because we have these templates and systems in place.
And remember, once you set those templates, they're there forever. They don't stay the same, though. They're going to evolve over time. Things will change. Your tone of voice might change, the way you think about things might change, destination information might change, but the base core part of those templates is set up, it's there already. And you can just do quick updates when needed.
So as you use them, you'll find out more ways to make them more effective, more personal, more aligned with your brand. But these are all good things. It should continue to grow and improve as your business grows and improves.
So before we finish, I just really wanted to share a few specific examples, I guess, of the templates that have been particularly valuable for us. So I mentioned before for our welcome home email and this really just going back to what I said before, it just helps us improve. It helps us reconnect with the clients though once we get that, we can then use these templates, use this feedback on our Google Reviews. We've asked them to put it there. You know, whether it's on our Travel Agent Finder reviews, whether it's on our website, our social media, this helps our business grow. These positive reviews and are going to mean that when people are looking for you, you can see this about us, you can see what HollyDay Travel is all about because other people are saying it.
So you know you can, this is so important without this welcome home email, without picking up that phone and saying “Did you have a wonderful holiday?” or “Would you like to share some of your highlights?” Then you know you're not going to get that feedback.
So this template has one of the highest open rates other than the happy birthday one. And this has an open rate of over 85%, which is huge. You know, when you're looking at emails going out all the time, not everyone's going to open everything, but this gets an incredible opening rate and then we also get a great response as well. And it's a simple way to maintain that relationship with your clients after their holiday’s over.
So other than our birthday email, we also do have happy anniversary emails that go out as well. But other things are that we have is your passport is expiring again, they're automated ones that we have set up. So through our Zoho CRM system, I'm not having to think about them, but we put the client's passport details in and then seven months before it's due to expire, we send them an email to remind them that your passport is expiring soon and you need to get this updated. So they're small touches, but the clients love it. They're not always thinking about that. They're not always checking their passports. You all know that in this industry they're often forgetting to check that. So we provide this service for them and they're little touches and they don't take long to set up as well.
And like I said, you know, just the time saving, the time saving from all of this. I highly recommend that what you take out of this podcast today is sit down, write a list. The minute you find an email, you're rewriting an email. You're copying and pasting, you're looking at a booking confirmation, you're searching for, you know, change fees. Start creating a template.
Write a list of what you do, the most repetitive tasks every single day, what it is. Put a piece of paper next to you and you write travel insurance email, ticket every time you send a travel insurance email, every time you send a quote, every time you send a booking confirmation, every time you send any of those things. Then tick it. See what it is. See what anytime you send a visa information. What is it that you spend so much time? Is it responding to new inquiries? Have a welcome to HollyDay Travel email, or welcome to your travel agency or your small business. This is how we work. Here's a little bit about us.
So just work on a couple of templates first. Don't get completely overwhelmed, don't overthink it, and just start. And once you start, you'll feel the rhythm come. You'll see how easy it is to just create the new ones.
And of course, you all know I'm a huge fan of AI. Jump in AI and ask them to help it write… If you've got AI that's tailored to your voice already, the way your agency speaks, the way you promote things, anything that you've got set up in AI that is going to feel like you and talk like you, this is a perfect place to get these templates done. Obviously, you have to do the groundwork, you have to put the basics in there of what you want. But then AI is going to be a huge time saver for you to then create this. Yes, there'll be a little bit of research involved and a little bit of time involved to get them started, but just start, just start small and start on it.
So I would absolutely love to hear from you what templates you're working on, what questions you might have about some of our templates. You know, how you're going to gradually build up your library of templates, if there's any templates I didn't mention and you have in your business and you think are amazing, I'd love to hear about it. We're constantly adding templates and ways to save time and different ways that we can communicate with our clients. So absolutely, get in touch and let me know.
So finally, the ultimate goal from today is for you to work out how you can continue to build your business, how you can do this by providing this exceptional service to your clients. Every template, every automation, every system that you implement should have that service. And this is what you need to take from this today.
So thank you so much for joining me for this episode of Travel Business Unlocked. I hope you found it incredibly valuable and you're going away with some ideas that you can implement into your own travel business. Thank you for listening. And until next time, keep unlocking the potential of your travel business.
