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Let me ask a question for your consideration: What Are You Worth?
Let me provide the answer for you: “It depends.”
The reason you have to give a less than precise answer regarding this question is simple: the value of any product or service is not entirely inherent in the product or service by itself. You cannot answer the question without asking about the context.
For example, consider a six night Western Caribbean cruise on Disney Cruise Line in March, inside cabin, for $1,296. Is that a good deal? What if you upgrade me to a balcony cabin for free? That cabin on the same cruise is listed for $2,490. Is it a good “deal” now?
Steve Jobs of Apple Computers once used the phrase “insanely great” as a way of describing his products, and it became an anthem for his vision of Apple’s brand. Go to any Apple store and look at the people crowding around, staring at the products, touching them, playing with computers, phones, and iPods, and listening to music. You won’t find that kind of zealous activity in the computer section at Best Buy…unless they are looking at the Apple computers. iPhone. iPad. iPod. iTunes. Their products are benchmarks, what all competing products compare themselves against and want to be. Read the rest of this entry »
“Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God.” ~ Kurt Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle.
You probably think of yourself as a travel agent, travel advisor, a travel counselor or a travel planner or some variation thereof. People entrust you with their vacations, their dreams, travel plans, their travel ambitions. You, in turn, access the tools at hand and make your clients’ dreams come true. Your tools are your experience, your relationships with suppliers, your sense of detail and customer service. Every now and then, however, maybe you glimpse that you are something more than a travel agent, counselor or planner. Sometimes you might just sense that you pass right over into the realm of the magician – that ability to transform travel from a trip into an experience. Read the rest of this entry »
Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated failures. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
~ Calvin Coolidge
All manner of personalities take on travel consulting. Those who remain in the business for more than a couple of years, however, share some common traits that serve to explain their ability to remain in place in an industry so challenging. As President Coolidge indicated, if you are not persistent, there is no other quality to take its place. Read the rest of this entry »
Travel consultants who build a successful and thriving clientele base think nearly constantly about marketing, often without labeling it “marketing.” It is important, however, to place marketing in its proper context. Marketing is not a hunger for client acquisition, a desperate rush of activity designed to make consumers notice your business. Rather, marketing is client-centric. Read the rest of this entry »
If you are a travel planner, marketing is by necessity your constant companion. Too often, however, travel professionals treat marketing like a hand tool that is pulled out of the box only when sales are “needed,” when business seems a little slow. But effective marketing is a mindset, a constant preoccupation for the successful travel professional intent on growing their business.
Marketing drives sales. The marketing you do today may not have an effect for weeks or even months. Business a bit quiet right now? Want this time next year to look better? It’s a good idea to begin marketing more thoughtfully and consistently. It is absolutely possible for you to enhance the arc of your travel practice by learning fundamental marketing strategies and tactics. However, the techniques you need to master are not “tricks” or clever negotiating. Read the rest of this entry »
I recently returned from a trip to Anchorage, and while I was there, I was struck by the local concern for the well-being of the indigenous community and local economies. I have seen those same concerns expressed to an even greater degree by native Hawaiian travel advocates. At a time when our planet and its cultures are as accessible as they are vulnerable, the importance of traveling responsibly has to be taken seriously. Read the rest of this entry »
“We cannot protect something we do not love, we cannot love what we do not know, and we cannot know what we do not see. Or hear. Or sense.”
~ Richard Louv
Non-profit organizations dedicated to conservation and animal welfare play a critical role in safeguarding our planet’s biodiversity. From protecting endangered species and their habitats to advocating for better animal welfare practices, these groups work tirelessly to ensure a healthier future for all living things. Here’s a closer look at some of the most respected organizations making a difference around the world. Read the rest of this entry »
We have previously discussed the need to train clients. Let’s revisit the discussion. It is not an exaggeration to indicate the success or failure of your travel business will depend on the extent to which you are capable of taking charge of your client relationships and professionally leading them into behavior conducive to traveling safely and well. Top travel professionals train their clients to be good clients. Training your client assists both you and the client to achieve optimal results from every travel planning effort. Read the rest of this entry »
One way top travel advisors stand out from the crowd is to develop a niche area of practice. Though we hear the advice to specialize, the concept of niche marketing is often misunderstood. Niche marketing is a way of helping you focus on locating new clients, not a set of restrictions on your business offerings. Niche marketing is not necessarily about gearing your entire business to a particular type of travel but rather about segmenting your marketing efforts to focus on particular groups of people. Many travel consultants avoid it as a concept out of fear of having to turn away business outside the chosen niche or being too closely identified with the niche. Properly executed, however, niche marketing is a terrific way of locating and marketing to a group of potential clients in a highly effective and cost-efficient manner. Read the rest of this entry »
We have noted a decided uptick in the number of actions being taken against travel advisors by “copyright trolls.” Copyright trolls are entities or individuals who scour the internet for the purpose of finding copyright infringements, no matter how slight. These predators primarily target unwitting breaches where images, music, or text have been used without proper permission or license. Once they’ve found a potential infringement, they swiftly send out legal threats or demands for licensing fees, often exorbitant in nature, preying on the fear of costly litigation to compel a quick settlement. Read the rest of this entry »
Public relations includes:
- media (articles about you),
- networking
- speaking opportunities,
- events; and
- writing (articles by you).
In each of these efforts, your personality is at the core of the marketing tactic. When the public reads an article about your agency, hears you speak, works with you at an event, or reads an article you have written, they engage you as an individual, not as a faceless company. That encounter is intensely personal and carries an authority that an advertisement cannot. People are trained to ignore advertising. They are equally well-trained to engage those in their presence. Read the rest of this entry »
I want to end this year by thanking our readers and sponsors for their support with one of my favorite columns.
Raise your right hand if you have ever had a problem client, the type of individual that made you reconsider your entire career as a travel professional. Keep your hands raised. Now, raise your left hand if you currently have a problem client. Even at this distance, I can see most of you have both hands in the air. Go ahead and lower your hands, you are going to need them to assist some of these clients to the door. Read the rest of this entry »
As a nation, we are a jaded lot. From Willy Loman to the used-auto hucksters in countless movies, the public in general holds sales people rather low on the scale of esteem. Indeed, most of the people you encounter are so afraid of being “sold” something that they refuse to speak with salespeople when they enter a store or walk onto a car lot. “I’m just looking” is used as the warding spell against the salesperson, and woe to the one who persists beyond that point.
Most travel consultants share this cultural bias against “sales.” Ironic, isn’t it?
While I am a proponent of the thoughtful use of “artificial intelligence” (AI), I understand and fully appreciate the concerns many have voiced regarding the training of AI on existing creative works. Critics of AI often raise charges of plagiarism and copyright violation because of the way in which AI integrates existing text, graphics, and art into its generative efforts. Read the rest of this entry »
“Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.” -Dalai Lama
In many ways, Thanksgiving is the greatest of holidays, a reminder of the debt of gratitude we owe to everyone and everything around us. It is always tempting to magnify our losses and minimize the ordinary, daily miracle. We long for big, outrageous fortunes and forget the small, mundane but truly astonishing gifts. One day of the year, however, is a reminder to contemplate the undeniably interdependent nature of our existence. How amazingly special is it when a client takes the time and effort to say “Thanks”? Being on the receiving or giving end of gratitude is a pretty special thing. Especially now.
Everything is connected. We don’t have to look far to find people and institutions deserving of our thanks. Every success we enjoy, every small achievement, is the result of an interplay of grace and circumstance.
Branding is a vitally important component of your overall business and marketing plan. A strong branding strategy ensures the public will clearly understand your company’s value proposition. Poorly implemented, however, a brand strategy can leave clients perplexed and unimpressed.
Every destination has its distinctive charm, hidden aspects, and traditions most travelers miss in the rush to check off the popular sites listed in travel guides. However, to travel is not merely to see but to experience, understand, and connect. Recommending “slow travel” to those of your clients open to suggestions is a great way of providing them with an alternative experience many will welcome. Here are a few ways to experience a destination in greater depth. Read the rest of this entry »
We have previously discussed the need to train clients. Let’s revisit the discussion. It is not an exaggeration to indicate the success or failure of your travel business will depend on the extent to which you are capable of taking charge of your client relationships and professionally leading them into behavior conducive to traveling safely and well.
Read the rest of this entry »
Just 11 more weeks and 2024 is here. I like both endings and beginnings, the opportunity to evaluate how the year has gone and the opportunity to plan for the next. I’m hoping you have begun to work on a business plan for next year. A business plan has the following two goals:
- the retention of existing clients; and,
- the acquisition of new clients.
Your existing clients are your base and represent your steady income. New clients represent growth and replace clients you may lose or fire along the way. Whatever steps we take in building a plan, we will want to ensure that we are acting to either retain desirable existing clients or acquire desirable new ones.
Read the rest of this entry »
I once had a travel professional take me to task because I provided them with an article in USA Today which also contained advertising for other travel programs. That would never do, she assured me, because like so many other papers and magazines, USA Today was “filled with travel advertising.” Likewise, many agents will not link to travel articles that include the contact information of hotels or tour operators.
I believe many travel professionals sometimes work with an over-broadly image of their competition because they have failed to properly define their customer base and their proper relationship to their clients. To these few, the landscape is filled with competition. This perspective is informed by the idea that the travel consultant is “selling” travel. That is what Travelocity does, just as suppliers do. They sell travel with few frills, often based on price alone. Read the rest of this entry »
