Here’s a way to take zero pain and still keep your overseas client happy

Photo credit: Marius Boatca.

A visit from an overseas client goes way beyond boardroom meetings.

Someone has to burn the midnight oil to ensure a seamless airport transfer, a comfortable hotel stay, the right blend of local and international cuisine, local sightseeing and shopping, suitable gifts, a quick weekend getaway…the works.

And in all likelihood, at Indian IT companies, that ‘someone’ is the project manager.

As it turns out, that’s a major pain point for project managers in India, who get saddled with responsibilities they didn’t sign up for.

“Every year a company hosts at least a couple of overseas client visits, and normally it is the project manager who is entrusted with the entire client visit experience,” says Samrat Patnaik, who served as a project manager at Infosys and Capgemini.

Samrat brainstormed with Sagar Kumar Parida, a communication consultant and former Tracxn employee, on solving the problem. They ran their idea past 50 plus project managers in different companies, and found it made perfect sense.

So what was this idea? “To ensure that overseas client visits are managed by a professional company, and save the valuable time of project managers, so they could focus on their core work,” Samrat tells Tech in Asia.

In August this year, Samrat and Sagar launched TripExploria as a travel and vacation planning website specializing in creating personalized itineraries for business and leisure.

TripExploria co-founders Samrat Patnaik and Sagar Kumar Parida.

In a short span, the Bangalore-based startup has organized private business-to-consumer (B2C) trips for 50 individuals and executed 10 business-to-business (B2B) travel projects. Enquiries are pouring in, too – they have received at least 90 so far.

Customization is king

On the TripExploria home page, I found a breathtaking picture of a man lying on a rock and soaking in the vast expanse of green mountains. Then there’s one of a sampan floating on a tranquil sea under a pink-orange sky; a man standing on the edge of scenic blue waters, a plush swimming pool at a luxury resort… A catchphrase runs through these pictures: “Personalizing your travel imagination.”

The key word here is personalize. An American Express study suggests that 70 percent of Millennials would prefer to create their own trip rather than book a pre-packaged trip. Additionally, nearly 60 percent agree they would pay more for an agent’s expertise

Mixing business with pleasure