Two days after a group comes home, every traveler gets a WhatsApp thank-you with a public review link and a one-tap rating of the trip leader. Ratings and trip styles are saved in Google Sheets to target next season's departure announcements.
Typical results
≈60%
Travelers who rate their trip leader
2 days
After return, when the message goes out
≈2 hrs/wk
Saved on manual follow-ups in season
Figures reflect typical results for this kind of automation.
The challenge
Post-trip follow-up depends on the office remembering to send it, and in busy season it rarely happens. Only about 1 traveler in 20 leaves a public review, feedback on trip leaders arrives as scattered comments, and next season's departures are announced to the whole list, whatever kind of trip each person actually enjoys.
Before and after
Travelers who leave a public review
3×Trip leader ratings collected per 12-person departure
3.5×Hours per week on post-trip follow-ups
−80%The automation
Every morning Make checks the departures sheet in Google Sheets for groups that returned two days earlier. Each traveler gets a WhatsApp thank-you for the trip with a link to the public review page and a one-tap 1 to 5 rating of the trip leader. The rating is saved on the traveler's row with their trip style, such as hiking, cycling or food tours, so new departures are announced to the travelers most likely to book.
How it works
- 01
Return date reached
Each morning Make checks the departures sheet in Google Sheets for groups that came home two days earlier.
- 02
WhatsApp thank-you sent
Every traveler on that departure gets a WhatsApp thank-you that names the trip and links to the public review page.
- 03
One-tap leader rating
The same message asks for a 1 to 5 rating of the trip leader, answered with a single tap.
- 04
Rating and trip style saved
The rating is saved on the traveler's row next to their trip style, such as hiking, cycling or food tours.
- 05
Next season's audience
When new departures are announced, the list is filtered by trip style and rating, so each announcement reaches the travelers most likely to book.
Starts from
- Departures and return dates
Delivers
- Public review link
- Trip leader rating
- Travelers by trip style
The impact
Public reviews roughly triple, from about 5% of travelers to around 15%, because the request arrives while the trip is still fresh. About 60% of travelers rate their trip leader, giving the operator a clear score per leader, and the office saves around 2 hours a week of follow-ups in season.
Questions about this automation
Which review sites can the link point to?
Any public review page the operator chooses, such as Google, TripAdvisor or a booking platform. The link can differ by trip type or market, so a cycling tour can point to one listing and a food tour to another. A low leader rating can also alert the operations manager to follow up personally.
How is the trip style used for next season's announcements?
Each traveler's row records the styles of trips they have taken and the rating they gave. When the operator opens a new hiking departure, a filtered list of past hiking travelers, highest ratings first, is ready for the announcement, instead of sending the same message to everyone on file.
Do travelers need to opt in to WhatsApp messages?
Yes. Travelers need to have agreed to WhatsApp contact at booking, which most operators add as a checkbox on the booking form. Beyond that, the setup needs the departures sheet with return dates and phone numbers, the review links and the thank-you wording. Simple automations like this are usually live within days, starting with the next group home.