What Should a Salesperson’s Job Be at a Charter Company?

The Short answer: Own revenue outcomes—not just quotes.

The Long answer: Redefine sales as a fast, insight-driven, tech-enabled role that fills buses profitably, grows repeat business, and keeps operations aligned.

The shift: From “order taker” to revenue strategist

Many charter sales teams still spend most of their week chasing emails, formatting quotes, and keying details into disconnected systems. That’s expensive busywork. In fact, sales reps today spend ~70% of their time on non-selling tasks, with quoting, data entry, and lead prioritization topping the list—these are all prime targets for automation. Salesforce

Your salesperson’s real job isn’t to push paper—it’s to create and capture demand at healthy margins while coordinating tightly with operations. Here’s what that looks like in practice.

The 8 core jobs of a modern charter salesperson

1) Win on speed-to-lead

Responding first often wins the trip. Companies that contact web leads within one hour are nearly 7× more likely to qualify than those that wait longer; after 24 hours, odds plummet. Set clear SLAs (e.g., <10 minutes) and use automation to acknowledge, route, and schedule follow-ups instantly. ResearchGate

2) Diagnose the trip, then design options

Ask the right discovery questions (date/time windows, passenger count, accessibility, itinerary constraints, special events) and turn them into two or three clear options (good/better/best). Options help buyers self-select and protect margin.

3) Price to win and to profit

Sales should partner with ops to protect yield, not just discount to close. Companies that transform pricing (discipline, data, governance) can lift revenue 2–4% and boost operating profit 30–60%—small percentage gains with big P&L impact for asset-heavy fleets. McKinsey & Company. Understanding that a 10% discount, something many sales teams wouldn’t raise an eyebrow at giving, may represent more than 50% of the total profit in a trip for even a high-performing company.

4) Point and click payments

Close while intent is high. Offer secure links, auto-reminders, and clear terms. Fewer steps, faster cash.

5) Protect the calendar with smart inventory use

6) Grow recurring revenue

New customers are great, but your biggest upside is repeat business. Many operators name referring revenue, upsells, and cross-sells… recurring revenue, upsells, and cross-sells as top growth drivers—because buyers are more likely to purchase when they feel understood.  Make account management a key component of sales teams’ jobs to ensure that you are maximizing opportunities with existing companies. Don’t forget to ask the core questions: “Do you have any other transportation needs that we may be able to help you with?”

7) Keep data clean (and full)

8) Forecast, communicate, and debrief

Weekly: what booked, what slipped, why? Share early warnings (driver constraints, event spikes) and feed lost-deal reasons back into pricing, messaging, and fleet planning. No surprises for ops—or for customers.

KPIs that matter (and what to do about them)

• Speed-to-lead & speed-to-quote: Minutes, not hours. Automate intake, templates, and approvals. ResearchGate

• Quote-to-book conversion: Track by segment (school, wedding, sports, corporate). Use option pricing and expiry dates.

• Average revenue per trip & margin: Tie pricing guidance to coach class, seasonality, and itinerary complexity. McKinsey & Company

• Repeat revenue %: Build simple account plans; schedule quarterly business reviews for top segments. Salesforce

• Pipeline accuracy: Keep deal stages and close dates honest; require loss reasons on every closed-lost.

• Cash velocity: Measure time from quote to deposit; remove steps that slow payment.

Where technology fits (and what to expect from it)

You don’t need more tabs—you need connected workflow. Modern sales teams consolidate tools, lean on automation, and are rapidly adopting AI where data is trustworthy. In the latest global survey, 81% of sales teams are investing in AI—primarily to improve data accuracy, personalization, and forecasting. Salesforce

How TBN helps your team sell more with less friction

• OpsDrive: Unify quoting, booking, and operations so sales sees real availability, accurate costs, and margin impacts—without rekeying.

• Payments: Embed deposits and payment links directly into the quote flow to accelerate cash.

• AI Investments: TBN is leading the charge towards an AI-driven workflow within your ERP software. Our vision of AI insights, data-driven decisions, AI BI, and even AI employee facilitation, will be the new frontier, and it’s coming sooner than you can imagine.

Result: your salesperson spends less time copying data and more time selling, pricing, and growing accounts—the parts only humans can do well at scale. Salesforce

Bottom line

A great charter salesperson isn’t a professional quoter—they’re a revenue strategist: fast to respond, smart on pricing, relentless about customer value, and fluent in the tools that eliminate busywork. When you align role, process, and tech, you don’t just book more trips—You book better, more profitable trips.

#TBNDrives #TheFutureIsHere