THE HOW-T

TRAVEL AGENTO MAGAZINE FOR ICs, OSRs & HOME-BASED TRAVEL AGENTS

AN SMP TRAINING PUBLICATION

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Sellin

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Tips, Tools & Techni

APRIL 2014

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4 EDITORIAL

Selling travel from home doesnot have to be a puzzle when you

read IC! Find the host agencythat best suits your needs.

Share your money making ideasin IC and help your IC colleagues.

CONTACTSteve Crowhurst

steve@ic-travelagent.com250-738-0064

www.ic-travelagent.com

Publisher:SMP Training Co.

www.smptraining.com

ContributorsSteve Crowhurst

IC TRAVEL AGENT is owned and publishedby Steve Crowhurst, SMP Training Co. AllRights Reserved. Protected byInternational Copyright Law. IC TRAVELAGENT can be shared, forwarded, cut andpasted but not sold, resold or in any waymonetized. Using any images or contentfrom IC TRAVEL AGENT must be sourced asfollows: “Copyright SMP Training Co.www.smptraining.com” SMP Training Co.568 Country Club Drive, Qualicum Beach,BC, Canada, V9K-1G1 Note: SteveCrowhurst is not responsible for outcomesbased on how you interpret or use theideas in IC TRAVEL AGENT.T: 250-738-0064.

6 SELLING SUMMER

9 SELLING THE SIZZLE

10 YOU CAN’T SIZZLE IF YOU…

11 BEACH AND… VACATIONS

12 IT’S A SHADY BUSINESS

13 SELLING SUMMER KOOL

13 THE BIRTHDAY WISH

14 FISHING FOR THAT PERFECT SUMMER TRAVEL EXPERIENCE Steve Gillick

17 SUMMER BAD

18 SECRET SELLING SAUCE

19 STRIKE ZONE FOCUS Cory Andrichuk

21 AHA! SO THAT’S WHY!

24 WHAT DO YOU DO WITH…

25 HEY, WHAT’S UP CHOC?

26 CALL YOUR TRAVEL AGENT

28 QUICK TIPS

30 TRAINING PAGE

31 SELLING ANCILLARIES

32 NEW TOOLS

36 SELLING TRAVEL WITH STEVE

Advertisers in this issue: Nexion Canada Page 3, The Travel Agent Next Door Page 5,The Travel Agent’s Store Page 20, The Travel Institute Page 34, Big Bark Graphics Page 37

TABLE OF CONTENTS – IC APRIL 2014

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MENTION THAT YOU SAW US IN IC AGENT MAGAZINE AND RECEIVE YOUR FIRST MONTH FREE!

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Selling Summer & Sizzlin’ Sales

With red hair and a fair skin you’ll know that I have to dodge from one tree shade to another and

many times with a towel around each foot just like in the movie Arthur! You’d have to buy me a

ticket to the museum and pick me up after dark! Unlike me there are many millions of people

who can take the heat and love it and those sun lovin’ clients, regardless of how winter came and

went are always a summer season target audience. As the saying goes, so many beaches, so little

time!

In this issue of IC-TA we’ll explore how to sell the summer heat, turn up the heat, sell some really

cool or kool vacations for people like me who want to head to the cooler and higher areas of a

hot destination - and if you’re up for it, you can even flog the sunscreen too. Hey why not? Money

is money. Okay, no sunscreen – how about swim wear? Aw come on. We’re talking selling

summer, chillin’ out, heating up, cookin’ up a storm and cooling down. Relax and sell something

different. Here we go.

See you inside. Look for me under the palm tree.

Don’t forget to check out the new titles at The Travel Agent’s Store.

Here’s to your continued success!

Best regards.

Steve Crowhurst, CTC

steve@ic-travelagent.com

www.ic-travelagent.com

Steve Crowhurst, CTC, Publisher

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Selling SummerOh summer! What a great season to sell and right about now. April is a great month for

promoting summer travel. Most people around the globe are coming off a winter that by all

accounts was terrible with way too much snow, freezing temperatures that wouldn’t quit and

floods and in other parts of the world drought and wild fires. What can you say but “Hey! Time

to chill out. Take some time. Regroup. Relax. Take a vacation.” So, are you working on your

Summer Selling Promotion? Do you have your destinations selected? How about your tour

products? Are YOU planning to lead your own tours anywhere? Let’s sell some sizzle.

There is sometimes a misnomer that people in

general will hang locally and not bother to go

travelling during the summer months. That

statement is part true, depending on where you

live, how nice the summer months are, and the

people who choose to stay put.

I’ve listened to those

reports. My take on the

world of travel is that

there is always someone

that has saved up to go

somewhere, every day of

the year. Travel is too

personal to lump

everyone together into

the “They won’t travel in

summer…” box. Nope.

You have to have faith in

the fact that the lives of

your client’s are much the

same as yours – you need

a break and so do they.

You have your dreams and so do they. In my

book that means there’s travel to be sold each

day every day.

Beaches Are More Than WinterOf course if where you live your winters are

harsh, then many of your clients will be booking

those beach vacations to soak up the sun, whilst

those at home are freezing their tails off. There

are beach vacations that also sell in the summer

and there’s also a clientele for this mid-year

product.

The decision is: which summer beach and

where? Many of those winter destinations are

actually year-round destinations as their climate

stays more or less even throughout the year.

What drives tourists there in the wintertime is

the weather at home. So, you can still sell Hawaii

and Mexico and the

Caribbean during summer.

The European SceneAs you know Europe as a

whole has more than a

splendid coast line

complete with stunning

beaches and hidden coves.

Then not far away would

be fabulous cuisine and

historical everything. Do

your due diligence and

explore online for the top

ten European beaches, or

explore what your

preferred suppliers are

offering this summer in Europe.

Summer LuxuryIf you have the clientele with those deep pockets

then there’s luxury travel to be had – and that

means anywhere in the world during the

summer months. So what type of luxury travel

can be had during the summer? Let’s talk safaris

as in Glamping, or river cruising in Europe, China

and elsewhere. You name it there’s a luxury

version of it.

What’s On the Summer Travel Menu?No doubt you have your niche to sell and that’s

probably what’s on the travel menu you provide

your client base. Whether you are 100% general

or 100% niche, it will be your marketing of a

summer vacation that attracts your existing and

new prospects to contact you.

If you know your products and you know your

suppliers and the destinations you intend to

push then all you have to do now is focus on the

wording and imagery to be used in your

marketing campaign/s. Remember sunsets and

sunrises still pull no matter which destination or

type of travel you are marketing.

Use Your Facebook CoverYou know how to use your Facebook cover image

but the question is: are you changing it to suit

your current promotion? Excellent! Well now is

the time to use it and push your summer

campaign to your Facebook pals.

Link your post to your website where your clients

can find more information about your summer

vacation ideas.

Turn Your Website Home Page Into…Like your Facebook page, your website

homepage offers you huge screen real estate on

which to create your summer extravaganza.

Think about those screen sizes that your clients

look at each day… let’s focus on those 20”

desktop screens, then the 17” laptops and

eventually you can drill down to those small

smartphone screens too. But let’s stick with the

large screens. Time to fill that 20 inch screen with

a something screamin’ SUMMER!

What does your homepage look like about now?

Is it jam packed with loads of small hyperlinked

images? Too cluttered? Okay make a change.

Can you make the change? Could you drive your

clients to your website and when they get there,

land there, click there – would be WOWed with

your slogan, the image, the offer?

What’s Your Supplier Saying?Your suppliers pay a lot of money to have an

internal or external team develop their slogans

and phrases. If you are selling their products you

can, with permission, use their slogans too.

Some slogans are reserved purely for your

supplier’s promotions however the non-

trademarked slogans they will allow you to use

as long as you adhere to their graphic

specifications.

Look through the ads of your preferred suppliers

and if there is a slogan there that is catchy and

suits your promotion of that suppliers products

then ask for the high resolution image.

The Sum of All TweetsWhy not? Tweet your best summer vacation

images, quotes, deals. Start a Sweet Tweet

Summer Suite promotion. It’s all words. Just

words. Make them catchy and things catch on.

Ask your host agency for help here too. They

have marketing gurus that are at your service.

Generational GraphicsWho is your client? Do you serve all generations

or are you focused on one – the Baby Boomer or

Generations X or Y? You may wish to choose your

graphics and create your promotions based on

the type of words and images that appeal to your

clients.

It’s a fine art. You do not want to come across as

trying to be younger or older than you are. You

don’t need to try and fit in. There will be a time

to use some ole hokey expression from the 50s

and the same applies to text messaging

abbreviation – you don’t want to be seen

stringing a line of abbreviations one after the

other! But you could use:

A3 meaning Anywhere, Anyplace, Anytime.

Humour Is GoodGood humour is good. Not jokes, but humour.

It’s worthwhile studying the difference.

Videos are GREAT!Everyone is watching videos. Different genre for

different generations. Why not source your

supplier’s best videos and use those in a social

media marketing sense.

Great summer scenery: vineyards, beaches and

bodies, horseback riding, running through

waves, dances with others, river cruising,

touring, eco-tours and adventurous activities…

they all fit somewhere. All you have to do it point

your clients towards your video channel.

Summer is All Things to All PeopleThere you have it. A summer vacation has

different meaning to each and every person on

your client list. Look for groups with a common

summer interest – could be outdoors, up the

Amazon or heading off to Rome. Ask your client’s

what they intend to do this summer for their

vacation. It’s the only way to know for sure.

Selling The SizzleThis phrase is as old as dirt – but, still valid and a wonderful term to lock away in your head

and bring it forward as and when you are in a sales situation. What it means of course is to

make sure you are talking about the things that are or would be attractive to your client. So

attractive that they are eager to buy the travel experience from you now, today. Let’s explore:

Okay, think about the game, be out in the park,

near a camp fire, walking past a

street vendor and suddenly

the aroma of hot dogs and

onions comes zipping past

your nose… MMM!

Then there’s that steak on

the Barbie - and not only the

aroma but the sound of it

cooking. The sizzling sound

that suggests one very tasty

meal coming to your table

any minute now.

The phrase sell the sizzle not

the steak is what we’re

focusing on. In other words,

sell the benefits not the

features. You know all about that

steak in terms of what it is and where to buy it

and how to cook it. You also know that it’s very,

very tasty… AND it satisfies your hunger. Those

two comments are the key benefits. That’s the

sizzle you are selling. So let’s equate all this to

selling hot and sizzlin’ summer vacations.

What’s HOT and on the Summer Menu?First stop is to search online for THE WORLD’S

BEST… and then you can fill in the blank with the

words: beaches, surfing, scuba, with night life

and then when you check the results of your

search you can check with your preferred

suppliers to determine if they feature that

specific destination.

When it’s time to market your chosen SIZZLIN’

vacation spot then you’ll be searching for those

words that will have your clients salivating over

what you are cooking up for their

vacation.

When To Sell The SteakNow we switch menus for

a moment. When you

have clients who are

beach lovers and enjoy all

things sun related – then

they are savvy to the

benefits of anything you

are going to tell them

about. What you do now

is promote the features of

the “steak”.

So, this resort has a larger

swimming pool, they have 5

more night clubs than other similar resorts. The

golf course is one of the top courses in the area.

You see that in reviewing these types of features,

a savvy client would be picturing the benefits in

their mind. They know what a larger pool means

to them, same thing for the choice of night clubs

on the property and so on.

Adding The Secret SauceEvery top salesperson has a secret sauce or an

ingredient that puts them ahead of the rest.

What will yours be when it comes to selling the

summer sizzle? Do you know the features and

benefits of your top summer destinations,

products and packages? If you do, now you can

work on your sizzlin’ sales pitch for selling those

benefits and then – for those savvy clients – reel

off those extra special features. Be HOT! Sell

HOT!

You Can’t Sizzle if you…That’s right. No sale no sizzle. No sizzle no sale. If you’re not sizzling then is might just be down

to lead generation plus the question of what your marketing is doing to drive the leads you

need. You can’t sizzle if no leads are being generated. You have three lead generators based

on the marketing activities of yourself, your host agency and your preferred suppliers. Those

are the three sources that shake the world around you – then it’s up to you to secure those

leads and waltz them to a sizzlin’ close. Let’s take a closer look:

There’s your three sources of lead generation

and they should be on fire each day every day.

Of course you’ll have your own marketing plan

and before you commit to it, make sure you have

made notes as to when your host agency has

their marketing planned. Then review your

suppliers to see what they are doing, followed by

any collaboration between your host agency and

those same preferred suppliers.

That is a lot of marketing activity and your job is

to channel every lead you can to your email,

phone or website which in turn will route your

prospects and leads back to your email or phone.

You can sizzle if you have those incoming leads.

The main thing you can do is to put yourself in

the way of the prospect and in your own

marketing promote:

“Hey… over here! I’m the best travel agent

in town! I can get you there from here!”

Whenever you see a supplier’s promotion that

you like and it’s a product you sell, then that’s

when you market yourself as the main booking

engine, the place where that promotion can be

discussed and booked. You cannot propose to be

or represent that supplier, but you can sell it as

an agent of record.

To sell and sizzle at the same time means to turn

every marketing opportunity in your direction.

Pitch yourself, join in on host agency marketing

and support your preferred supplier marketing

and you will indeed attract some sizzlin’ leads to

close.

Beach and… VacationsThe beach vacation is one component of many combo styled vacations. A combo vacation is

when your clients want to add something else to their beach holiday – something extra to do,

to experience after lazing on the beach. You can also structure your own selection of BEACH

AND… combinations and market them locally to ready-made groups, associations and common

interest clubs. Here’s a few ideas for you to think on and develop your own programs.

Okay, thinking caps on. What can you combo up

with a beach vacation? That’s the puzzle we

need to solve when your client hits the ESCAPE

key. They want something more than sun, sand

and sea. And it looks like you found it: GOLF.

Yes golf actually goes with

most vacations and for sure

a beach vacation. Do many

beach resorts offer a golf

club?

Yes they do

and for sure you

can arrange the full

package for your clients.

Okay what else?

Are you thinking other sports? Right on the

money. Scuba, hiking and para-gliding could fit.

Then we still need factor in a nice air-conditioned

activity for those that cannot take the sun day-in

and day-out. Are you with me? Yes of course

SHOPPING – an air-condition activity!

Did anyone think food? Wine? Sushi? Cheese

sarnies? Come on now… food after the beach is

a gimme. Keep going… how about sightseeing

and flightseeing and if your clients are heading

to Hawaii then for sure it’s a trip to the top of the

volcanoes and bike down. If Mexico then it’s

atop the ruins they go.

Now if you’ve managed to sell your clients on a

European beach vacation then you might add a

side trip to Monaco or Rome or Paris.

So many combinations to add to a beach

vacation – about 200 activities in fact. Perhaps

start here: what do you like to do pre and post

lazing on the beach?

It’s a Shady BusinessSo what do you do when your clients are all sun lovers and

then there’s the odd one in the group who is not the black

sheep, more the white, the pink and the delicate one! YUP…

just like me! Remember in the editorial I mentioned finding me

under the shade of a tree, well here ya go! That’s me under

one of those very large whateveritis plants! So how do you sell

shade when it’s full on summer? Let’s explore:

Believe it or not shady vacations go hand in glove with sun, sand and

beach vacations. Let’s say you have a family heading off to a beach

vacation. They will for sure at some point in their stay need to protect

their kids from the sun’s rays and fill the time with something exciting.

That’s where your knowledge of shady vacation opportunities comes

into play. Talking inside entertainment for the whole family.

DMOZ.OGThe Open Directory Project is a fascinating thing.

Find out all about it here at DMOZ.ORG and

before you do that, click the link below to review

the list of museums that might fit into a post

beach visit.

http://www.dmoz.org/Reference/Museums/Dir

ectories/

ART MuseumsHere’s a terrific site for… well you guessed it!

ART! Kids live art and you can always check for

hands-on kids programs.

http://www.artcyclopedia.com/museums.html

What Else Can You Suggest?How about KIDZANIA? It’s one of the hottest

(our selling theme) entertainment companies to

come along for some time. Watch the video and

you’ll get the message. They are not everywhere

yet, but they soon will be.

Thinking ShadeOkay over to you. Where can you find shade for

your sun loving clients? Must be inside a building

or could be inside a forest on a day long eco

adventure. Then you have techie, all things

smart centers too. Check with your clients. Ask

about their shady preferences and surprise them

with your knowledge.

Selling Summer KoolEveryone has their own ideas about what a summer vacation is all about. Some head back to

the local beach, others go for a beach far away on a distant shore, cycling through Europe

sounds good especially with a cool one after the peddling. Then there are vacations that can

truly fit the summer fare and on the kool scale reach a 10. Let’s chill out and check in.

The Word KoolKool actually means cool as in not hot and also

great, different, interesting. Kool is often used in

marketing slogans to attract by spelling the word

cool with a ‘k’.

Where is it Kool to Visit?Every traveller has their own definition of kool

places to visit – but then, many do not have an

idea of where to go next. All they know is they

want something different.

Others actually want it cool as in low heat and

they want to mix that in with an adventure or a

more cerebral type of vacation.

Off the Cliff Monasteries to OperaPlaces that are cool and kool might be those

ancient places of worship that are built into and

on top of cliffs and mountains. You can find them

in Europe and Asia. Then there would be those

fabulous, ornate opera houses found in Eastern

Europe and elsewhere.

Our Summer Their WinterCheck your world map and seasonality charts to

find out when it is winter there as opposed to

where you live when it is summer. Generally it

would be on the opposite side of the planet to

where you live. Some countries experience

wonderful climates during “our summer” and

offer cool, crisp, clear vistas to enjoy.

For some countries your opposite would be

Australia and New Zealand and what wonderful

and different scenery they offer. You can even go

north in those countries to be cooler!

Go High, Go North, Be CoolNorth of the Equator, above 45° or 60°

depending on the season of the selected country

and you’ll be experiencing both cool and kool. If

you have not yet sold ice-bound vacations, give

it a try. Not talking the North Pole, but to visit

Inuit villages on a tour for instance and to view

the wild life of the north is very, very kool.

The Top TenThere is always a top ten. Most travel magazines

generate a top ten of all things travel from

cruises, to tours and everything in between and

that includes countries, inns, vineyards, treks –

you name it, there’s a top ten list. Your next click

then is to search online for the Top Ten of

whatever it is that you would like to sell this

summer that would be kool for your clients.

The Cool Travel Club

Here’s an idea for you: start a travel club for

people like me who cannot take the heat. Be

cool. Travel cool. Go to kool places. Start

KoolTravel.com. Now that’s a kool idea!

Fishing for ThatPerfect Summer Travel Experience

When I was asked to write an article with something about ‘fish’ in the title, I agreed to do it (just forthe halibut) but found it to be a challenge. Then I remembered the quintessential summer lyric,dreamily sung by Ella Fitzgerald and many others. The 7th word in the classic “Summertime” is ‘fish’:Summertime, and the livin' is easy, Fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high. There are lessons in fishingthat relate to travellers and their secret summer desires, much like a horoscope that reveals their travelpersonality.

Let me begin by suggesting that I am NOT afishing fanatic. In fact the last time I went fishingwas on a sunset cruise in the Maldives 8 yearsago and I don’t believe anyone on the boatcaught anything… but the scenery was pretty.The time before that was when I was a kid andwe went fishing just north of Toronto. After 5hours of listening to my transistor radio, as wellas coaxing, hoping, wishing, spotting andcursing, not one fish took the bait.

Now I haven’t given up on fish altogether. WhenI embraced the three graces of travel,photography and writing, I discovered the joy ofvisiting seafood markets. The vendors were hardworking but almost always friendly when askedabout their products. And then there was thefresh smell of the seafood (which admittedlysome people can’t stand, but I happen to love),and the colourful displays, especially in Asianmarkets, where the produce is arranged withartistic symmetry and pride.

I think about the fish market in Kota Kinabalu,Malaysia. I was there on a travel agent “Fam”trip and was told that the market opened at 5:30am—cool, pitch dark, and a 15-20 minute walkfrom the hotel. But I was there to discover and

experience so the first morning I wandered therealone. The vendors were friendly, smiling,posing for photos, explaining their catches,working hard in footgear that ranged from thigh-high rubber boots to simple broken plasticthong-sandals. But this was their livelihood andas the sun rose and the crowds of locals grew,there were times when I just had to put away thecamera and appreciate the ‘spirit’ of the market.

And I can say that the same holds true in Tokyo’sfamous Tsukiji fish market or Shimonoseki’s‘fugu’ (poisonous blow fish) market or variousfish markets in Thailand, Turkey, Sri Lanka,Colombia, Panama, Chile or Ireland. And this isnot to forget markets closer to home: GranvilleIsland market in Vancouver, and the Market inSeattle, Washington where tossing large slipperyfish from one end of the market stall to the otherend has become one of those legendary fishmarket ‘must sees’.

Not that we want to classify travellers…but withsome imagination, humour and the prospect ofsummer getaways, we can enjoy a bit ofpsychographic (the study of why people dothings) license.

Summer Traveller Types mixed with a bit of aqueous humour…

GUEST ARTICLE BYSTEVE GILLICK

The HalibutTravel Theme: Summer Time and Living is Easy…Travel Image: Lazily fishing by the creek on a hotsummer day, wearing a straw hat tilted over theeyes, chewing on a piece of straw, dipping thefishing rod into the creek and waiting for a bite.Travel Type: Laissez-faire, let everything unwindas it will. Traveller does not want to be scheduledto death. Needs lots of free time. TravelCommunication: This is your text/twitter-communicating client who will decide thisafternoon that he/she needs a travel add-ontomorrow and will want you to arrange it. Thisclient is long term; wants you to takecare of details but only as requested.Travel Accommodation: Prefers smallintimate hotels.

The MarlinTravel Theme: SummerTime and the Fish areJumping… TravelImage: Deep sea fishingadventures with thewind blowing in his/herface, strapped into the‘fighting chair’ with rod bentover and reel spinning as a blue-fin Tunaflies out of the water. Travel Type:Adventure, independent, DIY, throwcaution to the wind, do it for the bragging rights.Travel Communication: This client prefersemail—the less contact, the better. Whensomething goes wrong he/she will just ‘fix’ it andtell you about it later. Once you interview theclient and create their CRM profile, don’t ask thesame questions again. Travel Accommodation:Prefers small hotels, will not tolerate masstourism but ensure that the hotel bar is fullystocked.

The FlounderTravel Theme: Summer Time and the Sounds ofSilence. Travel Image: Standing hip-deep in ariver, wearing waders, and casting your flyfishing line into the water again and again. Theemphasis is on peace, quiet, fresh air, the rippleof the water, the sounds of nature. Travel Type:Outdoors, walker, hiker, trekker. The personwho appreciates at least one day on a holidaythat is off the beaten track—communing withnature—and recording their peace and quietwith photographs and even writing. Travel

Communication: This is your Blog or Facebookclient who likes to record and relate things indetail. They are likely to book a customizedpackage tour where at least one day can includea get-away-from-it-all activity. TravelAccommodation: Hotels/ Resorts/ B & B’s arenot really an issue as long as there are people tomeet.

The GrouperTravel Theme: Summer Time with So Much to doand So Little Time to Do It. Travel Image: Fishmarkets, temples, attractions, restaurants,shopping, beaches & tours. This is a busyitinerary for a busy person who likes to do and

see. Travel Type: Likes to have fun, prefersto have someone else do the

organizing and scheduling. Hasno issue with group tours as

long as the itinerary takesin everything and thecoach or waterway

cruise allows plenty oftime to see and do. Travel

Communication: This is yourselfie-photo person. He/she is on

Instagram, Pinterest and Flickr.Probably also on Facebook and Twitter,

as communicating everything possible toeveryone at every possible moment is veryimportant. Travel Accommodation: Allinclusives are great, as you can have choice, trydifferent foods, eat quickly and get back to youractivities.

The SardineTravel Theme: Summer Time and I Hate Fishingaka Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of SummerTravel Image: Slathered in sun protection, lyingon a beach, lazing under a beach umbrella,sipping sweet summer drinks from a straw(paper umbrella in drink, of course). Travel Type:All-inclusives, package holiday veteran. Wakesup early, reserves 5 lounge chairs with towels,then goes back to sleep and eventually returnsto pool or beach after breakfast, 3 hours later.Enjoys watching hotel activities, the buzz oftalkative hotel patrons and the eveningentertainment. Travel Communication:Telephone and in-person. Attitude is ‘show mewhat’s available at my price point and send methere’. Thank you. That’s All. TravelAccommodation: All-inclusive but great

potential for upselling—appreciate the value ofspending more to experience enhancedconvenience—and also cross-selling—willing totry new destinations and new resorts as long asquality and value are not compromised.

The Angel FishTravel Theme: Three Little Fishies in an Itty BittyPool (in the summer time). Travel Image:Parent(s) and Kids(s) loaded down withluggage, wearing sunglasses, shorts andsandals in the departing airport andtalking incessantly about whatactivities they will sign up for.Travel Type: Family Traveller.Everything is for the kids. Hotelstaff better be kid-friendly andshow it.Travel Communication:Before the trip: in-personand telephone. During thetrip: Emails, texting andcollect phone Calls. Afterthe Trip: Letters. TravelAccommodation:Family-oriented all-inclusives are perfectbut will accept other ideas aslong as there are tons of kid-orientedactivities available (and some for the adults too).Menu choices have to be kid-friendly. There’s nosuch thing as too many hamburgers and fish andchips.

The CarpTravel Theme: Summer Time and “I Want it MyWay”. Travel Image: Arguing on arrival with

customs, lecturing the taxi driver, fighting for abetter room at the resort, complaining about theair conditioning, grumbling about thetemperature of the pool, criticizing the food,whining about the wine selection….you get theidea. Travel Type: Professional AngerManagement Candidate. Mouth is almostalways open wide, permanent frown on face,eyes say “go away”, but absolutely loves to travelas often as possible. Travel Communication:Everything that gets the message across. Lettersto the manager, letters to the airline president,letters to you and your supervisor, letters to thetourist board, blogs, Trip Advisor review. TravelAccommodation: Mostly all-inclusives but will

try anything once. The attitude is thateverything is fair game for a

complaint so why notexperience it to add tothe inventory of ‘don’tlike this”

The advent ofsummertime travel

brings out all sorts oftravel types and this is

just one fun way toappreciate them.

Segmenting your market andunderstanding that each and every person hastheir own travel wants and desires is veryimportant… as is maintaining a sense ofdedication to responding to your client’s needs,and maintaining a sense of compassion mixedwith humour in working with those clients.

Fishing forsummer

clients…

Summer BADIt’s summer. People heading off to the beach. They don’t

need anyone waving an insurance brochure in their face.

What can happen? The family are all healthy. Never had

a problem before. None of their friends bother to

purchase travel insurance and they travel a lot.

That was easy! Didn’t have to struggle with that sale, trying

to argue the issues, pros and cons about whether or not travel

insurance is a good buy in today’s world.

I mean come on. There’s an app for that. Isn’t there? Surely.

Well an app or a video. One of the two will work. So you fall

over, sprain your ankle on the middle of nowhere, you hit the

Emergency App button and “they” come and rescue you.

Whoops! There was no mention of the cost of extraction, the

chopper, the team. You mean that Buck-99 was just the cost

of the app. You mean that didn’t cover EVERYTHING?

Explaining why travel insurance coverage is needed to a young,

healthy, fit young person is a tough road to haul. However, this

is where your experience comes into play – if you have it that

is. Most senior travel agents know from first-hand experience

why insurance of any kind is a good investment. Younger travel

agents may need to have something stolen, lost, or their health

challenged before the message actually sinks in. It’s the worst

way to learn a lesson of course, but sometimes it is the only

way. The worst of worst lessons would be having a friend die

in your company because no hospital or doctor overseas would

tend to them. Click the link below to view the Infographic in a

larger format and then scroll to the bottom of the image and

you will find a link to the HTML. Copy it and paste into your

website to embed this image on your insurance web page.

The Travel Insurance NicheSpecialist eGuide is a greatresource and one everytravel agent should read.Click here to view.

http://www.insureandaway.co.uk/why%20do%20i%20need%

20travel%20insurance/#sthash.RgImXla1.dpuf

Secret Selling SauceSelling with extra sizzle calls for something more, something added to the mix and that will

translate into a secret sauce of some kind. A hot sauce. Something Frank’s would put on their

label. Talking Red Hot. Bollywood hot. Slammin’ HOT! So what have you got in your selling kit

that’s hot, hot, hot? What do you have that’s secret to you and no other travel agent in your

neck of the woods? What can you whip up and dole out that’s a zinger of a closer?

Most sales pros have a secret sauce of some

kind. Very few people know about these secret

sales sauces due to the fact that… that’s right!

Secret. When you study a variety of sales and

marketing books both generic and travel sales

related you can read between the lines to

determine the ingredients to that sales person’s

success.

It might be their personality, natural or

developed, could be their knowledge in general

or of a specific destination, might even be their

preferred closing technique. All we generally

know is that they make money and close more

bookings than anyone else.

The secret sauce for some travel agents develops

over time. Some learn from their travel agent

parents, others from travel trade mentors and

others pick it up from reading and mixing with

high producing sales people. Others are born to

it and have “it” flowing in their veins. One of the

best ways to develop your own secret selling

sauce is to first of all learn the craft of sales. Next

is to mix with those high producers to listen and

learn. Then when you feel you have the basics,

you can determine what it is you would do

differently to set yourself apart from the rest.

Something unique. Something so hot, everyone

will want to get a taste. Today that difference,

that secret sauce means something techie,

something socially alluring.

Selling From Where You AreSelling on Location is the new HOT sauce.

Sending Wish you were HERE! e-mails and

posting the same on your agency Facebook page

has a whole new meaning when you are on

location. Your pitch is: I’m here now. It’s

fantastic. I can book your vacation now. Be it

package, cruise, tour or resort stay or wedding &

honeymoon combined. You are onsite and

selling that fact. It’s your secret. Your

competition has no idea where you are – only

your customers and your suppliers. That’s secret

and it’s saucy and that’s HOT.

Strike Zone FocusAlthough I never played organized baseball growing up, I now find myself helping to coach my

nine-year-old son, Caden in his community baseball development team. As my baseball skills

are limited, my wife and I decided to hire local pro, Coach Shawn, to help Caden fine-tune some

of his baseball skills. Coach Shawn is not only a true professional but an exceptional

communicator. One of the key elements of sport he spoke to Caden about was discipline.

A key feature of discipline is the ability to

eliminate distractions. In order to do that,

Caden must practise with a specific purpose in

mind. For example, one purpose might be

to throw his pitches with accuracy.

To achieve this requires

delivering the throw in the strike

zone, which is the invisible

space between the batter's

shoulders and knees. This he

must picture in his mind. The

purpose of this "strike zone

focus" is to eliminate all

distractions and create a reachable target.

After hearing this, it occurred to me as a business

coach that my clients could use this

"strike zone focus" when conversing

with their own clients. The value of

delivering such "strike zone focus" is

priceless as such communication can

determine the difference between

getting the business or not. So, how

do you eliminate distractions

and deliver "strike zone focus"

in your conversations with

clients?

Here are 3 tips to help you:

1. Define your purpose. 2. Ask questions. 3. Actively listen

Before the meeting, decidewhat you want to accomplish.Anticipate your client's needsand possible objections and

prepare for them.

During the meeting ask closed,open and meaningful questions

to determine the big pictureand get as many details aspossible. Taking notes is

essential.

Actively listen summarizeand/or paraphrase your client'sconversation after they finish

their sentence or thought. Thiswill help you clarify their

thoughts and demonstrate youare on the same page.

Try these tips and I guarantee

you will deepen and grow any

business relationships you

want.

Batter up!

GUEST ARTICLE BY

CORY ANDRICHUK

Are You On The List?As a member of The Travel Agent’s Store you’ll recieve advanced notice of new

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Aha! So That’s Why!I caught this book, author and superfast interview with the author Paul Taylor on the Jon

Stewart show. It doesn’t really matter where you live, the information here would related to

almost every country in the world – except for a few obvious non-players. You could change

the title to The Next… and fill in the blank with the name of your own country. In a nutshell the

information is pointing towards a number of trends that travel agents need to be ready for.

This is a direct copy from the review on

Amazon.com and it starts with this: The America

of the near future will look nothing like the

America of the recent past.

I suggest that’s going to be true

for every country in the world

and especially the countries

opening up to more immigration

and facing similar generational

events as in the US.

Every marketing website and

journal is talking about the next

generation and marketing to

Millennials. So what’s a travel

agency to do when, as the book

points out: Today’s Gen Y-

Millennials well-educated, tech

savvy, underemployed twenty

somethings are at risk of

becoming the first generation

in American history to have a lower standard of

living than their parents. Okay, not every 20-30

year old has a low standard of living. Many are

Presidents and CEOs of their own businesses.

This next situation is happening world-wide as a

certain age group turn 65 and retire. The word is

for the US that: 10,000 Baby Boomers are

retiring every single day, most of them not as

well prepared financially as they’d hoped.

If the retiring Boomer is under financed for

retirement then that’s a challenge for the travel

agency community who sells to this client base.

This graying of our population has helped

polarize our politics, put stresses on our social

safety net, and presented our elected leaders

with a daunting challenge: How to keep faith

with the old without bankrupting

the young and starving the

future.

There are 214 million people that

no longer live in the country they

were born in. This mass

movement has caused a few

challenges too:

By mid-century, the population

of the United States will be

majority non-white and our

median age will edge above 40

both unprecedented milestones.

But other rapidly-aging

economic powers like China,

Germany, and Japan will have

populations that are much older.

The next 20 years of selling travel is going to be

very interesting – interesting can mean many

things, usually “Oh no!” Keep the faith. Watch

the trends in new faces in your community. All

new faces mean, trips ‘back home’.

The younger generations of all races will more

than likely be hooked on social media channels

so nothing will change there. The aging Boomers

will still have money to travel, some more, some

less.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Next-America-

Millennials-Generational/dp/1610393503

Just Published

A 38 page eGuide full of tips, tools and techniques

that will help you use your photography

to generate more travel sales.

Only $15.95 + tax*

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The Travel Agent’s Store

The Photo Page

Wintry Palms

Taken with an iPhone 5 – subject: frosted glass patterns that resembled palm trees.

Steve Crowhurst

What Do You Do With-It’s 9pm at night. Do you know where all your travel keepsakes are? Ya do?! WOW! Excellent.

So what are you going to go with them? Talking marketing here. Those coupons, tickets,

programs and other goodies you collected over the years are now called “content”. What do

you do with your keepsakes to help market your travel services? Here’s a few ideas:

Here’s a couple of coupons I found as I was

searching through my own horde of “stuff” and

this is what got me to thinking about what you

might have tucked away and

whether or not you use it to

help sell more travel.

It’s this type of scrapbooking

travel keepsakes that proves

you were there and it also

makes your marketing more

real to the reader.

Selling a summer trip to Egypt

would indeed be a sizzling hot

trip to make… but oh, what a

feeling once you stand by those

ancient monuments, tour the

museum or head out into the

dessert. Exchange Egypt for a

summer scene somewhere else. A beach. A

mountain top view… what have you got, kept,

retained (legally of course) that you can use in

your marketing activities?

The DateYou have to decide, if there is a date on the

keepsake you intend to use, whether or not it

will work against you. Some dates, old dates can

prove you were there “way back when…”

allowing you to market your past experience.

A more recent date, puts you in the realm of

being current and up to date with what’s

happening at the destination you are marketing

today.

If you have a photograph or a postcard that’s

dated as in the image below – then you could use

this as a before and after, a then and now

promotion.

Postcards From ClientsPostcards: always a wonderful

item to use to promote your

services and especially if there

is a nice quote from the client

who sent the card extolling

your services and the trip you

arranged.

If you use a client’s postcard

be sure to blot out their last

name. Their personal home

address wouldn’t be on the

postcard if they are mailing

from the destination – but if it

is, then that too should be blotted out. Easy

enough to do in any of the scanning / photo

editing software programs.

What Else Do You Have?It’s better if the keepsake is yours. You might

even take a Selfie showing you holding it. If you

are into videoing then switch on your webcam

and record a short video of you holding an item

and relate the story around it. Then post that

video on your agency YouTube account or post it

to your agency’s Facebook page and start a

conversation about travel keepsakes. Add the

line: More keepsakes waiting for you here: then

pitch your summer sizzlin’ promotion.

Hey, What’s Up Choc?You know it’s coming soon. The question is: What are you going to do to promote travel come

Easter? One activity might be to start promoting your faith based tours going somewhere in

the summer months. Easter time as you know is full of religious based TV shows, news and

social media coverage too. It’s a prime to ride on the usual promotions and to sell your own

products. You might even want to tie in a few chocolate giveaways. Hmm?

You have two things happening here. One is

wrapped around the other. The main event

being the most important and oldest festival of

the Christian Church, celebrating the

resurrection of Jesus Christ. The other event is

all about chocolate and rabbits and eggs and

who knows what – and these goodies are

available right now in your local grocery

store and elsewhere.

The question is whether or not to use the

ongoing Easter promotions to promote

your own faith based tours. The

answer is of course, yes you should.

A Little Humour Adds to the

Faith: The world is always in need

of good humour and a silent

chuckle and handing out

chocolate fellas like this guy

is one of those things you can do to cheer

someone up AND tell them about your Faith

Based Tours at the same time.

You might be able to tie in your own church

group or attract people from any faith to come

and listen, ask for your flyer & more information.

Your chocolate giveaway does not have to be

huge. Small things go a long way.

Chocolate Gift CardsAll your favourite brands of chocolate can offer

you a gift card to use as a deposit or final

payment “Thank You” gift. There are companies

who also offer you Religious Chocolates.

Yes indeed. What a way to pray!

Even Pope Francis has been

replicated in chocolate! True. I’ll

let you explore that one online.

So, chocolate, Easter, faith, the

Pope… it all ties together nicely

for a great April promotion to sell

something in summer.

What Event, Where?Search your favourite

destinations online to find a

faith based event you can

identify with and one that

your clients would be

interested in seeing,

attending and witnessing.

20 Days and CountingThe clock is ticking. Start

planning your Easter ads

and social media promotions now. You’ve got 20

days, correction, make that 15 days to get your

summer faith based tour ideas sorted.

Chat with your preferred faith based suppliers

and see what they’re up to. Perhaps you can join

in and represent them locally. At the very least –

buy yourself an Easter egg and enjoy the

moment.

Call Your Travel AgentAs you may have heard, a survey was conducted in the US and whoever responded to the

survey confirmed that they wished to be referred to as a Travel Consultant or Counsellor not

as Home-Based Travel Agents. This “what shall we call ourselves” has been going on for some

time and all sorts of reasoning has been put forth about why travel agents are no longer travel

agents. They don’t “agent” any more. They don’t represent the companies that supply the

cruise, the tour, the air seat and so on. Travel agents, sorry Travel Counselors work for the

consumer. Yup. That is apparently how it works. Yup! Better get this sorted, and especially if

you are new to selling travel from home as you might be falling into a trap and not know it.

I’ll write this as if you have never been in the

travel industry, just joined and now setting up to

sell travel as an independent travel agent from a

home office. This page should also interest you,

the person selling travel from a physical location.

It’s Travel Agent – Not CounsellorJust like an Accountant is an Accountant not a

Ledger Counsellor, or Number Consultant, so

you are a Travel Agent and it doesn’t matter

where you sell travel from. High rise tower,

street front, your home or the beach – you are

still a Travel Agent as the Accountant is and

always will be an Accountant.

Then there’s this – how travel suppliers market

and promote you in their own advertising:

With all that money behind all those ads

promoting call your TRAVEL AGENT why would

you want to confuse the consumer with Travel

Counsellor? That’s not good business at all.

When you remove yourself from the term Travel

Agent you are moving yourself away from the

potential sales generated by supplier ads.

Travel Agent – Specializing In…Why not be the travel agent you were meant to

be and promote your skills and niche talents with

a byline under your

name. That way

you’ll have the

best of all worlds.

Remember this is

all about making

sales. Generating income. Not labelling yourself

to suit misguided commentary.

It’s Sales – Not ConsultingFirst things first. Yes of course you will be talking

with your clients, advising, questioning,

answering and counselling their decisions as

they consult your knowledge, extensive or

otherwise. But in all the chatter, never lose sight

of the fact that you are in a sales role. You sell

travel.

OpportunityWith so many suppliers promoting: Call Your

Travel Agent… why not create a website and

name it Your Travel Agent. Then, when you

promote yourself, local customers will see that

you are the one ALL those ad’s mention. You are

YOUR TRAVEL AGENT – and, you must be very

good, because almost every travel supplier is

promoting you.

Your Name,

Travel Agent

Specializing in

Jamaican Honeymoons

Suppliers are not promoting Call Your Travel

Counsellor and that’s because few if any

consumers really know what or who that is

except for travel trade companies and

associations. Be known as a travel counselor or

consultant internally, but outside your work-

world is where your clients live and it’s your

clients who book with you, not your colleagues.

About Being an Agent for SuppliersAs someone new to selling travel you will no

doubt hear that “things have changed” we as in

sellers of travel, are no longer agents for

suppliers. We are agents for our clients. Let’s

hold it right there. Once again, the commentary

is slightly off base. Without travel trade suppliers

investing in and creating products for travel

agents to sell, there would be nothing to sell.

Like any other store with products on its shelf,

you too, like that retail store owner, have two

clients to service. You have your suppliers and

you have your clients. As your supplier is a client

to you, so you are to them. It may not seem like

it at times – but there is always that two-way

relationship.

The Agent of TravelYou are an agent for your supplier AND you are

the agent of travel for your clients. It’s your role

to work with each client, helping them select the

best travel product for the type and style of

vacation they are seeking, explain the features

and benefits, discuss travel insurance details and

then close the sale.

Do not be swayed by trade talk that Generations

X & Y do not know what a travel agent is or what

they do. To reach these so called younger

travellers, (actually adults not kids as some in the

travel trade seem to talk about them) – all you

must do is reach out through the communication

channels they use. Nothing has changed on that

score. Baby Boomer aged clients are still with

you as a customer for the next 20+ years and you

know how to reach them I am sure – AND they

know who and what a travel agent does for a

living. They have booked with travel agents since

they started travelling.

Travel Agent NgNo matter what age you are, you are heading

into the next phase of travel agency work.

Whether you know it or not, you are a Travel

Agent Ng and that’s because of existing

technology. Forget the Home-Based Travel

Agent tag and think about the fact that you can

sell travel from anywhere. All you need is a

laptop, tablet and or smartphone. From those

tools you can research, market, promote and

sell. The Home-Based Travel Agent tagline is

purely to help the trade identify whether you are

an owner of a bricks & mortar or not.

Last Word…Do not be too keen to throw away 150 years of

history that some would have you believe holds

no relevance today. It’s called provenance. That

history includes your roots. Before that, the job

of procuring travel arrangements for customers

dates back to Roman times and beyond. Seize on

the romantic side of the job you do. Seize the

history and grandeur of all those past explorers,

adventurers and the people who gave you the

industry you work in today. And with that rock

solid foundation, go sell something and be the

TRAVEL AGENT you were meant to be.

Quick TipsHere’s a few tips to help with your marketing activities. Also a couple of tongue-in-cheekers to

help make your day a little brighter.

Testimonials have the magic power of PersuasionMake sure your clients can access them, use them in your email signatures, post them in your blogs and

throughout your social media channels.

Offer interesting How-To information on Taking travel pictures

Packing

Buying luggage

Travelling with kids

Travelling with grandparents

Travelling with a grump!

Storing a pet

Planning a trip

Purchasing travel insurance

Travel tips

Price tips

New places to go

A sports tip

A savings tip

Tips from other customers

Post articles about… Fam reports

Vacation reports

Brand related

Your achievements

New service

New travel apps

Inspirational Travel QuotesInspirational quotes can help open up your clients or prospects to a new way of

thinking about travel, or perhaps learn to accept the challenges of travelling in

the present day as they realize that some of these quotes where quoted long

ago - the author had the same challenges as we do today – despite a difference

in transportation.

Brochure Speak for the New Travel AgentPhrase

1. Old World Charm2. Majestic setting3. Options galore4. Explore on your own5. Nominal fee6. Plush7. Light and airy

Translation1. No bath2. A long way from town3. Nothing included4. Pay for it yourself5. Outrageous charge6. Top AND bottom sheets7. On the hurricane path

You’ll know when it’s a No Frills Airline when: They don’t sell tickets, they sell chances. All the

travel insurance machines in the terminal are sold out. You cannot board without the exact

change. The Pilot asks all the passengers to chip in for gas and a pizza. The flight attendant asks

you to join their frequent near-miss program and to enjoy the in-flight movie in the plane next to

you!

Marketing Tip

What have you got planned around the FIFA World Cup event?

It’s a prime time to be promoting your tours to South America and to

take advantage of the TV coverage as they showcase Brazil.

FIFA World Cup 2014 begins on Thursday, June 12 and ends on Sunday, July 13

Training PageTHOMAS COOK

Whether you are new to

selling travel or not, this 7

minute video will inspire you

to go for it, whatever your

“it” is. The video is short

review of the legendary

Thomas Cook. If you can

create a fraction of what he

created and accomplished

you’ll be up there with the

best of ‘em. So watch, listen,

learn, take notes and then

ponder what you are actually

doing with all the tools that

Thomas Cook could not even

dream about. Enjoy.

BURTON HOLMES

The George Eastman House

video is a brief insight in the

life of one of the world’s

foremost avid travel video

and photographers, the one

and only Burton Holmes.

Unlike Thomas Cook who

was poor, Burton Holmes

had money. Even so, money

or no money, he did what he

did and accomplished so

much in the realm of travel

and recording the world for

others to see.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZGO_F3IElA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwC9COY_TEo

Selling Ancillaries…You are independent right? Yes. You are the entrepreneur, correct? If you love an opportunity

and want to make more money selling travel then you might as well start profiting from selling

the add-ons, the peripherals, the ancillary sales. Your suppliers are already down this road and

more so your airline partners who according to the IdeaWorks survey took home a cool $42.6

billion+/- in 2013. Let’s explore the ancillaries you can sell, too.

Travel aside, you’ll be thinking about what a traveller needs to

complete their travels. If you service a niche market then the same

thought occurs – what is it that your niche clients need and purchase in

order to better enjoy their trip?

The concept of selling ancillary products is based on convenience for

your clients. Save them an extra step or click and place before them

those things they need on or during their trip.

You’ll not be trying to compete with the local department stores or

online stores. In most cases you’ll be offering your clients the same

products as an affiliate outlet for the branded product your clients

would normally purchase away from your business.

Affiliates ProgramsToday almost every vendor operates an affiliate

program of some kind. Most of them a free to

join and your role is to promote the product via

your website and in your social media marketing

too. Select the product and brand you would like

to sell, go to their website and scroll to the

Footer area and there you will find the link to

their affiliate program. Here’s a quick look at the

REI program.

Drive traffic from your site to REI.com or REI-Outlet.com and make money! You'll earn acommission on every purchase made by customersyou refer. Our top affiliates average $40,000 a year incommissions. Know a non-profit or local outdoorgroup looking for extra income? Refer them to the REIAffiliate Program—a great way to earn money insupport of stewardship and educational pursuits inour communities.

Ancillaries You Can SellHere’s a list you can add to. Starting withadditional travel add-ons over and above thegeneric flight. Travel insurance being the #1 add-on to sell. After travel add-ons comes books andluggage etc. Select what works for you andlocate the best affiliate program for your agency.

AdviceCar RentalsHotelsToursTravel insurance

BooksCameraClothing

Flash drivesLaptopsLuggageNotebooksPensPhonesSafety gadgetsShoes????

Check with your host agency to find out whichaffiliate programs they have arranged for you.

IdeaWorksCompany, theforemost consultancy onairline ancillary revenues,and CarTrawler, theleading provider of onlinecar rental distributionsystems, project airlineancillary revenue willreach $42.6 billionworldwide in 2013. TheCarTrawler WorldwideEstimate of AncillaryRevenue represents amassive increase of 89%from the 2010 estimate of$22.6 billion.

New ToolsWelcome to ClockLinkGet your free world clock. ClockLink.com provides the most widely used Web clock in the world with over 30 million

views around the world. In addition, clocks can be set to display any time zone

in the world online, so they are not only decorative but very practical as well.

You can use our world clock to see all time zones of the world, and it's free to

use. Use it to show what time it is in your area. There is no charge to use any of the clocks or for the world clock on

your website or blog.

Everyday for iPhoneThis is a great video to watch. Quite humourous and offers a terrific Selfie tool for

travel agents. It reminds you to shoot a Selfie each day – so imagine you are on a

Fam or vacation and capturing yourself here, there and everywhere. Then, you can

click the button to create a Selfie movie. What a great marketing tool this is.

The Pocket SpotlightA continuous light source you can mount to your phone's headphone jack, your

camera's hot shoe or off-camera in your hand. A flash can be surprisingly harsh

(especially on the iPhone) and it's always fleeting. The Pocket Spotlight is a constant

light so you can actually see what you're shooting and set your focus and exposure

before you snap. Charge it via USB for up to an hour of brightly shining, gently

diffused light. Light up an Instagram of your candle-lit dinner or use it on the move

for a light painting.

24-7PressRelease24-7PressRelease is a leader in the online press release distribution industry.

Through its multi-channel distribution network, 24-7PressRelease helps

corporations and organizations disseminate their news to consumers, editors,

journalists, bloggers and websites. Basic price $49.

Marketing with Phone CardsWho thought that phone cards are still in use? Well they are and they have

always been a great way to market your agency. Now, you can have your

custom phone cards printed and this time they can be used on a mobile

phone using the Phonecard app.

Marketing with BookmarksBookmarks have always been winner as a simple marketing piece. Today you

can use a ready-made template, add your own graphics, include a QR code at

the top or on the reverse and send a bookmark to every client. If you are taking

a group departure then you would adapt the images to suit the group theme.

Book marks come in all shapes and sizes and range from paper to metal clips.

For your luxury clients – make it leather stamped. Not paper.

When you need one-to-one training contact the

Home Based Travel Agent Trainer…

If you would like a one-to-many training session, invite your local home-based colleagues to

your home office then gather round your computer screen for the training session.

All sessions are conducted using Skype –

so be sure to download the program here: www.skype.com

Send your topic and request an hourly or project training quote.

steve@ic-travelagent.com

Romance travel is always a pleasure to sell,come see why and get a sneak peek at ourrevised course - coming April 22nd 2014.

A Closer Look at The Travel Institute’sHoneymoons & Destination

Weddings Course

hosted byChelle Honiker Yarbrough, CTCDirector of Operations

http://www.canadiantraveller.net/signup.php

CANADIANTRAVELLER.NET FEB 20144

HAVE you noticed how much WOW we use in our conversations? The WOW word has become the word to describe

any and all of the destinations featured in each issue of CT magazine. Not only the country as a whole but also the cities, towns, the buildings, the people, the cuisine…the beer! So many places so many WOWs to shout out.

Where’s this “Why WOW?” going you ask? Why WOW? What the WOW! It’s time to rev up your WOW Marketing Plan and factor in the WOW word. Let me explain starting here…well back in the 1500s actually.

Och Aye The WOW!Yes most people would end that statement with ‘noo’ – but not I! We needed a WOW in there as the reason was you see, it appears that the word WOW (not always written or pronounced in caps…) was born in bonnie Scotland. Here’s the skinny: The word ‘wow’, a Scottish interjection, was coined sometime in the 1510s as a natural expression of amazement. It was borrowed in 1924 by American English slang as a verb meaning “overwhelm, delight or amazement”, but has been used as a noun since 1920 meaning “unquali� ed success”. It gained a second resurgence in popularity in the 1960s.

How it came about and who said it first is up for discussion but I sense the wind was a blowin’ one day out on the heather and as the kilts blew skyward the clan ladies all let out a joint “WOW!” in obvious amazement and probably followed with a “Well wil’ya noo look at that!” and a glen full of laughter.

The Power Of WOW by Steve Crowhurst, CTCA 3-Letter Word To Help Your Commissions Rise Beyond

Your Wildest Dreams

Steve Crowhurst, CTC, is an author, speaker and trainer specializing in New Business Generation for the travel and tourism industry. Visit Steve at www.sellingtravel.net and Like his Facebook page at www.facebook.com/sellingtravel. E: steve@sellingtravel.net; T: 250-738-0064.

Marketing With WOWIf you’ve travelled far and wide or just close and narrow you would have seen more than a few sights to behold anyone’s eyes. Before the 1500s you might have heard those hardy explorers as they came upon a glorious sight, say something akin to “I say Nigel…would you take look at that…must tell mummy when we get home…” How times, things and language have changed. I like the WOW word and it just seems to be emitted constantly. I hear it from others and on TV, too. It’s a common word now and so, to the marketing mind it says: use it. You can use the word by itself to push the beauty of a special place in the world

you love and want to share, and then you can look for acronyms that might also work for your headlines. You might even check to see how one cruise line has started to use the word in their marketing to travel agents.

WOW AcronymsThis’ll WOW ya! According to the Acronym Free Dictionary there are 95 WOW acronyms and many of them just perfect for embedding in your e-mails and social media posts. Or anywhere for that matter. Here’s a couple that suit the travel WOW: World of Wonder, Words of Wisdom, Wonders of the World, World of Wonders, Women On Wheels, World of Wisdom, Wide Open West, Wonder of Wonders, Word of Wisdom,

SELLING TRAVELWITH STEVE

World of Water, Week of Welcome, What’s on Where?, Wide Open World, Wish Only Well, Walk Our Way, Wise Older Women, World Ocean Watch, Women Organising the World, Warriors of Wellness, Writers on Writing and Wonders of Wildlife.

WOW With ImagesWhat’s a WOW without an image to support it? And what’s an image without a WOW? The two go together. It’s the way it is. So look for your best imagery and add a WOW to it. If you’re not sure how to do that check in at The Travel Agent’s Store, and join their mailing list. Then you’ll be able to review the various how-to eGuides

on marketing with WOW. www.thetravelagentsstore.com.

For now, you can simply copy and paste your image into a Word document by opening a text box and inserting your image, then open another text box over

your image and type in your text.

WOW Words & MoreThe word WOW is one word. After that, what else? Think how you and or your clients use the word WOW and then listen for what follows. “WOW! You should see this!”, “WOW! It’s unbelievable.”, “WOW! You’ve gotta see this for yourself!” – you get the idea. You have to capture the WOW moment and project it out through your marketing channels and then ask your recipients to share it, send it viral to their friends. Study the Way of WOW and you’ll see your commissions rise beyond your wildest WOW dreams – and we’re not going there! That’ll be a “Och aye the noo way!”

“You have to capture the WOW moment and project it out through your

marketing channels and then ask your recipients to share it ”

SW_CanadianTraveller_Curacao_02-2014.indd 1

A HOME FOR THE HOME BASED AGENTS

Big Bark has all your print-marketing needs covered!

201 – 3011 Underhill Ave.

Burnaby, BC

V5A 3C2

BonVo

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BonVoyage

THE HUNTINGTON GROUPHUNTINGTONThe agents choice since 1973

Thank you for choosing to travel with MyEscapades.com. We take pride in providing one-of-a-kind travel experiences in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America. The majority of our clients require a trip customized to their likes, interests and budget. Whether you wish to travel in the lap of luxury or choose to indulge in an authentic adventure (we call it ‘roughing-it’) we will create a trip to suit your preferred tastes. In other words, we will give you a travel experience that goes beyond your expectations. Rest assured, MyEscapades.com is your perfect traveling companion.

Before You Travel:• Ensurethatyouarecarryingyourup-to-date passports and have obtained any required/necessary tourist visas for entering the country(s) you are visiting. • Youtripinvolvescancellationpenalties in the unforeseen event that you cancel/postpone your travel arrangements. Ensure that you are aware of these penalties.• CarryyourOut-of-CountryHospital/Medical/Travel Insurance Policy with you.• Beawareofluggagerestrictionssuchas weight, size and type of suitcases allowed on the international and domestic flights on your itinerary. Excess baggage charges are steep and can cause great inconvenience• Ensureyouhaveobtainedrecommended or required inoculations.Certaininoculationsare mandatory for travel to endemic areas.Yourtravelagentwillhaveprovided full details.

• CheckouttheavailabilityoflocalATMs in your destination and/or purchase some local currency or travellers cheques.• Givefamily/friendsthecontactinformation at hotels/lodges you will be staying during your travel. Information on your accommodations is provided within your documents.• Werecommendthatyouputyournewspaper subscription on hold for the duration of your trip and have your mail collected by a neighbour or held at your local post office.• Itisalwaysrecommendedthatyousecure your home with a security alarm before you leave.

3100RidgewayDr.,Suite17,Mississauga,ONCanadaL5L5M51.888.887.9710 | info@myescapades.ca | www. myescapades.ca

BonvoYage

THE HUNTINGTON GROUPHUNTINGTONThe agents choice since 1973

201 – 3011 Underhill AvenueBurnaby,BCV5A3C2Local:604-669-6607TollFree:1-877-523-7823Fax:604.669.5336

info@travelbestbets.com

BIGBARKGRAPHICS.com T: 905.857.6333 | TF: 1.866.607.1556 | sales@bigbarkgraphics.com

THE TRAVEL AND TOURISM PRINTER FOR OVER 30 YEARS

TOP 6 WAYS WE ARE DEDICATED TO THE HBA:

1. Easy to use, do-it-yourself, 24/7 online print-ordering store.

2. No design/setup fees – choose from our selection of pre-designed templates or Design Your Own.

3. Full use of our image gallery at no extra charge.

4. Travel related marketing products such as calendars and magnets plus all your standard business products – business cards, envelopes, letterhead, flyers, and more.

5. Wide selection of ticket packaging options for groups, weddings, and niches.

6. All products available in small quantities (some as low as 25).

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