Case Study: Major New York City Tour Company

Company Implements a Streamlined, Simplified Backend System that Powers a More Than 3x Increase in Payroll Processing Speeds for Its 300+ Employees

Taking Advantage of Built-In and Custom Capabilities Enables the Company to Split Commissions Automatically, Standardize and Accelerate Payments, Share Real-Time Sales Information, and More to Compete Aggressively in the Marketplace

The company is a leading travel, tourism, and transportation operator in New York City—combining a number of individual divisions together under one powerful umbrella almost a decade ago. Today, it operates more than 180 double-decker buses running on five loops and selling everything from hop-on/hop-off bus and boat tours to third-party attraction, shuttle, and excursion tours. With these combined offerings, it has become one of the largest sightseeing, transportation, and airport shuttle companies in the world.

As the company expanded and grew, it quickly realized that its backend systems were not keeping pace with its evolving needs, which created a range of administrative and managerial challenges. With hundreds of employees, including on-the-street agents who are active every day, the company needed a system that would allow it to process information quickly while being straightforward to use and customize.

The company has since implemented a backend tour management system engineered specifically to get rid of inefficiencies and make it a more agile player in a competitive market. It has tripled its payroll processing speeds and discovered simple and quick ways to share a wealth of sales information with its teams in real time, empowering it to make smart and nimble decisions to accelerate the business:

Industry-Leading Flexibility

Due to its size and company-specific requirements, the company needed a system designed and customized for them. “From day one, we knew we needed some unique and powerful features,” said a representative. “With the system we have now, we are able to do things like alter rates on an as-needed basis, automate commission splitting, and so much more.”

Simple, Swift, and Straightforward Payments

With over 300 agents to pay on a weekly basis, speed was crucial for the company. Now, the company is able to process payments in record time—less than three days after payroll closes—and issue individual reports that outline how a person’s pay was calculated. This lets it and its employees clearly understand earnings and identify opportunities for future development. “If this was a manual function,” a representative said, “it would not be possible for us to turn payments around as quickly, nor could we provide these types of in-depth reports. We would have needed at least a week to process payments alone.”

Real-Time Reports

In addition to weekly earnings summaries, the company has been able to take advantage of real-time reporting functionalities to schedule reports that are released to its Managers and Field Supervisors once every hour straight to their phones. This allows them to see the actual sales in their area (where activities are high, what on-the-ground trends they are facing, who their top sellers are, and more) so they can adjust their strategies and motivate their agents. “All of this is customizable since Senior Managers might want to see different things than Field Managers would, for example,” the representative said. “Since everything is pre-set, this is one crucial part of our day-to-day operations that we never have to worry about.”

Dynamic Growth

Agility is crucial for the company. If a process or tactic isn’t working, it needs to know and be able to change its approach efficiently and effectively. “The system we have now enables us to dynamically adjust ongoing promotions we have in place for our employees. We can reposition ourselves on a week-to-week basis and respond to how things are really working,” the representative said. “Not having to fuss with excessive backend work lets us sit down and come up with creative ways to compete in the marketplace and motivate our employees, never being limited or concerned about how or if we’ll be able to execute our plans.”

Why DataTrax

When looking for a partner to architect and implement its tour management system, the company found providers able to give it something like what it wanted, but only one who could provide exactly what it needed—DataTrax. DataTrax’s advanced tour operator software included all of the tools and capabilities the company sought (a central administrative website, real-time analytics, hassle-free commission splitting and payment processing, and more) and could be tailored to suit its specific requirements. “Where DataTrax has a major edge is its flexibility in terms of what it can set up in the backend. We didn’t want a generic system full of compromises. We wanted an out-of-the-box, enterprise-level solution that could be customized to work for us. DataTrax was able to deliver precisely what we needed and more, ensuring a seamless experience for us from start to end and beyond.”