Agents, meet CP Maxx, who is here to help you run your business with the help of a virtual assistant. Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative, has launched a new technology for next-generation booking and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) for its travel agent network.
CP Maxx will help Cruise Planners agents run their business more effectively by including the first-ever Artificial Intelligence tool for travel agents. This new tool, used with Amazon’s Alexa, will help streamline the work for at-home agents. According to Cruise Planners, CP Maxx performs up to eight times faster than Cruise Planners’ prior platform. Its responsive design works across a variety of digital platforms including tablets and mobile devices, which allows agents to run their business by accessing the site from any device, anywhere, anytime. The system features comprehensive reporting by travel suppliers and supports more additions to a reservation including events and attraction tickets, as well as visa or passport services.
The new platform features new functions such as a global search, which searches the entire platform for all topics including clients, sales opportunities, travel reservations, research “buckets,” and eScource—Cruise Planners’ extranet. Agents will be able to search by keywords, suppliers, programs, confirmation numbers, dates, and more. A new feature of the platform is “buckets,” which will allows agents to save research for a customer, destination, itinerary, etc. “Buckets” works similar to a Pinterest board or a wish list, and can be shared with a client during the planning process. This information in the “buckets” can be searched and available to refer back to at a later date.
“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. 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.” —Michelle Fee, CEO and Founder of Cruise Planners
CP Maxx is also able to connect with Amazon’s Alexa, an industry-first. Cruise Planners has incorporated two skills for this feature, one for Cruise Planners agents, and the other for their customers. The customer Alexa skill is called “Cruise Planners” and gives customers the opportunity to ask Alexa about details for their upcoming trips, cruise line information, ship information, final payment, and more. This gives travelers the opportunity to keep track of their own vacation plans. Travelers can ask questions such as, “Alexa, ask Cruise Planners what is my agent’s phone number.” Or, “Alexa, ask Cruise Planners to tell me about my upcoming trip.” Alexa can also help travelers learn about itineraries on any cruise line, when their final payment is due, and more.
For the agents, the feature is called CP Maxx, which allows Cruise Planners agents to run their business with a voice-activated virtual assistant. Agents can ask CP Maxx questions such as, “Alexa, ask CP Maxx if I have any final payments due today.” Or, “Alexa, ask CP Maxx what’s on my calendar today.” CP Maxx can also inform agents about upcoming conventions, upcoming payments, clients’ birthdays, and lots more.
To use CP Maxx, simply download the Aelxa app from the App Store and enable the Cruise Planners skill from within the Alexa app.
For more information, visit cruiseplanners.com.
