How we built RepBud — a sales companion for travel-trade reps.
RepBud is an intelligent, mobile-first sales companion for the people who sell travel to the trade. We built it because we had lived the problem — repping African properties to operators and agents out of a diary and a notebook.
Built for how the trade actually sells.
A general CRM is built for office sales — a desk, a pipeline, a forecast. A travel rep's week looks nothing like that: back-to-back meetings, a FAM trip through the bush, a trade-show floor, and a stack of follow-ups owed by Friday. Graeme built RepBud because he had lived exactly that, selling luxury safari to operators and agents, and the tools on the market did not fit the job.
The goal was a companion that meets a rep where they work — on their phone, between meetings — and helps them arrive prepared and leave with the follow-up already captured. Intelligent where it helps, and quiet the rest of the time.
The features, and why they earn their place.
A trade-shaped CRM
Meetings, familiarisation trips, trade-show conversations and follow-ups, logged the way a rep actually works — not an office pipeline bent into shape.
Intelligent meeting prep & recap
Help preparing for a meeting and capturing what was agreed afterwards. The intelligence assists the rep; it does not replace their judgement.
Roles for rep companies
Captain, First Officer and Cabin Director roles so a representation team can see its own sales activity in one view.
Membership cards & contacts
Apple Wallet boarding-pass-style RepBud membership cards, plus vCard sharing so a rep hands over their details in a tap.
Live billing, five tiers
Premium Economy, Business Class and First Class for individuals, plus Charter 5 and Charter 10 team plans — all billed live.
One product, three surfaces
Native iOS and Android apps with a parallel web dashboard, so managers work on a big screen and reps work on the move.
Live, in production, and earning its keep as our lab.
RepBud is live on the App Store and Google Play with live billing running across all five subscription tiers. It is a real product with real customers, not a demo — and it is also the place we test what a travel-sales team genuinely needs before we build bespoke tools for a client. When a representation company asks us to build them something, RepBud is why we can talk about the workflow rather than learn it.
RepBud is built as native iOS and Android apps with a shared web dashboard, hosted on a fast global edge network so it stays quick for reps working on hotel Wi-Fi or a patchy signal in the bush. Push notifications keep managers and teams in the loop, Apple Wallet passes carry the membership card, and the intelligent features are wired to help with preparation and recap without ever taking the decision out of the rep's hands. RepBud is designed to assist, not replace, your professional judgement.
Travel trade app development · App development · Sales & marketing representation · More of our work
RepBud, answered
Who builds apps for travel sales reps?
Charnette Labs built RepBud, an intelligent sales-companion app for travel-trade reps, and builds custom apps for representation companies and supplier sales teams. Its founder, Graeme Watson, spent nearly two decades selling luxury travel to the trade, so the app fits how reps actually work — meetings, FAM trips, trade-show conversations and follow-ups — rather than an office CRM retro-fitted to travel.
What is RepBud?
RepBud is a mobile-first sales companion for people who sell travel to the trade. It logs client interactions, helps prepare for meetings, captures what was agreed afterwards, and tracks trade relationships across the sales cycle. It runs on iOS, Android and the web, and is built and run by Charnette Labs. RepBud is designed to assist, not replace, the rep's professional judgement.
Is RepBud a CRM for travel reps?
RepBud is a CRM shaped around trade sales rather than a generic pipeline tool. It is organised around the rhythm of a travel rep's week — in-person meetings, familiarisation trips and trade-show floors — with team roles for representation companies and membership cards for sharing contacts. It is the kind of trade-shaped tool Charnette Labs also builds bespoke for individual clients.
Can Charnette Labs build a custom app like RepBud for our team?
Yes. RepBud is our own product and our proving ground, but the same team builds bespoke iOS and Android apps for representation companies, tour operators and supplier sales teams — trade portals, sales tools and product-showcase apps. Start a conversation at charnette.io/contact and see charnette.io/travel-trade-app-development.
An app that fits how your team sells.
RepBud is our own. The same hands build bespoke apps for representation companies and trade sales teams. Tell us how your team works.
hello@charnette.io