IC Travel Agent august 2014

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TRAVEL AGENT THE HOW-TO MAGAZINE FOR ICs, OSRs & HOME-BASED TRAVEL AGENTS THE ART OF SELLING TRAVEL FROM HOME AUGUST 2014

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The How-To Magazine for ICs, OSRs & Home-Based Travel Agents

Transcript of IC Travel Agent august 2014

Page 1: IC Travel Agent august 2014

TRAVEL AGENTTHE HOW-TO MAGAZINE FOR ICs, OSRs & HOME-BASED TRAVEL AGENTS

THE ART OF SELLING TRAVEL FROM HOME

AUGUST 2014

Page 2: IC Travel Agent august 2014

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

[email protected]

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.

7 HOW TO BRING YOUR PAST CAREER WITH YOU

12 PART TIME OR FULL TIME

14 ARE YOU ON THE LIST?

15 PUBLISHED THIS MONTH

16 TRAVEL TRAGEDIES AND HOW TO SURVIVE THEM

17 TRAVEL SAFETY 101

18 HAS DIRECT MAIL GONE THE WAY OF THE DODO BIRD? By Jill Wykes

19 ASK YOUR CLIENTS

20 PACKING THE PADLOCK

21 BERNIE, MASCOTS & MORE

24 THE PHOTO PAGE

25 TRYING TO BE ALL THINGS TO ALL TRAVELLERS

26 SAM URAI’S SALES TRAINING SCHOOL

27 THE MIKE T’ METHOD

28 THE TRAVEL INSTITUTE – VILLA TRAVEL COURSE

29 SELLING TRAVEL WITH STEVE

33 CLASSIFIEDS

TABLE OF CONTENTS – IC AUGUST 2014

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For even more selling ideas readSELLING TRAVEL!

Page 3: IC Travel Agent august 2014

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Bringing Your Past Career With You

The travel industry is a world unto itself and attracts people from all walks of life. It’s a tough

business and not for the weak or underfunded so it helps if you have one or two extra gifts, skills,

and talents to help support your entrance into the trade. Business continuation is what everyone

is aiming for. You will want to be selling travel 5 and 10 years from now. One way to make sure

you can sustain your travel agency is to bring past skills and know-how with you.

With a tweak here and tweak there, you’ll be able to promote your degrees earned in another

industry and you might even end up selling travel back to your previous industry. It’s all in how

you tell your story and marry it to selling travel. Make sure you read that article in this issue of

IC TA.

There is also a page or two about selling travel part time or making the big leap and going 100%

fulltime. Of course it’s your decision, however, know now that selling part time has its downsides,

stresses that can affect your sales.

See you inside.

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

[email protected]

www.ic-travelagent.com

Steve Crowhurst, CTC, Publisher

Click me to

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Page 7: IC Travel Agent august 2014

How To Bring Your Past

Career With YouThe travel industry has attracted people from all walks of life and many have left their existing

careers to enter the business of selling travel. Not sure why, but when someone does move

from one career or one industry to another, they tend to shut the door on their past career as

they delve into what will make them successful in selling travel. The fact is, you do not have to

close yourself off from what you did before or keep it quiet. Better that you learn how to

embrace what you’ve done and weave it into your selling travel marketing plan.

“So, what did you do prior to joining the

business of selling travel?” That was one

question I would always ask a new

franchisee who joined the Uniglobe

franchise. As the then VP of Uniglobe

Western Canada what someone had

achieved in the past was to me a crucial

element of their success going forward.

It’s the same today as you join the travel

industry to become a home based seller of

travel, joining via a host program or

franchise.

What so many miss is the connection

between what they’ve done in the past and

the current world of selling travel. Whether

you were an accountant, a tradesperson, a

CFO, an admin assistant, mechanic… and all

the rest, there is always something that you

can use to promote yourself with a

differentiation.

I’m sure your host agency has already

advised you on how to do this but let’s

review it from the marketing point of view

and how you can write the words to sell your

inherent skills such as number crunching for

instant.

Accountant:

Let’s start here. Your skills are obvious so

some not so to others. The idea here is to

promote your accounting talents and tie

them into selling travel.

“As a former accountant let me

search for the best overall price for

your next trip!”

Tradesperson:

Your keywords are related to building and

planning and putting things together:

“As a former tradesperson, let me

build the best tour of Europe, just for

you!”

CFO Chief Financial Officer:

Your keywords are all about numbers,

investments and return (ROI):

“As a form CFO, I know how to

negotiate and invest your hard

earned money into a one of kind

dream vacation. Your ROI will be a list

of fantastic lifetime memories!”

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Admin Assistant:

Your past career gives you many options

both in wording and actual doing – such as

arranging meetings, groups and events. Look

at what you actually did in your past career

and pull out those activities that also work in

the travel trade.

“As a former Administrative Assistant

it’s in my blood to help others. Let me

be your personal travel assistant and

help create the best trip ever!”

Mechanic:

Your keywords relate to getting things

running properly, running smoothly.

“As a former mechanic I know when

something is running properly. Let

me book your next vacation, check all

the details and make sure your trip

will go as smooth as the engines I

rebuilt!”

Okay. You get the idea. Everything you need

to kick start your travel trade career can be

found in your past career, job, work. Don’t

hide it, bring it into the world of selling

travel.

Start by listing what you actually did for a

living and search for those keywords:

planning, building, checking, arranging,

talking to, negotiating, budgeting,

managing… as all of these are involved in

planning someone’s vacation, business trip

and also meetings and events.

The other thing you can connect your past to

is your present-day passion – which might be

adventure travel for instance.

… as a former pilot you

know I’ll make sure you are

booked on the BEST flights!

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You might also have a love for a certain

country or culture. Once again, you will tie in

the words and phrases and your inherent

skills and talents to support your niche.

Now, if your previous career was as a

photographer, writer, tour guide, flight

attendant, hotel front desk, hotel manager,

luggage retailer then your previous

experience is directly linked to travel and if

you have worked in retail before then you

should be ahead of the game when it comes

to talking to customers and helping them

make a purchase.

Marketing Your Past

This is where many who join the travel

industry from a previous career tend to fail.

Marketing expertise is a talent, a skill and

something that can be learned over time, or,

if you invest yourself 100% you could learn

all you need to know within a month or

more. After that you need practice.

Sales and selling is the next challenge. You

must be able to ask for the business and then

close the sale. There is no free ride when it

comes to sales and selling. You live by your

own means and it really is down to you.

Prospecting for new business rises to the top

for most newcomers to the industry and

now, with the anti-spam laws tightened up it

is going to be very difficult to generate leads

unless you know how to use what might be

termed “old” or “traditional” marketing

techniques. You can turn to your host agency

and franchisor for more information on how

to source and use the traditional forms of

prospecting that can also be applied to social

media.

Arrange a sit down session with your HQ

contact and start the ball rolling now.

As a former events planner…

I’ll make sure every detail of

your vacation is checked and

double checked.

Proof and Credibility

To support your marketing slogans you

should go into those old boxes you’ve stored

somewhere and retrieve those diplomas,

certificates, photographs and anything else

that proves you did what you did.

It’s important to name names not just write

that you “worked for a very large firm…” – as

that reads as if you are hiding something.

Tell the world who you worked for, name the

firm. Claim your title and what you did there

and obviously within reason – you cannot

give away company secrets of your past

employer.

Look for photographs you can use and make

sure just your face is featured unless you

have permission from others in the photo.

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LET ME SHOW YOU

MY COUNTRYLike no other travel agent can

Something else for you to think about. Not only can you bring your past career with you, you

could and should also bring your culture and country if you hail from somewhere other than

where you are now living and selling travel. There’s a “but” coming, and that but this: before you

promote you know your own country etc., you must be 100% fluent in the language, you must

have travelled your own country from border to border and coast to coast, know all the events,

the weather patterns and seasons and of course the best places to visit. Anything less and your

credibility will not stand for long. Note: if your suppliers have packaged tours to your country

work with them not against them – or you’ll lose your shirt. Block & sell seats with them.

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As a husband & wife travel teamwe specialize in tours to Asia.

Are you, could you be a husband & wife

team? Think like those real estate couples

who use the word “team” to great effect. Of

course marriage isn’t really required – just

partner with someone and you have a team.

Now if the team consists of one male and

one female you will attract who? Yes,

couples. And that can be your niche. Tours of

Asia for couples.

Team up. List your joint past experiences

that you can apply to your travel selling

career and start marketing now.

What else can you bring with you?

Do you have a religion? A specific cultural

connection? Ancestry overseas? A language

skill (fluent)? Are you well read and know all

the classics? Are you an artist? What’s your

sport? What’s your lifestyle?

Think deeply about YOU and as I suggest, list

everything you feel you can bring with you

into your new industry and business. From

my own experience I can tell you that pretty

much everything can find a place in this

industry.

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Part Time or Full Time

So which one is it? Yes for part time or yes for full time? A tough decision when you are holding

down a so called “real job” and earning $40,000 a year or more and if your salary range is up

to $150,000 then it would be a huge decision to drop that income to go full time into selling

travel. Decisions, decisions…

When it comes to selling travel as a home

based travel agent you will be faced with this

decision, eventually. The challenge comes

when you are, as they say, chasing two

rabbits. The outcome is you catch neither.

Pecking away at selling travel whilst doing

your “real job” can cause you more stress

than you realize. Travel is as you will know or

come to know is alluring, seductive and

inviting. It is also, as an independent

contractor, a slow growth business if you

follow the normal IC route to success over

time and work two jobs, or more.

It will, or can cause you to lose focus on your

day-to-day job/career and that will be to

your personal detriment.

On the other hand you could make that leap

of faith and go for it. Get into the world of

selling travel full time. What happens when

you do this? You are able to focus all of your

energy and talents into learning about and

selling travel and when time allows, to

travel.

But what about that monthly salary you had

coming in?

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And that’s the big if. What if you had no

safety net? Well here we have to discuss the

issue of why are you even getting into selling

travel. Something is either wrong at the real

job or you are simply dissatisfied in your

chosen field of work or you have realized

that life is passing you by as it is everyone on

the planet and it’s time to follow your dream

– which for you is travelling the world and

selling your experiences.

The Dual Career

As it happens, some careers fit nicely with

selling travel and each one becomes an

extension of the other. Each one feeds the

other. Jobs such as photographer, author,

writer, blogger, chef and fashion designer…

each of one these jobs are, or can, become a

dual career and each combination presents

the opportunity to specialize and also offer

group departures for same interest

customers.

The Full Time Commitment

Although you will hear different, if you do

turn your attention to going full time and

committing every waking minute to building

your travel business then you will earn the

money you desire AND get to see the world

you love so much. Travelling is now your

business and it is something you must do,

and do frequently if you are going to

promote yourself as a dedicated travel agent

and you can only do this if you own your own

travel business.

Travel counsellors working for smaller travel

agencies and larger firms rarely travel other

than one, perhaps two, FAM trips per year

plus their annual vacation time of 3 weeks or

less.

For you, life is different as you own and run

your own IC business. You can travel

whenever you want.

What About The Money?

Well now. What you earn is resting on your

shoulders. You no longer have a large

company behind you, marketing themselves

and putting customers or contracts on your

desk for you to service. You must now

generate your own buzz and attract clients

to do business with you. And you do this all

by yourself, using the tools of your host

agency.

How much you earn will depend on how

much you prospect, what you invest to

promote yourself, how well you sell and

close and what your goals are.

You could generate $50,000 a year before

tax and travel the world at the same time.

It’s doable. Sell higher grade travel and you

could increase that $50,000 to $75,000. Go

for groups of deluxe travellers and your

$75,000 can go to $100,000.

Back to what you’ll hear in the trade about

how much money travel agents make. Of

course as in any sales business there are

some you are not making it. Did you know

that the average real estate agent in North

America is making under $20,000 / year.

Then there are those who are earning

millions. Same in the auto business – some

salespeople are moving 10 cars a month and

others are moving 75 cars a month.

For inspiration in the travel trade, look up

online for the Top 100 Travel Agents, chosen

by Conde Nast magazine. Now there’s a

listing of travel agents who are making it

happen for themselves –with consulting fees

at $650 for the first hour.

So now… will it be part time or full time.

Discuss this issue with your host agency HQ

/ BDM and do the math. They can show you

HOW to generate the income you want.

Page 14: IC Travel Agent august 2014

If you like cutting edge, no-fluff, little-theory how-to information

then join THE TRAVEL AGENT’S STORE list and receive notices

of new publications, 20% off all your purchases

PLUS 1-hour coaching sessions per topic.

CLICK STORE TO JOIN!

Page 15: IC Travel Agent august 2014

Published This Month

Here are two brand new, hot off the keyboard publications that willhelp you better plan and manage your travel trade career.

MANAGINGYOUR CAREER

MANAGING YOURHOME-BASED TRAVEL SELLING CAREER

This 66 page eGuide focuses on you and yourcareer and nothing else which means thecontent puts your career first above anyconcerns for the company you work for. Thetopics cover off your career and where youwish to take it, how you can move to adifferent role in the industry, how to quit, howto fire a bad boss and overcome the walls thatprevent you from advancing, how you can gofrom travel counsellor to VP, agency owner,manager or start a series of boutique hotels.You career is only limited by your imagination.

As the title reads, this eGuide focused on howyou can manage your independent careerworking from home. The emphasis is onselling travel full time and how you canmanage your time, your travels and also howyou can lead a dual career if you wish. Thismeans adding another talent you have toselling travel. Become a travel agent / bloggerfor instance. Live overseas and still sell to yourclient base ‘back home’. When you go hometo sell travel a whole new world opens up toyou. But it must be managed.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW CLICK HERE TO VIEW

Page 16: IC Travel Agent august 2014

Travel TragediesAnd How To Survive Them

Having spent many years in the travel industry I can tell you from experience that each and

every tragedy has a moment in time when it is front page news and then, except for the

survivors and their families, the event is lost to history except for when the mass media

channels resurrect the pain and suffering on the anniversary of the event. This is a fact of

working in the travel industry and selling travel for a living. It is not all happiness and joy and

you must know how to handle yourself and your business when these things happen.

As you read this issue of IC Travel Agent you

will I am sure be teary eyed about the loss of

life in the MH17 crash. Such a waste of life.

Then another crash. And another. Finally the

mass media channels identified something

they could “expose” or go with for maximum

eyeballs tuning in.

The outcome of the mass media take on

these recent aircraft crashes was to ask “Is it

safe to fly?” Under the guide of ‘keeping

them honest’ as one news personality likes

to say, their reporting is usually off base,

presenting by someone who has no

connection to the travel trade or airline

industry and simply delivers scary

information that causes nervous fliers to

cancel their trips with you.

When these tragedies happen you must be

on top of it and become your own

spokesperson in the local community. Get

yourself on a radio talk show and be featured

in the local press too.

Be armed with knowledge and be ready to

put down the commentary that the mass

media organizations are putting out there

and challenge them for scaring the general

public and also for perpetuating the sorrow

that the surviving families are experiencing.

Death by flying is about an 8 million to 1

chance. Better than crossing the road or

driving to work. Most tourists who are killed

during their vacation are hit by a car, or

inside it driving or as a passenger. In the US

in 2013 3.8 million people were injured in a

car accident. Over 32,000 were killed.

Flying is safe and you need to stand up and

be counted in the local news arena.

Challenge the mass media output in your

blog, on your website, and even hold a

consumer event to discuss the issue. Bring

your clients together if they are concerned

and lay the facts and stats in front of them.

Look for positive trade responses from

various and well informed parties such as

IATA and well known spokespersons that

represent the travel and tourism and airline

industries. Beware however of some

comments that are just plain grandstanding

and full of fluffy statements that are not

quite meaningful to the situation or the

business at hand which is to keep selling.

Page 17: IC Travel Agent august 2014

DO YOU KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT

TRAVEL SAFETYTO ADVISE YOUR CLIENTS?

Make sure you engage your clients in how they can travel safely and better protect themselves

by planning ahead, preparing for certain situations within their control and taking the right

precautions. Your roles is to handle their travel arrangements expertly, selecting the best air

carrier, route and seating arrangements and more – and don’t forget you are supposed to cover

every client with travel insurance coverage throughout the trip and until they arrive home.

Travel Safety 101 is available now at The Travel Agent’s Store

Page 18: IC Travel Agent august 2014

Many marketers have moved away from direct mail because of cost, in favour of email and

social media. This is certainly true in the travel industry and, even though the new Canadian

Anti-Spam Legislation is now in effect, most companies will still find a way to continue to email

their clients. (More about this in my next column)

But direct mail can and should still play a part in

your marketing strategy. For one thing, some of

your customers don’t use email, and if they do, a

lot of it ends up in their trash or they feel

overwhelmed by too many emails and press

delete. Pressing delete is always an option with

email but it’s not an option with direct mail.

Yes that’s right….direct mail is making a

comeback as an effective tool for travel

marketing and a channel that will catch your

customer’s attention.

There are certain tricks when using direct mail to

ensure your message is not

discarded….handwritten postcards and

envelopes receive more attention. Attractive

travel images are always appealing.

Personalization of some sort always helps.

There are programs which can make this easy for

you and you should ask your host agency if they

offer direct mail as one of their marketing

options. Some agencies have abandoned direct

mail but this could be a mistake.

Look for a host agency that features direct, direct

mail promotions and programs to reach your

clients. Find out if they will mail the pieces on

your behalf and if so, how many and how often?

Sending your clients timely, attractive direct mail

pieces keeps you top of mind and recommends

different types of travel experiences on a direct

basis.

Clever marketers have discovered that the

letterbox is less crowded these days and your

message has a better chance of being noticed

and held onto.

Remember, if you are out of sight, you are out of

mind!

Brought to you by: The Travel Agent Next Door

Gone The Way Of The Dodo Bird?Has Direct Mail

Actually, no…

By Jill Wykes

Page 19: IC Travel Agent august 2014

Ask Your ClientsThere’s a trend in chatter about big data and little data and data bites and deciphering this and

that about your customer’s travel and travel habits. You can save an awful lot of time and effort

by simply checking in with your clients on a regular basis be it annual or quarterly. Here’s why

and how.

Naturally you need information on which to

base your marketing plans for the year. With

good intentions various parties within the

travel trade are echoing big and bigger

business and advising you to get involved

with big data.

If you are running a fifty million dollar travel

agency then that would be a good thing to

do and a member of your financial team

would take it on. Most travel agencies are

writing $2m to $5m and all that’s required

here is to ask your clients about their travel

plans this year.

You want to sell more, sell up, sell niche, sell

luxury and additional services & peripherals

then the best thing to do is ask the very

people who make up your client list.

The Annual Ask

Plan your Annual Ask around November and

ask your clients about their travels for the

coming year. Some will know exactly and

other will still be thinking about it to “no

idea”. Each response offers you a chance to

sell more travel.

Plotting Response

As the responses return to you it’s an easy

thing to plot each one onto a low tech Excel

spreadsheet if you do not have a CRM

program that you can use. Set up your

spreadsheet with monthly columns as a

start.

Code the responses so that you can plot

quickly. Keep it simple and let’s go with a two

letter code per country and then a date

number. UK9 means this client wants to visit

the United Kingdom in September. You can

add more coding if you want to such as T for

touring and C for cruising, A for adventure.

Again, keeping it easy to use and interpret

and graph.

Asking Part Deux

With your spreadsheet completed you will

be looking at your sales and marketing plan

for the coming year. You can now target your

clients based on the month of travel, their

destination and vacation type. You can

upsell, offer supplier discounts and even

suggest another date close to the one they

selected that offers something more.

You have a chance to offer a customized trip

and sell the benefits of an FIT arrangement.

Take the time to ask if their friends are

joining them, if they can refer their friends to

you and how about other family members?

Yes you are trying to build a group departure

within each client’s circle of friends and

family.

Timing is Everything

Give yourself the month of November to

complete your project and be ready to

market come January 2nd.

Page 20: IC Travel Agent august 2014

Packing The PadlockCrazy I know, but then what’s new? It’s the world we live in and travel. Here’s a tour idea whilst

the law still permits inscribed “love locks” to be locked to a fence and the keys thrown away –

usually into the river if the love lock fence happens to span a river. But wait there’s more…

The first thing to note is that this show of

love has popped up around the world from

Paris to China. The fence behind my cousin

Pam from Australia pictured above actually

had a partial collapse. Too much love locked

on the fence! Officials are deciding what to

do and of course, throwing metal keys into

the river does raise environmental concerns.

If you are looking for something completely

different then you could be offering “Love

Lock Tours of The World”.

This tour would naturally visit the best love

lock fences in the world where your

travelling love lockers would lock their love

lock to the love lock fence! Say that after

three beers! Leave that idea with you.

If you go for this – there are love lock trees,

fences, poles and there similar places where

poets write out their poems. Explore how

you can stand out from the travel selling

crowd in your community.

Page 21: IC Travel Agent august 2014

Bernie, Mascots & More

Who or what is your mascot? Who “speaks” for you when you need it? Who breaks the ice

between selling and telling and poses so nicely in your advertising?

Welcome to the world of mascots. I’m sure

you’ve seen the Roaming Gnome, and

cartoon airplanes that speak and even have

eyes! Ronald McDonald. The peanut guy.

KFC. M&Ms. Of course we can’t leave out

Disney! When you check into it, brands that

are still with us have had a mascot to

represent them and so much so that one

glance at that mascot and bingo, you are

recalling your meal, trip and taste of

chocolate! Yum. So, can it be done with a

travel product? You bet. Once again – the

Gnome who leaves home, likes to roam.

Now here’s Bernie. He’s the sandy haired

fella pictured above. I met him on the beach

recently when I went for a walk. It all started

when we made eye contact. His eyes looked

like a clam shell with sand in them. Hey that

was it. I saw those eyes, scooped some sand

out to give him some hair, a chin, mouth… a

face and there was Bernie just smiling back

at me. With a little Photoshopping, he

perked up nicely. If I was in the business of

selling beach vacations I might turn Bernie

into my spokesperson. Whatever niche you

sell to, there’s got to be a mascot.

Page 22: IC Travel Agent august 2014

This good looking fella below was one of my

first mascots and he was sketched out in the

mid 80’s by Jerry Wong.

This next one was sketched at a Disney park

in 2002 and cost about $25.

Currently I have become my own mascot

using my webcam and various cartoon

generating software to change my facial

contours etc. But what about inanimate

objects? All the need is a face when you

come to think it, and a background that your

clients would connect to you.

Are you female? Are you selling adventure?

Well it’s either going to be an image of the

real you that you use, or you could have a

caricature sketched as per mine or, you

could go for a custom designed mascot like

this image below which comes with the Task

Force image collection.

Need a cruise ship mascot, here’s one I

created in about 15 minutes, mixing and

matching images. All you need to do after

creating something like this is change the

lips/mouth and the eyes to represent Ah or

Ooh and even Satisfaction.

Page 23: IC Travel Agent august 2014

How about a ski

mascot… easy to

create the tip of

the ski and change

his expression and

even put a hat or

cap on him / her

too. Add a speech

bubble and it’s

done. Next would

be to animate

your ski mascot.

How about something that resembles an

airplane… then you can add a mouth and a

pair of sunglasses and a speech bubble…

When you see movies such as Disney’s

PLANES coming to a movie theatre near you,

you’ll know you should create something

similar to attract attention to your agency.

Cartoons and humour reach out and sell.

Here’s a program I use almost every day –

and it’s called The Logo Creator which offers

a series of add-ons and one of those is for

characters and others for mascots. The one

shown below cost $27.

You’ll need to purchase the main program

however that is only $37 give or take a sale

price.

There you have it. Mascots are one way to

gain instant recognition in the local

community. You can as mentioned turn your

mascot into a cartoon, by animating the

character.

You may select a whole host of different

characters rather than staying with one

design. That’s good too – you’ll need

however something constant such as your

logo or a tagline so the consumer will always

know it’s your ad or promotion.

I’m planning a series of

Manga style cartoons

and here’s one scary

image of my mug, shot

on my webcam and

distorted to suit using

Elements 12. Have fun!

Make funny money!

Come fly with US!

Page 24: IC Travel Agent august 2014

The Photo Page

The Group TourTaken with an iPhone 5

Taken in the lobby of a movie theatre in the area where the kids go to

movie. I’ve cropped the shot, and what’s missing is many more chara

The shot reminded me of all the personalities that turn up on your grou

quick that your clients would see themselves and their past travelling c

added a caption just to spice it up for this page… you could do the sam

Hey Big Bear, is that a

camera in your pocket

or are you just happy

to be on this tour?

play before prior to watching the

cters with eyes staring out at you.

p tours… so, it came to mind pretty

ompanions in such a shot, too. I’ve

e when promoting your tours.

© Steve Crowhurst

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If you’re not sure about managing your time as a home-based travel agent then you need to tap

into how others make it happen. Here is a good friend of mine, Mike T, who leads the way in

multi-tasking. Take a few light-hearted moments and see how many activities you can detect

that Mike is engaged in and jot them down. When you’ve finished, check the answer box below.

Multi-tasking Mike is engaged in:

Now you have to understand that Mike T is a

special kinda guy. He is perpetually happy, has

nothing but nice things to say, very funny as in

humorous, is certain only good things will

happen, positive, mindful, energetic and each

year challenges himself to learn something new.

His multi-tasking lifestyle can cause his

few restless moments, as whilst driving t

in the morning he is shaving, drinking

listening to blues music, steering with his

answering his mobile and saying “Yes dea

he was tuned in 100%! What a guy!

Sittin

g

P

osin

g

Eatin

g

M

ed

itation

Listen

ing

W

atchin

g

R

ead

ing

Lo

okin

g

R

ockin

g

Sm

iling

Exe

rcising

R

estin

g

Le

arnin

g

W

orkin

g(lap

top

op

en!)

wife a

o work

coffee,

knees,

r…” like

Page 28: IC Travel Agent august 2014

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Have Villa Vacations increased in the last fiveyears? What type of villa do Travelers prefer?Are traditional, classic villas more popular thanmodern villas? And, most importantly, aretravelers who have stayed in villaaccommodations satisfied with theirexperience?

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You will also learn the difference between a VillaVacation and a vacation home rental, how todefine a villa, what services and amenities areincluded in a villa, and who the villa traveler is.Luxury customers are clamoring for more - moreamenities, more destinations, more experiences.As the luxury travel marketplace evolves, thevilla vacation has emerged to meet their needs.

The opportunities for selling to luxurycustomers, even in a down economy, aretremendous. Enroll in the Villa Travel course byAugust 15, 2014 for only $49 and positionyourself for profit!

Luxury Travel link:

Page 29: IC Travel Agent august 2014

CanadianTraveller.net CT/AMERICA YOURS TO DISCOVER JULY 2014 105

”They’re coming to America…la la la… coming to America…”Who sang that? Ah yes, the great Neil Diamond – or it

might have been a great travel agent who knew what niche they wanted to be in and that leads me to my next sentence... I’m thinking that going to America is a box that so many Canadians have already ticked – but then there are thousands of Canadians who have yet to make the trip. Their box is still waiting for a check mark. And those “been there” Canadians might have already visited America, but did they really – I mean really – see America?

There are two ways to � nd out: ask them, woo them – or both.

I’m thinking your job this year is to move your clients into a travellin’ state of mind and you’ll do that by pitching the various sights to be seen state by state. Or, you could market the state that has all the activities your clients like to do.

STATE Your BusinessBefore we venture any further let’s get you online. Check out www.discoveramerica.ca/usa/states.aspx – it’s full of the information you need to sell more America. When you land there you will see a wall of images, one per state, and when you click on each image you will be seeing many more links to click on for additional information. This is a very quick and easy resource to access.

Make Your STATEment CountAs I clicked around each state I was noticing a list of phrases that ended in a down-arrow for additional information. The list of phrases intrigued me and I quickly realized that each phrase could be used as a leading headline for any of your soon-to-be-created promotions.

Here’s what I gathered from just three states. Imagine the collection of one-liners you’ll have when you review every

state, then copy, paste and save your list of headings to a marketing � le. Once you have that done you can start to review your headings and determine the tag-line that goes with it. But � rst a smattering of what’s waiting for you behind each state listing:

★ Best bargains★ Breathtaking scenery★ Classic road trip★ Don’t leave without tasting...★ Don’t overlook this...★ Films shot here★ For your � rst visit★ If you want to � t in...★ Just want to indulge?★ Made in the state★ Must-see museum★ One awe-inspiring building★ Only have one day here?★ Outdoor excitement★ Roadside attractions

SELLING TRAVELWITH STEVEBy Steve Crowhurst, CTC

SELLING TRAVELA Travellin’ STATE of Mind

When it comes to the States, make your marketing statements count

Making memories: take a moment to think about what vacation memories your clients’ kids will remember for the rest of their lives.

H�� T� S��� A���ic�

PHOT

OS: V

ISIT F

LORI

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HUTT

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Page 30: IC Travel Agent august 2014

JULY 2014 CT/AMERICA YOURS TO DISCOVER CanadianTraveller.net106

Steve Crowhurst, CTC, is an author, speaker, trainer and owner of The Travel Agent’s Store where travel professionals shop for educational tools. Visit Steve’s store at www.thetravelagentsstore.com; and like his Facebook page at www.facebook.com/sellingtravel; T: 250-738-0064.

www.thetravelagentsstore.com

Join the store member list and receive advance notice of new

titles and a member’s discount.

Scan’n’Go!

Where travel trade professionals shop for

educational tools.

The Travel

Agent's Store

★ Top photo opportunities★ Want to stay up late?★ Where locals go to relax★ You might be surprised by…★ You’ll know you’re here when…★ Your child will always remember...

Let’s Try "Breathtaking Scenery"A bit of a no-brainer, isn’t it? But then again, some scenery is very nice but not breathtaking. Save this heading for the truly wonderful scenery that America has to offer.

Next: if you yourself are into scenery – and especially the breathtaking type – then you’ll want to develop a niche market here, and blend in your own style of travel, too.

Think: scenery, state, client-interest and activity. Every state has its own blend of scenery, so it’s down to you to match it to your client’s tastes, needs and wants, as well as your own niche market opportunity.

For Your Foodies Try "Don’t Leave Without Tasting..."You know that each and every state offers you a foodie tour opportunity, so this is a great one-liner that you can use as the header for your American Foodie Tour. You might go with one state only and hone-in on its specialty cuisine. Whatever way you come at it, that "Don’t Leave Without…" statement causes a response along the lines of: “I gotta taste that!”

Attract Your Adventurers With "Outdoor Excitement"When it comes to the outdoors and adventure tourism, you have so many niche market opportunities. You could, for instance, stay within the state boundaries, or you could select three or four states and engage in a speci� c outdoor activity. Hiking certain trails would be one idea.

Camera Buffs Will Want "Top Photo Opportunities"As you know, pretty much, everyone is now a travel photographer, social journalist and travel blogger. Putting

together some tours of "Top Photo Opportunities" could be a very attractive proposition for those click-happy clients. And how nicely would this idea tie in with the "Breathtaking Scenery" headline?

Your MissionAs you can see, these state-related headings are all-purpose, with just one or two pertaining to the actual state they were listed under. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is this: go back to the website and click your way through each state and read through the list of one-liners. Capture the ones that make sense to your particular interest and then start to fashion your sales plan around the words in that heading. And yes, you can adapt, adopt and combine the words you � nd.

There is another heading that I really liked and it is this one coming up… and it � ts right into present day trends.

" Yo u r C h i l d W i l l A l w a y s Remember..."What a fabulous lead-in to promote family travel, family adventures and theme parks. Go back into your own childhood. Do you remember any great family trips? Yes, of course you do!

Now think about your clients… what would their kids remember for the rest of their lives? Meeting a Disney character, for sure. Riding the wildest ride and surviving, of course. Hiking up a mountain with Ma and Pa and sharing the moment – absolutely. You get the idea. In fact, you might even call all your clients to a meeting to discuss family tour topics. When clients have a say in where they might go, guess what? They generally sign up and go. ✪

"W��� ����nt� h��� � s�� �� ����� ���� �i�h� g�, ��es� �ha�? T��� ����r���� �i���� �n� g�..."

Page 32: IC Travel Agent august 2014

A HOME FOR THE HOME BASED AGENTS

Big Bark has all your print-marketing needs covered!

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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.

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• 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.

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Page 33: IC Travel Agent august 2014

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IC Travel Agent.

Page 34: IC Travel Agent august 2014

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