Corporate life


Chemistry of business relationship

Deep knowledge of the industry and its specifics, accumulated by Vipservice Holding Company, in combination with its own in-house commercial development allow the company to create from scratch and offer the market tools that are intuitive and simple outside, but high-tech inside. Irina Solovyova, the Executive Director of the holding, told how, why and for whom "Vipservice laboratory" works.Фото Ирины.jpg

— Irina Borisovna, own commercial development is not a pleasure that most companies of our industry can afford. Why did Vipservice choose this path?

— Vipservice is the leading Russian consolidator for the sale of passenger transportation. We consider as our task not only to offer all the existing assortment on the Russian market but also to promote the growth of sales efficiency. This is impossible without automation. The creation of an automated system costs at least $1 million, which in a few years must be invested in the development. Vipservice is a large company with a stable financial position: we create our technological tools and offer them to the market free of charge because we understand that such costs are unaffordable for small and medium-sized market participants. And who if not us will offer smart ticketing systems?

But this has a downside, a side effect of our status as a leading ticket consolidator: everyone comes to Vipservice for tickets, but does not pay enough attention to our modern solutions for ground services. We want to break this stereotype and introduce the market to three main areas, over which the teams of the holding company work.

– There is no need to guess the name of the first of them. Portbilet, right?

– Yes, historically it turned out that the commercial development in the holding company began to develop from the side of the main business of the holding – a subagent one. The Portbilet system was the first successful experience, and until now it remains one of the best on the market. In Portbilet, we realized the mechanism of Smart Ticketing by investing all our deep knowledge of the specifics of the industry in the product. Behind a simple and friendly interface, a very complex system is hidden. Therefore, Portbilet knows the market very well.

Flash interview
Anton Rybka and Valeria Verbitskaya, Portbilet Project Managers:

– Is it true that Portbilet has no analogues?
– We have not yet met other solutions that allow us to engage in different business models, work with different types of clients, and that would fit both large and small organizations.
– What, besides the possibility of earning money for selling tickets, is Portbilet good for?
– We offer services for the maximum number of roles in the organization. Our partners are in a holistic ecosystem: and the agent directly issuing tickets, and the accountant and the manager in Portbilet have their place and a set of tools that are important for them is available.
– Throughout the history of the project, only a few people left it. What rallied your team so well?
– A creative atmosphere, the opportunity to come up with ideas and be heard. In addition, to see how the product that you invented and embodied goes into implementation. This is an invaluable feeling.

– Irina Borisovna, with which of own Vipservice's developments the market is yet to meet?

– The holding company has a team of specialists who work on the development of business process management systems within the company. Our own CRMVIP customer relationship management system is actively developing. It has long ceased to be a classic CRM, becoming the basis for all the operating processes of the holding. And quantitative managerial decisions help us to take our own system of business intelligence (Business Intelligence).

Flash interview
Sergey Khmelnitsky, CRMVIP Project Manager

– Sergey, how does CRMVIP differ from a large number of other systems for managing customer interactions?
– By its uniqueness in deep adaptation to industry specificity. In our CRM, customer relationship management is implemented, taking into account the features of the business model of the ticket consolidator, as well as other types of business and the specific working processes of the holding (management of configuration units, sales matrix, complaint management, etc.).
– In your opinion, what are the most important advantages of the system?
– User-friendly and intuitive web-interface, which provides a short learning curve for a new employee. Key advantages are also the flexibility in the formation of business processes and the possibility of personal adaptation of the system "for themselves"; that we, in fact, are constantly and successfully engaged.
– What helps you to maintain interest in working in a team?
– In our department, three principles are observed: "People and interaction are more important than processes and tools", "A working product is more important than exhaustive documentation", and "Readiness for change is more important than following the original plan". It is important for us that the results of our work are really needed and useful, and we do everything for this.

– At the beginning of the year, Vipservice announced the imminent launch of its own hotel aggregator, HotelStar system. This must be the third direction of development?

– Yes. In this territory, we accumulate a new expertise for us that is the management of hotel content. We carefully selected people and teams to get the best possible result. Of course, it is more difficult for us to attract the best specialists from the market: Vipservice is a non-core company for them. But we are very patient and persevering in our striving to show that we can be an interesting and promising employer. We hope that our success in this respect will be HotelStar – a project that will break the notion of Vipservice as just the "ticket service".

Flash interview
Irina Vasilieva, HotelStar Project Manager:

– Irina, you have a lot of experience in hotel development. How does HotelStar differ from other solutions on the market?
– Initially, our main task was to switch from outsource to in-house development and transfer all hotel bookings in the holding company online. We can say that we overfulfill the plan. We are not just getting an online tool that will satisfy the needs of both the travel agent and a large TMC company, but we also create our own inventory system for the professional management of direct contracts with hotels. This is the foundation for the development of the holding's new business: the offer of our own hotel content to our subagents and corporate clients.
– What advantages of HotelStar you would note first?
– Our team has a five-year expertise in the development of hotel online booking systems, therefore, all business processes from search to payment will be realized at the most efficient level in HotelStar.
– In your team, some of the employees work remotely from different cities of Russia. What do you have in common?
– The most pleasant feeling. The realization that in ten months we will launch a good high-tech hotel product and debunk the myth that own development is long, expensive, and inefficient.

– Has "Vipservice Laboratory" already deduced the formula of success?

– This formula is the only one, and it has not changed for many years: we promised everyone and ourselves to work so that we can be chosen with heart, and we keep our word. Blending in our "laboratory", new teams are imbued with this feeling. So it was with Portbilet, so it will be with HotelStar, and I'm sure it will be with all the new Vipservice projects.
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03.09.2018