Overview: Why CRMs matter for 20–50 person travel agencies

In the travel and tourism industry, maintaining strong relationships with customers whether they're private or corporate clients is essential for success.

Which is why travel agencies with teams of 20-50 people are increasingly turning to Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems to streamline their operations, enhance customer service, and drive sales.

After all, it's no secret that a powerful CRM can help medium-sized travel agencies manage client details, automate bookings, track sales leads, and nurture long-term customer relationships. In this blog post, we'll do an in-depth comparison of folk, Capsule, HubSpot, Pipedrive and Zoho, unpack what features you need to look out for and more.

👉🏼 Try folk now to test folk's contact enrichment and pipelines

Why you need a CRM

Managing a travel agency with 20-50 team members without a CRM can lead to disorganization and missed opportunities, hindering growth and customer satisfaction across your expanding operations.

Challenges without a CRM

There are some common challenges faced by medium-sized travel agency teams when managing operations without a CRM.

• Disorganization: Without a CRM, keeping track of client information, bookings, and communications across 20-50 team members can become chaotic, leading to errors and inefficiencies.
• Missed opportunities: Manual processes across multiple agents can cause delays, resulting in missed follow-ups and lost sales opportunities.
• Inefficient processes: Lack of automation means more time spent on repetitive tasks by your entire team, reducing overall productivity.
• Lack of insight: Without centralized data, it's challenging for agency managers to analyze customer behavior and make informed decisions for 20-50 person teams.
• Inconsistent communication: Managing interactions through disparate systems across multiple agents can lead to inconsistent messaging and a poor customer experience.

Which is why having a platform like a CRM can help create one source of truth and optimize internal workflows for growing travel agencies.

Benefits of a CRM

There are a lot of advantages a CRM provides for managing medium-sized travel agencies with teams of 20-50 people. From improving business performance to achieving better outcomes in communication across your entire organization.

• Centralized information: All client data and interactions are stored in one place, making it easy for any team member to access and manage customer relationships.
• Enhanced efficiency: Automate repetitive tasks across your 20-50 person team, freeing up time for more strategic activities.
• Improved customer relationships: Personalized communication and timely follow-ups enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty for growing agencies.
• Better decision-making: Access to real-time data and analytics helps agency managers make informed business decisions for medium-sized teams.
• Increased sales: Streamlined processes and timely follow-ups lead to higher conversion rates and more sales across your entire agency.
• Consistent communication: Ensure all 20-50 team members are on the same page, providing a unified message to clients.

Key features of a CRM for travel agencies

If you're ready to invest in a good CRM for your 20-50 person travel agency, make sure you look for the following features to make the most out of your investment.

• Automated processes: Streamlines tasks by automating repetitive workflows across medium-sized teams.
• Contact enrichment: Automatically finds client email addresses and contact information, enhancing efficiency for growing agencies.
• Structured pipeline: Tracks clients through defined stages, ensuring process clarity and effectiveness for 20-50 person teams.
• Email sequences: Increases communication efficiency with follow-up templates and automated sequences for medium-sized agencies.
• LinkedIn connection: Seamlessly imports prospects from LinkedIn and tracks conversations within the CRM for travel teams.
• Reporting & forecasting: Provides essential data analysis and predictive insights for better planning across growing agencies.

How to boost your travel agency's efficiency with a CRM

There are a few ways you can optimize your 20-50 person team's efficiency with a CRM, from your mapping process to qualifying leads and your outreach across your entire agency.

👉🏼 Try folk now to organize your reminders in one place

1. Mapping your process

Steps to define and track the stages of your process for medium-sized travel agencies

• Identify key stages: Outline the journey from initial inquiry to booking and follow-up for your 20-50 person team.
• Set milestones: Define specific milestones such as lead qualification, proposal sent, and booking confirmed across your agency.
• Automate tracking: Use CRM tools to automatically track progress and update stages as tasks are completed by any team member.
• Visualize pipeline: Utilize CRM dashboards to visualize your sales pipeline for better clarity and management across medium-sized teams.

2. Lead qualification

You can use a CRM as a method for assessing and qualifying leads and customers across your 20-50 person travel agency, by doing the following.

• Scoring system: Implement a lead scoring system based on engagement, budget, and travel preferences for consistent evaluation across your team.
• Segmentation: Categorize leads into different segments for targeted marketing and personalized follow-ups by your agency staff.
• Automated qualification: Use CRM automation to filter and prioritize leads based on predefined criteria for medium-sized agencies.
• Feedback loop: Regularly update qualification criteria based on feedback and conversion rates from your 20-50 person team.

3. Outreach and follow-up

Outreach and sequences can be created to help your medium-sized travel agency automate emails and LinkedIn campaigns to your leads and customers through the following methods.

• Email drip campaigns: Set up automated email sequences to nurture leads with personalized travel offers across your 20-50 person team.
• LinkedIn outreach: Use CRM integrations to send personalized LinkedIn messages to potential clients from any team member.
• Follow-up reminders: Automate reminders for follow-up calls or emails to ensure no lead is left unattended by your agency.
• Template library: Utilize CRM templates for consistent and professional communication across your medium-sized team.

4. Nurture existing leads and customers

There are also a few strategies your 20-50 person travel agency can use for upselling and cross-selling through your CRM.

• Personalized offers: Use CRM data to send tailored travel packages based on past preferences for your medium-sized agency.
• Loyalty programs: Implement loyalty programs to reward repeat customers and encourage referrals across your growing team.
• Seasonal campaigns: Create seasonal campaigns to promote special deals and exclusive packages for your 20-50 person agency.
• Feedback collection: Regularly collect and analyze customer feedback to improve services and offerings across your travel team.

How to evaluate and choose a CRM Platform

The CRM space is a highly saturated market. Which means you're not alone if you're unsure how to go about your selection process for your medium-sized travel agency. Fortunately, there are a few things you can keep in mind as you consider the right CRM for your 20-50 person team.

1. Define your requirements

When selecting a CRM for your 20-50 person travel agency, it's crucial to identify the key features that will enhance your business operations. Look for functionalities such as lead management, customer segmentation, automated follow-ups, and integration with booking systems that can scale with your medium-sized team. Additionally, consider features like itinerary management, communication tracking, and analytics to streamline your workflow and improve customer satisfaction across your growing agency.

2. Consider your budget

Balancing cost and return on investment is essential when choosing a CRM for your medium-sized travel agency. Evaluate the pricing models of different CRM platforms and consider the long-term benefits for your 20-50 person team. While some CRMs may have higher upfront costs, they could offer significant savings through enhanced efficiency and customer retention across your agency. Look for platforms that offer scalable pricing plans, allowing your CRM to grow with your business.

3. In-depth research

To select the right CRM vendor for your 20-50 person travel agency, start by researching and shortlisting providers that specialize in medium-sized business solutions. Read reviews, request demos, and consult industry peers for recommendations. Evaluate the vendor's reputation, customer support, and update frequency to ensure they align with your business needs. A reliable vendor will offer comprehensive onboarding and training resources to help your entire team get the most out of their CRM platform.

4. Evaluating by trial and demos

Trialing different CRM platforms is a critical step in the decision-making process for your medium-sized travel agency. Take advantage of free trials or demo versions to test the usability, features, and compatibility with your existing systems across your 20-50 person team. Compare the performance of each platform based on your predefined requirements and budget. Gather feedback from your team and consider their input before making a final decision. Choose a CRM that not only meets your current needs but also has the flexibility to adapt to future growth. Get a demo of Folk CRM here.

Tips for implementing a CRM

If you're implementing a CRM for the first time in your 20-50 person travel agency, there's a huge chance that you might have a packed diary, and not a lot of time to implement your CRM across your medium-sized team. If that's the case, there are a few things we suggest you do before you implement your new shiny CRM system.

1. Import your data in your new CRM

Transitioning to a new CRM can be seamless if you properly import your existing data for your medium-sized travel agency. Start by exporting your data as a CSV file from your current CRM and ensure all 20-50 team members have access to the centralized information.

2. Create a first pipeline

Setting up your first pipeline tailored to your 20-50 person travel agency's workflow is essential. Define stages that reflect your sales process, such as "Lead Captured," "Proposal Sent," "Negotiation," and "Booking Confirmed." This customization helps in tracking the progress of each client across your medium-sized team and ensures no lead falls through the cracks.

3. Onboard your team

Once your CRM is set up, it's time to onboard your 20-50 person team. Provide comprehensive training sessions to ensure everyone understands how to use the new system effectively across your medium-sized agency. Highlight the features that will streamline their tasks, such as automated follow-ups, customer segmentation, and reporting tools. A well-trained team can fully leverage the CRM's capabilities, leading to increased productivity and better customer relationships across your travel agency.

The 5 best CRMs for travel agencies

1. folk

folk is the ideal modern CRM platform for medium-sized travel agencies with 20-50 team members, offering customizable pipelines, AI-driven tools, and seamless integrations to enhance deal management and prospecting across growing organizations.

Key features

• Contact enrichment: Automatically enriches contact details by finding emails and LinkedIn URLs, enabling efficient outreach across your 20-50 person team without manual data entry or additional costs for email services.
• LinkedIn integration: Seamlessly import contacts from LinkedIn, track conversations within folk, and use templates for quicker, streamlined communication across your medium-sized agency.
• Email integration: Full email sync, templates, and tracking features, enabling users to manage all communications directly from the CRM across your travel team.
• AI-powered features: AI tools assist in managing contacts and relationships for 20-50 person teams, automating routine tasks, and suggesting actions to improve productivity.
• Integrations: Beyond Gmail and connectors like Zapier and Make (to 6,000+ apps), folk also offers an open API and new native integrations such as Kaspr and Allo (call leads from folk), Salesforge (LinkedIn and multichannel outreach), and PandaDoc (contracts and e-signatures).

Pros

• Ease of use: folk is praised for its intuitive interface, making it accessible even to non-technical users across 20-50 person teams with quick onboarding and a minimal learning curve.
• All-in-one solution for medium-sized agencies: folk streamlines your workflow by allowing you to import contacts from LinkedIn, automatically find their emails, reach out through customizable email sequences, and track interactions in a pipeline, eliminating the need for multiple tools and saving time and money for growing teams.
• LinkedIn integration: Perfect for travel agencies targeting corporate clients, seamlessly import contacts from LinkedIn, track conversations within folk, and use templates for quicker, streamlined communication.
• Customizability: Custom fields, pipelines, and workflows designed to scale with 20-50 person travel agencies.
• Cost-effective integrations: In addition to Gmail and connectors like Zapier and Make, folk provides an open API and native integrations (e.g., Kaspr, Allo, Salesforge, PandaDoc) to centralize workflows without extra tools.

Cons

• Reporting: folk includes advanced analytics and forecasting (pipeline and deal stage analytics, weighted revenue forecasts, and performance breakdowns by owner, channel, industry, region, or any custom field).

Price and plans

You can try folk for free with a 14 day free trial, perfect for testing with your 20-50 person team. After that, a monthly or annual subscription plan is as follows.

• Standard: $20 per user, per month - ideal for growing travel agencies
• Premium: $40 per user, per month - perfect for 20-50 person teams
• Custom: Starts from $60 per user, per month - designed for larger operations

2. Capsule CRM

Capsule CRM is a user-friendly customer relationship management platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. It offers a clean, intuitive interface that helps travel agencies with 20-50 team members manage customer relationships, track sales pipelines, and organize tasks and communications efficiently.

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Key features

• 1 sales pipeline
• 50 custom fields
• 30,000 contacts
• Key integrations
• Workflow automation

Pros

• User-friendly interface: Capsule CRM offers a clean and intuitive design, making it easy for 20-50 person travel teams to navigate and quickly access essential features. This simplicity reduces the learning curve, ideal for medium-sized agencies without extensive CRM experience.
• Contact and sales management: The platform provides robust tools for managing leads and customers, organizing travel itineraries, and tracking sales opportunities across growing teams. This helps agencies maintain a clear view of their relationships and sales pipeline.
• Customization options: Capsule CRM allows users to customize fields, tags, and pipelines to fit their specific travel business needs, offering flexibility in how they manage client data and processes across medium-sized teams.
• Integration capabilities: Capsule integrates with various popular third-party applications, including G Suite, Microsoft 365, Mailchimp, and QuickBooks, allowing travel agencies to create a seamless workflow across their business tools.
• Affordability: Capsule CRM offers competitive pricing with a free plan for basic needs and affordable premium options, making it accessible for medium-sized travel agencies.

Cons

• Limited advanced features: Compared to some competitors, Capsule CRM lacks more advanced features such as in-depth analytics and complex reporting capabilities, which can be a limitation for 20-50 person travel agencies with more complex CRM needs.
• Basic email marketing capabilities: While Capsule integrates with email marketing tools like Mailchimp, its built-in email marketing capabilities are relatively basic. Medium-sized agencies seeking more advanced email marketing features may need to rely on third-party integrations.
• Limited customer support: Capsule CRM primarily offers support through email and an online help center. The lack of live chat or phone support might be a downside for travel agencies with 20-50 team members that prefer immediate assistance.
• No built-in phone or SMS integration: Unlike some other CRMs, Capsule does not have built-in phone or SMS functionality, which could be a disadvantage for travel agencies that rely heavily on direct communication with clients through these channels.
• Scalability concerns: While Capsule CRM is suitable for medium-sized travel agencies, companies that are rapidly growing beyond 50 team members or have more complex CRM requirements might find the platform less scalable as they expand.

Price and plans

• Starter plan: Starts from $21 per user, per month.
• Growth plan: Starts from $38 per user, per month.
• Advanced plan: Starts from $60 per user, per month.
• Ultimate plan: Starts from $75 per user, per month.

3. Hubspot

Hubspot CRM is a user-friendly, scalable platform offering integrated tools for managing sales, marketing, customer service, and operations efficiently for medium-sized travel agencies.

Key features

• Marketing hub: Includes email marketing, ad tracking, landing pages, and lead generation tools for 20-50 person teams.
• Sales hub: Provides deal tracking, pipeline management, sales automation, and reporting for medium-sized agencies.
• Service hub: Offers customer service tools like ticketing, live chat, and knowledge bases for growing travel teams.
• Operations hub: Syncs and automates business processes across different systems for medium-sized organizations.
• Lead scoring: Prioritize leads with predictive scoring to improve sales efficiency across 20-50 person agencies.

Pros

• User-friendly interface: HubSpot is known for its intuitive and easy-to-use interface, making it accessible for 20-50 person travel teams of all skill levels.
• Comprehensive free plan: Offers a robust free version that includes essential CRM features, making it ideal for medium-sized travel agencies starting their CRM journey.
• Seamless integration with marketing tools: HubSpot integrates smoothly with its marketing, sales, and service hubs, creating a unified platform for inbound marketing and customer management across growing teams.
• Automation capabilities: Provides powerful automation tools for tasks like email marketing, lead nurturing, and sales workflows, helping 20-50 person travel agencies save time and improve efficiency.
• Extensive learning resources: HubSpot Academy offers a wealth of free courses, certifications, and resources to help medium-sized teams get the most out of the platform.

Cons

• High cost at higher tiers: HubSpot's pricing can become extremely expensive as you move to higher tiers, which can be prohibitive for 20-50 person travel agencies as they scale, often costing significantly more than alternatives like folk CRM.
• Limited customization in free plan: The free plan and lower tiers have limited customization options, which can restrict flexibility for growing travel agencies with 20-50 team members.
• Complexity in advanced features: Some advanced features, such as custom reporting and workflows, have a steep learning curve and may require additional training for medium-sized teams.
• Email marketing limits: Email marketing functionality in the free plan is restricted by limits on the number of emails you can send, which can be a drawback for agencies with larger client lists.
• Additional costs for add-ons: Many useful features, like advanced CRM capabilities and integrations, come as paid add-ons, significantly increasing the overall cost for 20-50 person agencies.

Price and plans

Once you're ready to upgrade from their free plan, the CRM suite annual subscription plan is as follows.

• ‍Starter: $15 per user, per month.
• ‍Professional: $450 per user, per month.
• Enterprise: $1,500 per user, per month.

4. Pipedrive

Pipedrive is a web-based CRM for small and medium-sized businesses, offering lead management, automation, email integration, and customizable pipelines to optimize sales for 20-50 person travel teams.

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Key features

• Lead and deal management: Centralized tools to manage customer data, interactions, and sales pipelines, helping medium-sized travel agencies act quickly on opportunities.
• Sales automation: Workflow automation to handle repetitive tasks, such as lead routing, follow-ups, and email sequences, allowing 20-50 person travel teams to focus on closing deals.
• Email integration: Full email sync, templates, and tracking features, enabling users to manage all communications directly from the CRM across growing agencies.
• Advanced reporting and analytics: Real-time data analytics and custom reporting tools to track sales performance, forecast revenue, and gain actionable insights for medium-sized teams.
• Customization and security: Options to customize pipelines, fields, and user permissions, with robust security measures to protect data for 20-50 person agencies.

Pros

• User-friendly interface: Pipedrive is known for its intuitive and visually appealing interface, making it easy for 20-50 person travel teams to navigate and manage their sales pipelines.
• Sales pipeline focus: Pipedrive is specifically designed for managing sales pipelines, offering a visual approach that helps medium-sized travel agencies track deals and activities effectively.
• Customization: Pipedrive allows for a high degree of customization, enabling users to tailor the platform to their specific sales processes with custom fields and workflows for growing agencies.
• Affordability: Pipedrive offers competitive pricing, making it accessible to medium-sized travel agencies without sacrificing essential CRM features.
• Automation features: Pipedrive includes automation tools that help streamline repetitive tasks, such as sending follow-up emails and moving deals through the pipeline, saving time and boosting productivity for 20-50 person teams.

Cons

• Limited advanced features: Pipedrive lacks some of the more advanced CRM features, such as extensive marketing automation and AI capabilities, which are available in platforms like folk CRM.
• Basic reporting in lower tiers: The reporting and analytics features in the basic plans are somewhat limited, requiring upgrades to access more in-depth insights for medium-sized agencies.
• Restricted customization options: While Pipedrive is customizable, it does not offer as many advanced customization options as some other CRMs, which can be a drawback for 20-50 person travel agencies with complex needs.
• No built-in email marketing: Pipedrive does not include built-in email marketing features, requiring users to integrate with third-party email tools for such functionality.
• Learning curve for new users: Although generally user-friendly, Pipedrive may still present a learning curve for medium-sized teams unfamiliar with CRM systems, especially in understanding the full capabilities of the platform.

Price and plans

An annual subscription plan basis is as follows.

• Essential plan: Starts from $14 per user, per month.
• Advanced plan: Starts from $29 per user, per month.
• Power plan: Starts from$64 per user, per month.
• Enterprise plan: Starts from $99 per user, per month.

5. Zoho

Zoho is a CRM system with a strong sales focus designed for various business sizes. Its got features such as journey orchestration, sales process management and workflow automation suitable for medium-sized travel agencies. There's also something for marketing teams, including lead hurting, event management and customer segmentation for 20-50 person organizations.

Key features

• Sales automation: Automates sales tasks like lead management, deal tracking, and follow-up actions for medium-sized travel teams.
• Lead and contact management: Manages customer information, tracks interactions, and segments contacts for targeted campaigns across 20-50 person agencies.
• Multi-channel communication: Integrates with email, phone, social media, and live chat to manage customer interactions for growing teams.
• Customizable dashboards and reports: Allows users to create and customize dashboards and reports for in-depth analytics across medium-sized agencies.
• Workflow automation: Automates routine tasks and processes to improve efficiency and reduce manual effort for 20-50 person teams.

Pros

• Affordability: Zoho CRM offers competitive pricing with various tiers, making it accessible to medium-sized travel agencies with 20-50 team members.
• Customization: Extensive customization options allow businesses to tailor the CRM to their specific needs, including custom fields, modules, and workflows for growing agencies.
• Multi-channel communication: Zoho CRM supports email, phone, social media, and live chat, enabling medium-sized businesses to manage all customer interactions from a single platform.
• AI-powered features: Zia, the AI assistant, provides intelligent insights, predictive analytics, and task automation, helping to improve sales and marketing efficiency for 20-50 person teams.
• Mobile accessibility: Zoho CRM offers a robust mobile app, allowing users to manage customer relationships and access data on the go, with offline capabilities for traveling agents.

Cons

• Steep learning curve: The extensive customization options can be overwhelming for new users in 20-50 person teams, requiring a significant time investment to master the platform.
• Complex setup: Initial setup and configuration can be complex, particularly for medium-sized agencies without technical expertise or dedicated IT resources.
• User interface: Some users find the interface to be outdated or cluttered compared to modern CRM platforms like folk CRM, which can affect usability across growing teams.
• Performance issues: Occasional reports of slow performance, especially with large datasets or complex operations, can hinder productivity for 20-50 person agencies.
• Limited third-party integrations: While Zoho integrates well with its own suite of products, integration with third-party applications can be limited or require additional effort for medium-sized teams.

Price and plans

Free plan limited to three users suitable for small businesses. After that, an annual subscription plan is as follows.

• Standard: $14 per user, per month
• Professional: $23 per user, per month
• Enterprise: $40 per user, per month

Conclusion

Choosing the right CRM for your 20-50 person travel agency in 2024 can significantly impact your business's efficiency and customer satisfaction. Whether you prioritize ease of use, advanced automation, or comprehensive integration capabilities, there's a CRM tailored to meet the needs of medium-sized travel teams. Platforms like folk, Capsule CRM, Hubspot, Pipedrive, and Zoho each offer unique features and pricing plans that cater to various business sizes and requirements. However, for travel agencies with 20-50 team members, folk CRM stands out as the ideal choice, offering the perfect balance of user-friendly design, powerful automation, contact enrichment, and LinkedIn integration at a price point that scales with growing businesses. By evaluating your specific needs, budget, and desired functionalities, you can select a CRM that will streamline your operations, enhance customer relationships, and ultimately drive growth. Try folk for free here.

Need a helping hand? Use our free tool to find your perfect CRM match.

FAQ

What is the best CRM system for small businesses?

There is no single best. For 20–50 person travel teams, look for ease of use, pipelines, automation, email and LinkedIn sync, and contact enrichment. Shortlist options, run trials, compare total cost. Consider folk.

Why should a travel agency use a CRM?

A CRM centralizes client data, standardizes pipelines, and automates follow-ups. It reduces missed bookings, speeds responses, improves personalization and forecasting, and keeps 20–50 person teams aligned across email, calls, and tasks.

What features should a travel agency CRM include?

Must-haves: customizable pipeline, workflow automation, contact enrichment, email and LinkedIn sync, booking-system integrations, reporting and forecasting, mobile access, user permissions, and GDPR-ready data controls that scale with the team.

How do you implement a CRM in a travel agency?

Clean and import CSVs, map fields, and deduplicate. Define pipeline stages and owners. Automate tasks, SLAs, and follow-up reminders. Train the team, pilot with a small group, iterate on feedback, then roll out agency-wide with adoption KPIs.