10 Ways for Travel Agents to Increase Revenue and
Competitive Advantage
By Carl Bennink, Ph.D.
This month, I am republishing one of the most popular issues of this newsletter. The majority of current subscribers have never seen it and the advice is as relevant today as it was two years ago.
I’ve learned over the years that one good idea at just the right time can really make a lot of difference and, hopefully, one or more of these will strike you in the same way.
Where did this collection of ideas come from?
They actually came from my discussions with travel agents facing challenges just like yours.
I’ve talked with a lot of travel agents about many different kinds of marketing issues. So, here are some of the problems, solutions, and helpful tips that have come out of those discussions.
1. Get an email address from every prospect and client that you can. Yes, email has its pluses and minuses but, today, it must be a part of your marketing program. Two good reasons:
a) You need to communicate with people in the channels that they use and, like it or not, email is one of those important channels.
b) Email is a lower-cost medium that enables you to communicate more often and in more creative ways to cultivate relationships with prospects and clients.
Action: Start religiously collecting email addresses from all prospects and clients. For those already in your database, update as many records as you can to include email addresses.
2. Build a website. Same principles as email. You have to meet people where they are and where they are is online – especially when it comes to travel.
A website also enables you to use relationship marketing strategies that would otherwise be too difficult or too costly to implement.
Action: If you don’t have a website, plan on developing one. However, when you do, be sure to ...
3. Use your website to support your overall marketing and CRM strategy.
Your strategy is not the same as an online agency like Expedia, Travelocity, etc. so don’t try to be like them. Use your website for things like pre-selling, collecting contact information, enhancing your post-booking service levels, cultivating loyalty, etc.
Action: Whether you currently have a website or are building one for the first time, make sure the design and content of your site supports implementation of your marketing plan.
If you don’t have a marketing plan to drive the development of your website, then that would be the first thing to develop. Otherwise, you could end up wasting a lot of time and money and wondering why your website isn’t paying off for you.
4. Get the gold out of your database. Most travel agents I talk with want to increase their sales and profits. While obtaining new clients is certainly an important way of achieving that objective, one of the most overlooked opportunities for generating more business is a database of existing prospects and clients.
Your CRM/database system should be more than a place to keep names, addresses and phone numbers. You should also be able to use your database to identify prospects and clients:
● with specific travel interests so that you can more effectively target promotions.
● according to where they are in the travel buying cycle so that your communications are timely.
● who are most deserving of your time and attention.
Action: Commit to doing more analysis of what is already in your database. Identify MVC’s (Most Valuable Clients) and MGC’s (Most Growable Clients). Develop planned sequences of regular communications with both groups to strengthen your relationships.
You can also classify everyone according to the “time since last cruise, vacation, etc.” How does the time interval compare to the average among your clients? For those who have traveled with you frequently, how does the time interval compare to their average? Is it time to call them? Will your contact come as a pleasant surprise or do you have a record of “keeping in touch”? (see next tip)
If you are not able to take the simple steps I just suggested, then your most important action item is to do something about your CRM/database so that you can.
5. Never stop communicating with prospects and clients (unless they want you to). Most of us understand that, to have healthy relationships in any other area of life, we need to communicate. Why is it that so many travel agents don’t apply this principle to their business?
If people are coming to you because of your ticket writing abilities, then maybe you don’t have to worry about communication all that much. However, if you want to relate to people as a “Trusted Travel Advisor” with special knowledge and expertise, then communication is a critical success factor.
Action: Set up a system for communicating regularly and effectively with prospects and clients.
6. Make sure your regular communications are interesting, relevant, and personal. So much of what gets sent out to prospects and clients is worthless. It’s like the stuff that appears in my mailbox every day from real estate agents, car dealers, and credit card companies – it doesn’t relate to anything I’m interested in, it’s promoting something I’m not looking to buy at the moment, and it all looks the same.
Action: Review every communications piece you have and ask yourself; “If I were a prospect or client receiving this, what would I do with it”? Be honest.
Awhile back, I received a mailing from a local travel agency. Underneath a clipart logo, the cover letter began:
Dear Friends and World Travelers,
We take great pleasure in enclosing a list of (Name of luxury cruise line withheld to avoid embarrassing them) voyages offering savings up to 50%!!!
Enclosed was an inventory list of cruises for that year.
And, this mailing was supposedly targeted toward luxury travelers who were “our valued clients”.
Not only was I not a client but the greeting didn’t make me feel too valued either.
Enough said. That leads to a related tip ...
6. Know your customers (prospects and clients). This should be a “no brainer”. However, I can tell you that, in general (maybe not in your case) lack of customer knowledge is what sabotages the marketing efforts of most travel agents. And, I’ve noticed this for years.
Everything we do in marketing should be done with the customer perspective in mind. But, it’s pretty hard to do that if you don’t know what their perspective is.
Action: Conduct an honest evaluation of how much you really know about those you are trying to market to. What are their values, plans, preferences, etc. How do they think? Why do they do business with you? What do they think you could do better? How could you help them improve their life using your special knowledge and expertise? What needs and desires could you connect to in your communications?
All of us can improve our customer knowledge. The best time to start doing it is now. The payoff will come quickly.
7. Engage the imagination and values of your customers. When you are communicating with prospects and clients about travel opportunities, what “hot buttons” and motives do you try to connect to? So much of what passes for marketing communications in travel seems to assume that the most important hot button in travel is price.
Why should that be? We sell some of the most exciting products in the world . The travel products and destinations you offer are not necessary for survival – they meet needs at a higher level. Your products, knowledge, and expertise help people thrive – get the most out of life, create memories, enrich their experience, refresh and renew their mind, body, and spirit, etc.
How great is that?
Yet, when I look at most travel marketing pieces, I find that they fail to connect with people at a deep enough level. Good grief, even Home Depot connects with my imagination more than some travel pieces I see.
Action: Don’t just tell people what you have for sale – tell them how it will improve their life. Don’t just tell people what you do – tell them how you can improve their life. Don’t just tell people about certain travel opportunities – tell them how specific opportunities relate to their values and plans.
Of course, its hard to do all that if you don’t know what their values, plans, and life are about (see tip #6).
8. Get out of the office. Many travel agents are more wedded to their offices (till death do us part) than to their spouses. There is something about an office –especially a brick and mortar storefront that just compels us to be there.
Yet, is that what your clients want? Is there a (maybe large) segment of your customers that would appreciate “house calls”. By offering to meet people wherever it is most convenient for them, you could set yourself apart from your competitors and take another step in cementing your relationships with prospects and clients.
Action: Find out which prospects and clients would appreciate your calling on them at home, in their office or place of business, etc. Always offer this option to those who meet your “Most desirable client” profile. Then, get out there!
9. Identify the greatest opportunity you have to “WOW” your client. Opportunities to differentiate ourselves from the competition are often right in front of our noses. However, we get too comfortable with our routines and processes to notice them.
Action: Examine your whole process of interacting with prospects and clients and ask yourself if there is some way you could go "above and beyond” to make your client experience exceptional.
10. Get expert help with your marketing efforts. This could be especially valuable if your marketing is not working as well as you think it should
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