Sales Development

WishTrip Case Study

Key Takeaways

• CIENCE guides clients through every step of the outbound journey, from the initial stages of outreach to delivering appointments. 

• Setting realistic expectations for clients and adapting to market changes ensures the greatest level of outbound success. 

• Providing flexible outbound solutions enables clients to reach new markets with effective strategies for future growth. 

About Client

WishTrip is a SaaS-based travel and tourism experience management platform that enables tourist destinations to play an active role in the travelers’ experiences. Its Smart Tourism Solution features essentials such as GPS navigation, digital maps, and interactive games that shape and influence visitors’ travels.

WishTrip’s platform includes a visitor mobile app and a suite of tools that help attract visitors and create new revenue opportunities for businesses. The elements of the platform can be customized to a variety of attractions and destinations to improve communications and access untapped visitor intelligence. 

WishTrip has been part of the Top 20 Travel Tech Companies worldwide and is among the Top 10 Hospitality and Travel Industry Startups and Innovators. It helps support industries such as parks, zoos, and tourist boards to attract visitors and keep them coming back to their destinations. 

Alexandra Benjamin

Director of Marketing

Industry

Leisure, Travel & Tourism

Website

www.wishtrip.com/

The Story of WishTrip

WishTrip is an Israel-based company that started with an idea from one of the founders who got lost on his travels using his GPS off-road. To enhance the navigation and create a seamless journey, he wanted to build a travel and destination app to give tourists the power to shape and influence their travels—without getting lost and more. 

WishTrip’s in-destination platform is unique in many ways: It includes detailed maps, precise on- and off-road GPS, instant translations, reservations, and dynamic crowdfunding—a scalable and affordable travel solution to enhance the visitor’s experience. Its smartphone app helps travelers seamlessly navigate sites, find information, and record their trips.

WishTrip successfully launched in several European countries but was looking to expand into the U.S. market. They initially wanted to target national parks and then expand into destinations like zoos and aquariums. They also hoped to grow market share in the U.S. by offering free pilot trials of their self-service platform.

Although WishTrip had built some traction with an internal team, it needed an outsourced group capable of reaching out to the right audience and increasing brand awareness. They also wanted to speed up the sales cycle to go to market faster. WishTrip looked to CIENCE’s expertise in outbound to help them achieve these goals. 

Challenges & Scope

Breaking into a new market is tough for any business. WishTrip experienced that firsthand when they entered the U.S. market with their travel and tourism management platform. Because the U.S. was a new region, WishTrip realized it needed additional outbound support and resources to find qualified leads for its products and services.

Challenges

As a start-up, WishTrip was already doing well in Israel and some European countries but wanted to expand quickly into the U.S. But when they initially started their outreach, they realized brand awareness was another challenge they would need to overcome to reach the target audience.

Need

WishTrip was already doing inbound marketing but had not seen much of an impact or return on investment (ROI). It was essential to have an experienced outbound team that could utilize sales intelligence and data analysis to tap into the U.S. market. The best bet was to find the right partner to establish outreach strategies to move growth initiatives forward. 

Opportunity

CIENCE had the expertise to provide innovative outbound solutions to reach WishTrip’s ideal customers. The team would also be able to offer customized outreach strategies to meet business objectives. CIENCE could then reach out to previously untapped markets to boost brand awareness and attract more prospects. 

Why CIENCE?

CIENCE was able to fulfill WishTrip’s expectations and exceed the goals they set from the start of the campaign. To ensure the right outbound strategies were in place, CIENCE began with a research phase that tested out WishTrip’s desired approach to outbound. 

The results of the data research CIENCE presented to WishTrip became the driving force behind the campaign. “We came out of this phase with an understanding that the process needed to change in order for us to achieve the lead generation goals,” said Alexandra Benjamin, director of marketing at WishTrip. 

“After the required adjustments, they looked for appropriate leads and made sure that the leads gathered were not already part of our database,” said Benjamin. 

The CIENCE team was then able to use precise data analysis to implement the most efficient outbound strategies to attract the right prospects, set more appointments, and shorten the sales cycle.

Results

The CIENCE team adapted seamlessly to the client’s needs, allowing for a greater collaborative experience. During a five-month period, CIENCE was able to land more than thirty appointments with a response ratio of 2:1 (positive/neutral to negative). The team achieved more than a 30% email open rate, which is an industry high for an email campaign.

CIENCE’s multichannel approach to outbound included cadences with phone calls and automated emails to qualified leads, a combination that worked well for WishTrip. “We received weekly reports of contacts as well as recordings of the phone calls that they made,” said Alexandra Benjamin. “They also regularly informed us about our open rate and click-through rate.” 

CIENCE was able to clearly identify the target market for WishTrip. “We knew at the beginning of the partnership that we needed to be at the top of the game and put a little extra effort in to make sure that WishTrip was able to achieve their goals with us,” said Peter Calcagno, sales development manager at CIENCE.

Partnership Success

By helping WishTrip align its goals and adapt to market changes, CIENCE was able to transform this relationship into a fruitful one. “It was a unique experience for the CIENCE team to work with an international start-up like WishTrip,” said Peter Calcagno. “We provided them with quality services, as is our culture here at CIENCE.” 

During the partnership, CIENCE became an extension of the WishTrip team. “The CIENCE team has been excellent,” said Alexandra Benjamin. “They’re always responsive and willing to try things with us. When we don’t see the results we’re hoping for, they don’t shy away from making recommendations.” 

Setting realistic expectations and goals for WishTrip was also critical for campaign success. “It has to be an equal relationship in any business partnership,” said Peter Calcagno. “You have to be realistic and say no when you see that a strategy is not correct. But it should be done in a way that is informed and justified.”

“What stands out about CIENCE is their responsiveness and flexibility to our needs,” said Alexandra Benjamin. “They always reply quickly and comprehensively, and they’ve maintained that despite difficult real-world conditions.” 

With CIENCE’s expert guidance, WishTrip was able to make great strides toward introducing its unique tourism experience platform to a promising new market.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many appointments did WishTrip book with CIENCE?

During a five-month engagement, CIENCE secured more than 30 appointments for WishTrip in the U.S. market. The campaign also achieved a response ratio of 2:1 positive or neutral to negative, indicating strong prospect receptivity to the outreach.

What results did WishTrip achieve with CIENCE’s outbound program?

WishTrip achieved a 30%+ email open rate, an above-industry-average result, along with 30+ booked appointments in five months. CIENCE’s data-driven outreach helped WishTrip establish brand awareness in a new geographic market and shorten its sales cycle.

Why did WishTrip choose CIENCE for U.S. market entry?

WishTrip needed an experienced outbound partner to reach U.S. prospects in the travel and tourism sector — specifically national parks, zoos, and aquariums. CIENCE offered customized outreach strategies, sales intelligence, and data analysis capabilities that WishTrip’s internal team lacked for entering a new region.

How did CIENCE adapt its strategy for WishTrip during the campaign?

CIENCE began with a research phase that tested WishTrip’s initial outbound approach. After analyzing the data, the team identified that the process needed adjustment to hit lead generation goals. CIENCE refined targeting criteria, deduplicated leads against WishTrip’s existing database, and implemented updated outreach sequences to improve performance.

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