Analysis

Overview of the structured sales process

United Airlines' sales process has three main channels: Travel Agents, Cooperative Customers, and Direct Sales. These channels are supported by great technological systems such as GDS platforms, Salesforce CRM, and the SHARES system provided by United.


1. Direct Sales:

  • Customers can book or purchase tickets through the website or mobile app.
  • Customers can search for flights and check if they are available. They can also compare prices with other airlines using the app and website. Through the app and website, customers can make secure payments when purchasing a flight ticket and write or call customer service, which helps customers make the payment secure.
  • Customer information is protected, and this helps them make a reservation safely and without worries.


2. Travel Agencies:

  • United Airlines has contracts with travel agencies like Amadeo and Galileo that use Global Distribution Systems (GDS).
  • These systems provide them with real-time information on flight availability, prices, and schedules that depend on the airport they will depart from and where they will go since they do not always have the exact schedules.
  • Platforms like GDS make it safe, easy, and worry-free for travel agencies to book flights for customers.


3. Corporate Clients:

  • United Airlines works with corporate clients through negotiated contracts to offer bulk bookings and discounted fares.
  • Salesforce CRM helps these corporate relationships through contracts, renewals, and customer data.


Challenges in the sales process


United Airlines' sales process is excellent, but several things cause it to have problems:


  1. Problems in entering data into the system:

  • Systems like Salesforce and GDS are not fully programmed with the systems they have at United Airlines (SHARES). This can cause delays with real-time updates. These delays can cause problems with flight availability and ticket information on the app or website. This can also cause the system to be slower and customers to have issues viewing flights.

  1.  Manual processes:

  • Some systems, like SHARES, require a person to enter the information manually. Especially when it comes to contract renewals or modifying special ticket reservations, this can increase the risk of errors since a person enters the data.

  1. Set things to automatic:

  • Processes like corporate contract renewals and travel agency bookings are almost always repetitive and can be set to automatic.
  • Failure to automate paperwork reduces capacity and increases the sales team's workload.

  1. Gaps in customer experience:

  • The website and mobile app are good, but there are opportunities to improve the user experience, such as personalized recommendations based on travel history and preferences.

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