How to compare software for inbound agencies
To compare systems for an inbound agency, look at five things before anything else: whether each departure has a single capacity shared by every channel, whether it can sell to other agencies on a current account, whether it charges in each product's currency without adding currencies together, whether a quote turns into a booking without typing it again, and whether the day sheet for suppliers comes out on its own. The website, the reports and the accounting integration matter, but they rest on those five.
Agencies that land on this section are usually weighing four paths. The table puts them side by side.
| Spreadsheet and WhatsApp | Generic CRM | Outbound agency software | Inbound software, such as Viajalo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capacity per departure | Updated by hand, often at the end of the day | Not part of the product | Not its focus: it sells other people's seats | Taken at the moment of each sale, on every channel |
| Selling to other agencies | A debt column nobody confirms | With custom fields | Depends on the system | Current account per agency, with credit limit and network rate |
| Several currencies | Converted by hand | One currency per deal | Common for flights and hotels | Each product in its own currency, never added together |
| Quote to booking | Word, PDF and back into the spreadsheet | The quote is an attachment | Strong on packages built with third parties | The booking is created from the accepted quote |
| Day sheet for suppliers | Rebuilt every night | Not part of the product | Built around third-party vouchers | Generated from the bookings, with hotel pickups |
| Who it suits | Agencies just starting, with few products | Agencies with many enquiries and little of their own operation | Agencies selling trips elsewhere | Agencies running their own departures at their destination |
Who each option is for
The spreadsheet and WhatsApp are where almost every agency starts, and there is nothing wrong with them while one or two people sell. The limit is well known: it arrives in the first high season, when the last seat on a departure gets sold twice.
A generic CRM organises enquiries and follow-up, which is a lot. It leaves out the booking and the capacity, so it lives next to another system and next to someone who copies data from one to the other. What to ask of one is in the piece on travel agency CRM.
Outbound agency software is made to resell what others produce: flights, hotels, wholesalers' packages. If the agency does both, a separate system for each business is often the better choice.
Inbound software is built around what the agency runs at its destination. That is what Viajalo does, and the comparison with the way most agencies work today is in Viajalo compared with the spreadsheet and WhatsApp. For DMCs selling through other agencies, the full picture is on the DMC software page.
What to check before choosing
A comparison on paper helps to rule options out; the decision is made in a demo with your own catalogue. The questions that separate one system from another quickly are in how to choose a system for an inbound agency, and what an agency operating in Argentina needs (two currencies, instalments, invoicing when the tax service is down) is in the piece on travel agency software in Argentina.