Zapier for Tour Operators – Automate Mundane Tasks

Why you need Zapier

Even if you don’t know about the latest apps or software, you would agree that you operate in a highly digitized world. Most of these changes happened so gradually that we don’t fully recognize the impact they’ve had.

How do you get people to know about your zipline tours? Through a website. How do your customers interact with you for information? Through email. How do you promote your adventure tours? Through social media. How do you manage bookings? Through reservation software. How do you schedule events? Through a digital calendar. How do you sell tour photos? Through PicThrive.

All these have made it easy for us. But they are all separate functions that require you to take care of them individually. So, if a customer sends you an email asking about the best offers, you’ve to physically compose an email or copy-paste from another text.

What happens if you don’t see their email at the right time? They may wait for a day or two. Remember that a prospective customer may approach several operators. They are more likely to select the one that responds fast.

When you don’t get back, you lose out on business. It’s not because you didn’t do it, it’s because you were late. Strangely, one of the reasons you won’t have the time is because you were doing some other digital task like looking at your accounts or updating your social media page.

This is the unfortunate effect of having to take care of too many mundane tasks. You have to repeatedly do those simple tasks separately that you end up working more while not being productive.

This is where Zapier comes in.

What is Zapier?

Zapier is an automation tool that connects apps to automate work. With Zapier, you can connect apps like Gmail, Mailchimp, Google Drive, Slack, Reservations, PicThrive and over 2000 others to do repetitive tasks.

In other words, Zapier saves you time by automating work that you’d otherwise have to repeatedly do. That saves you time and energy. As someone managing a small business, we don’t have to tell you that time is a crucial resource for you.

You may not have the services of a large dedicated staff for all the needs of your business. It’s highly likely that you’ve to take care of several functions from marketing to day-to-day operations. An automation tool like Zapier frees up your time by taking care of several mundane tasks.

Now you can focus on your core objectives without getting unnecessarily interrupted by routine tasks. This is what usually people describe as working smarter and not harder.

How it Works

Zapier automates by creating workflows that are called Zaps. The process comprises a “trigger” that leads to one or several “actions.” To put it simply, you can start a Zap by selecting a trigger (“when this happens”) and ask Zapier to do an action based on that (“do this”).

So, Zapier will know that when this happens, it has to do this. You don’t have to do it manually.

Saving time linking social media ads with your email system

For example, let’s say that you’re running a social media ad campaign to promote your adventure tour and collect leads. Your objective is to get people to sign up for your email newsletters that you manage through Mailchimp.

With Zapier, you can connect these two apps. You can create a Zap that will lead from the trigger to the intended action. So, when this happens (when you get a new lead on your social media campaign), this will happen (they will be added to your email list).

Earlier you’d have had to manually do it. You had to collect those emails and enter them one by one in your email list. With Zapier, you save several hours every week because of automation like these.

Importantly, you don’t have to know anything about automation to operate and reap the benefits of Zapier. The interface is easy to use and comes with several templates.

Saving time connecting booking tools and online photo stores

It can connect to reservation systems, including, FareHarbor, Rezdy, and Xola. It also connects to tour photo app PicThrive. So, when a customer makes a reservation, you can lead that trigger to an action like adding the guest to your marketing platform or to your tour photo app. This would be an excellent opportunity to thank them for their interest and inform them of the activities that you’ve planned for them, plus send them their photos.

Saving time with small business admin tasks

You can also connect it to your accounting, and spreadsheets. If you want a monthly or quarterly report of your adventure tour business, you could connect those to specified triggers. You can also share the same content across various social media platforms by choosing the appropriate template from the dashboard.

Zapier empowers tour operators to put their operations on autopilot. For example, if you can collect email ids through your website, PicThrive, social media, or from your reservations, you can add them to your newsletters and constantly interact with them to build a relationship.

Getting more impact with every customer touch

Imagine a situation where a guest leaving your facility automatically receives an email asking about their experiences. Instead of sending individually a single email, the software could request them to recommend your tour business to friends and families. That alone will be a significant shot in the arm for your marketing.

You can also integrate PicThrive’s functionalities to make the most out of it. You can easily automate pre-selling photos, photo delivery and powerful email marketing to your best guests. This means that there’s a proven revenue stream. You can even add new powers by activating it on Zapier.