CRM and Email Marketing Automation for a B2B Travel and Tourism Operator

Context

This organisation is a global community of tourism operators, changemakers and travellers who focus on purposeful travel. They have operated for more than 25 years and design and run their own travel and volunteer experiences, working closely with local communities to support meaningful impact.

As a growing B2B travel operator, they needed clearer visibility across customer opportunities and partner relationships, plus a more reliable way to communicate with prospects, customers, and prospective partners.

Challenges we solved

Approach

We implemented a simple principle: one system of record for relationships and revenue, connected to automated communications. The result is a workflow that is easier to maintain, easier to train, and more dependable for reporting.

Solution

Capsule CRM as the central data hub

We configured Capsule CRM to hold all customer, prospect, and partner records in one place, with a consistent structure for segmentation and qualification.

To support travel and tourism workflows, we introduced tags and custom fields that align to how teams actually work. This made filtering, reporting, and handover between team members significantly more straightforward.

Segmentation with tags

We introduced a tagging system designed for partner programmes and B2B opportunity management, including: partner, prospect, high value, warm, and cold.

Custom fields for travel partner and destination management

We created structured lists and fields to improve qualification and reporting. Examples included: destinations, partner rating, and bespoke referral information that needed to be stored and displayed consistently.

Multiple sales pipelines

We implemented multiple pipelines so the team could measure performance across distinct motion types, rather than forcing everything into one set of stages. This improved clarity for forecasting and partner programme growth.

Transpond for newsletters, automation, and lead capture

We configured Transpond to deliver consistent monthly newsletters and automated nurture sequences. Web forms were introduced to capture partner enquiries and prospects directly into the CRM, ensuring faster follow-up.

We also enabled social posts from Transpond to support campaign consistency across channels and reduce manual publishing effort.

Projects for event planning and internal workflows

Capsule Projects was used to plan events and manage non-sales work that still requires clear ownership and progress tracking. This reduced reliance on separate task tools and improved internal coordination.

Outcomes

The organisation now runs with a clearer, more scalable system for managing relationships, partner growth, and communications.

• One central place for customer, prospect, and partner data.
• Consistent monthly newsletters supported by segmentation and automation.
• Improved visibility of pipeline performance across different revenue and partner motions.
• Reduced manual admin through automations and form-led lead capture.
• Better planning of events and operational work using Projects.

Key takeaways for travel and tourism businesses

• Centralising data is the fastest route to better reporting and more reliable marketing.
• Partner programmes perform better when you track them in a dedicated pipeline with clear stages.
• Tags and custom fields should reflect real decision points, not generic categories.
• Automations work best when they support a defined process, not when they replace one.
• Projects and operational workflows deserve the same structure as sales, particularly for events.

How to achieve similar results on other platforms

The same principles apply across most CRM and email marketing platforms: centralise data, standardise segmentation, implement the right pipelines, then automate communications and lead capture.

HubSpot

• Use pipelines to separate customer sales from partner onboarding and tracking.
• Use forms and workflows for lead capture and automated follow-up.
• Relevant pages: HubSpot CRM, Marketing Hub

Zoho Bigin

• Configure pipelines per motion type and add custom fields for destinations and partner attributes.
• Connect to Zoho’s marketing tools for newsletters and basic automations.
• Relevant pages: Zoho Bigin

Mailchimp

• Use segmentation and automations for newsletters and nurture journeys.
• Pair with a CRM (or integration) to keep customer and partner data consistent.
• Relevant page: Mailchimp

ActiveCampaign

• Use tagging and automations heavily for partner and prospect nurturing.
• Use pipelines and deal stages to track partner onboarding and renewal opportunities.
• Relevant page: ActiveCampaign