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

THE ART OF SELLING TRAVEL FROM HOME

DECEMBER 2014

4 EDITORIAL

Selling travel from home does

not have to be a puzzle when you read IC! Find the host agency

that best suits your needs.

Share your money making ideas in IC and help your IC colleagues.

CONTACT

Steve Crowhurst steve@ic-travelagent.com

250-738-0064 www.ic-travelagent.com

Publisher:

SMP Training Co. www.smptraining.com

Contributors

Steve Crowhurst IC TRAVEL AGENT is owned and published by Steve Crowhurst, SMP Training Co. All Rights Reserved. Protected by International Copyright Law. IC TRAVEL AGENT can be shared, forwarded, cut and pasted but not sold, resold or in any way monetized. Using any images or content from IC TRAVEL AGENT must be sourced as follows: “Copyright SMP Training Co. www.smptraining.com” SMP Training Co. 568 Country Club Drive, Qualicum Beach, BC, Canada, V9K-1G1 Note: Steve Crowhurst is not responsible for outcomes based on how you interpret or use the ideas in IC TRAVEL AGENT. T: 250-738-0064.

7 ARE YOU ON THE LIST?

8 1. JUST SAY IT

10 2. EMAIL YOUR THANKS

11 3. SEND A TREAT

12 4. GIFT CARDS

13 5. BALL CAPS & TOQUES

14 6. RECOGNITION

15 7. INQUIRING GIFTS

16 8. HAND WRITTEN NOTES

17 9. DISCOUNTS

18 10. A GOOD BOOK

20 11. CLIENT AWARDS

21 12. SEND A REFERRAL

22 13. APP FOR THAT

23 ENDANGERED SPECIES – Jill Wykes

TABLE OF CONTENTS – IC DECEMBER 2014

If it’s not yet 5pm where you live, you still have time to make one more

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

10131503-Nexion_Ad.indd 1 10/29/13 2:18 PM

It’s time to thank your clients for their business. Yes, your hard work has paid off and your reputation has attracted your clients to do business

with you and finally it is your client’s hard earned money that has paid for your business, house,

car, food etc. It’s coming up to the time when you just have to say “thank you” – and you’ll want

to do this in a way that is meaningful to your clients and long lasting, too.

The art of the thank you is not to buy your client’s business with expensive gifts or huge discounts

but to simply acknowledge their support with a small but meaningful gift that can range from a

well-chosen thank-you card, to a small discount, or mention of an up-coming trip you know they

have been dreaming of for years. Then there’s the invitation to dinner, passing on a supplier’s

special offer and perhaps asking them to speak at a function.

Finally and possibly a strange phenomenon in the present day, try a telephone call to thank them

personally, and if you want to go one better, you might want to do that live and in person on

their doorstep. Let’s head inside and see what else we can suggest as an end-of-2014 thanks for

the business activity.

Here’s to your continued success!

Best regards.

Steve Crowhurst, CTC

steve@ic-travelagent.com

www.ic-travelagent.com

PS: Don’t forget to check out the new titles at the Selling Travel Store

Steve Crowhurst, CTC, Publisher

Click me if you

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1. Just Say It Now there’s a concept. I wonder if it will ever take off. Saying, as in delivering those very words,

“thank you” in a verbal format to your clients. Sounds easy, but still some travel agents who

have grown up on not dealing face-to-face so much, might just shy away from the one-on-one

interaction. But not you. No. You are a reader of IC Travel Agent and you know you can do this.

Working from your home office you are more likely to be meeting your clients somewhere other

than your home, either at their house or in a local coffee shop or online via Skype. It is at the live

and in-person meeting that you want to plan your verbal and in –person thank-you.

The words and the matching eye contact and matching handshake are usually the best and most

sincere form of thanking your clients for their business and each person receiving your personal

thanks will appreciate it and remember it. It is also the cheapest thank-you you can deliver.

The handshake component of this meeting is very important. It takes practice to get it right.

The usual grip would be firm, you would “pump” the client’s hand twice and then release – and

the release is also very important. How you release can insult the client. Never zap your hand

back to your side, and never rub or stroke or caress your client’s hand as you withdraw from the

grip. Just simply let go.

Shaking hands with someone of the opposite sex can be a challenge unless practiced. Use the

same generic handshake as mentioned above for everyone regardless of them being male or

female. The only difference would be shaking hands with a senior person who may suffer from

arthritis and therefore your handshake should be firm but not gripping too hard.

Your hands should

touch tightly here…

The grip should be firm,

not loose or limp.

Keep in mind the cultural aspects of shaking hands, looking into someone’s eyes and also how

close you can, could and should stand next to your client without making your client feel

uncomfortable. As a travel trade professional you can apply your knowledge of cross cultural

communication to any customer interaction as you say, “Thanks!”

Proxemics (Prox-ee-micks) is the study of culturally defined uses of space and preferred

interaction distances. There is too close, too distant and just right – and it is not only related to

cultural differences but also personal. A North American to North American interaction will be

dictated by the person least comfortable with a close encounter. The concept of personal space

is not reserved for women as is often thought - many men do not like to be standing too close to

others, male or female. That person feeling uncomfortable might even be you.

So be sure to stick to a minimum of a 24 inch gap between you and your client, move in to shake

hands and then back out again. If you see your client step back further, you’ll know that they

prefer a boundary outside the established 24 inch zone.

To be sure your “Thank You” is received as

intended stick to the rule of a good quality

handshake, stepping in and out of your

client’s personal space and keep your eyes

soft and friendly and stable – meaning look

directly into your client’s eyes – but only for

a few seconds.

Eye contact is another very important

element of your thank you for your business

greeting. Some cultures do not like direct eye

contact, others do, the average person gets a

little jittery if someone is “eye-balling” them,

staring through them etc., and never scan a

person’s body.

All it takes is practice and reading up on

cultural preferences and from then on, it is a matter of being observant as to how your client

reacts in this type of situation.

Here’s three books that you might enjoy.

You can use the information when you are

travelling, you can advise your clients when

they are travelling and you can use the

information to guide you when thanking

your clients who hail from other parts of

the world.

2. Email Your Thanks Never ever send out a group “thank you” email. You know, the kind that arrives addressed to

‘undisclosed recipients” – the outcome of using the Bcc line. No one wants to be lumped in

with everyone else. Your email should be personalized and have some meaning to the recipient

and even a mention of their last trip if your notes are up to date. You can go with text only or

you can add a small graphic to support your words of thanks.

If it feels right, you can also mention their up-coming trip if they have one booked with you and

if they do, then you can close out with a statement similar to this one: “… and I look forward to

seeing you soon to finalize the arrangements for your up-coming trip to…”

Very important these days, is your compliance with the anti-spam rulings that govern where you

live. In essence you must have your client’s permission to send them emails. Even if you wish to

thank them for their business. Chances are you have this done and dusted – but make sure you

do. But then, not too many clients would complain about being thanked for their business.

Insert a graphic.

Mention their last trip.

Attach or insert a

photo with some

meaning to it.

3. Send a Treat How well do you actually know your clients? Do you know them well enough to know their

preferred brand of candy, or coffee, or munchies? Attach a tag to whatever it is you know they

will like and pop it in the mail, or if you are meeting with your clients in the short term you can

present them with their ‘thanks for the business’ treat at that time.

It’s important to know a few more details of course and chances are you have certain medical

conditions listed on each of your client’s profile. Someone who is diabetic probably wouldn’t

appreciate a sugary delight for instance.

The type of treat you select is the surprise and the clincher for a continuation of business into

2015. Some companies package their treats in gift wrapping and gift boxes, too. Whether it’s

coffee, cake or candy… there’s a company that’s packaging it and just waiting for you to present

it as a thank-you gift to your top clients.

The question is: do you send the gift in the mail or do you hand it over personally? There is always

that surprise element when someone receives something in the mail. It’s a “Wow, I wonder who

is sending me a package?” response and when they open it and find out it’s from YOU their travel

agent, that you have taken the time to select this treat, package it and mail it as a thanks-for-the-

business treat – well now… YOU are the BEST travel agent a client could have and it’s at this

moment that your client starts to tell their friends about their gift. Shortly after that, referrals are

generated.

Keep the viral concept top of mind at all times. Your thank you treat should generate at least one

decent referral, hopefully a lot more. So that means you might want to add a card that suggests:

“Share your travels with your friends… and these treats too! Look forward to helping you //

working with you // arranging your next trip… in 2015.” You can work your magic on the slogan

as you decide your message that your clients might forward to their friends.

YUM! Well… they’re from

Steve our travel agent… with

a thank you note…

Isn’t that a nice gesture!

I must tell our friends…

4. Gift Cards There is, as you well know, a gift card for everything anyone could want, within a certain price

range that is. You can select from well-known companies or create your own gift card. The

value of the gift card should be not be high or you’ll be putting yourself out of business. On the

other hand it cannot be too low for fear of insulting your clients. Other factors come into play

too such as choosing a gift card that the recipient will be pleased to receive.

Look at that image on the right, “snapped” off Google

Images after entering a search term of “gift cards” –

WOW! Hundreds of them.

You might judge the card values against the level of

business your clients have given you. Big spenders might

warrant a $50 card whereas the low spenders would

receive a $10 card. The $10 card seems to be the average

‘call to action’ amount.

The value of the card regardless of the dollar figure on the

front of it increases based on how useful the card is to the

recipient, which brings us once again to the question of

how well you know your clients.

An iTunes gift card is pretty much universal now, but not

perhaps for seniors or late Baby Boomers. But then you

would know more about the habits of your clients to

make that call.

The DIY Gift Card can be created by you and the dollar

value is redeemable only at your agency. So although you

are gifting a said amount to your client, they must spend

it and pay the balance with your agency. It’s a nice treat

and it keeps your client tied to you for their next trip.

There are small run printers you can purchase for around

$200 and up depending on the number of cards to be

printed. You control the graphics, text and value and then

you can print on demand when you feel like it. Or, you can

visit your local print shop and order paper or plastic and

the costs may even be cheaper than DIY. Your suppliers might even have their own gift cards that

you can order and re-gift as in pass on the savings to your clients. Ask your BDMs about this.

5. Ball Caps & Toques This ‘thank-you’ item is a great way to say to your clients that they are on your team (of clients)

and everyone likes to receive a decent ball cap. To be worn, it has to be a good looking cap.

When purchased in quantities, they are not expensive. The “look” and the colour and the

graphics are what makes a ball cap acceptable to wear. This is very important. Bright pink and

mauve may not be sported on too many heads. Make sure your logo is on the ball cap, plus

your website address – additional graphics could suggest the wearer is a world traveller.

LOCATIONS FOR YOUR LOGO

Do you happen to operate a travel club? Are you planning a special departure or cruise? Are you

known for a specific niche type of travel or destination? All of these activities can be turned into

an image or a word that you can show off on your ball caps and toques.

You might want to create a design that becomes known as YOU and your travel agency. This

design could be a letter, a shape, something resembling the world, the planet… or whatever you

and your clients decide you like. If you can engage your clients in designing your branded head

gear so much the better. Now you also have something to sell too. A gift to your long term clients

for their business and also available from your online store for others.

If your design is very catching and trendy then you can start asking for selfies featuring your client

wearing their cap, taken on location. This idea is not new, but it can work very nicely for you as

your clients send their selfies, featuring their trip and your cap, to their pals.

6. Recognition There’s no better connection between you and your clients then when you praise them in front

of the world, in front of their fellow travellers and in front of your entire client base. To be

recognized can boost the power of certain people however you must be careful in doing this as

some of your clients would be too shy to accept the fame and not wanting to be showcased.

For the clients who are outgoing and have given you so much business here’s how you can

recognise them and thank them at the same time.

First things first, you thank them privately for

their business, this you can do by employing

any of the ideas mentioned in this issue of IC

TA. Next however is the action that will

cement your client’s business to your agency

in the future. It’s all about showcasing your

client’s travels and recognising them for the

number of trips booked and the number of

places visited, miles flown and nautical miles

cruised.

Showcasing in this case means to use some

of their photographs, to feature anything

they might write about their travels and if

you put on a presentation for your clients,

having them speak about their favorite

destination.

It’s in this way you can also thank them

publically on your website, blog and other

social media sites.

Introducing our #1 cruiser…

7. Inquiring Gifts This idea is rather unique because the client, actually prospect would be the best word to use

here, the prospect has not purchased anything, yet. The idea here is to offer a small thank-you

gift as an inducement to return and book with you. The gift can be and usually is a pen and that

would be costing you anywhere from .75 cents to one-dollar. Depending on the discussion you

had with your client and the level of trip they discussed, you might offer them something of a

higher in value such as a gift card for $10, if their prospective trip was $3,000 (?) or more.

There is no attempt to hide the fact that you are buying their business and trying to encourage

them to become a customer of your agency. Right now they are purely a prospect.

Here’s how you might deliver your thank-

you message before the prospect is off

the call. You can offer them a choice as

shown here, or you can as mentioned

relate the value of the thank-you gift to

the value of the trip discussed.

I’d like to extend a small token of our

thanks for calling us and if you can drop by

our agency I have a nice company pen // a

Starbucks gift card // an agency gift coupon

valued at $35 that you can redeem with us

as and when you book your trip…

WOW! Thank

you so much…

8. Hand Written Notes Here’s one for you. A throwback you might say, but no, this is current and one of the top

methods of thanking someone for their patronage. Mind you, there is an art to it and an

etiquette that you can study should you wish to pursue the concept. If you are of the early Baby

Boomer generation you would be familiar with all things hand-written. Generation Y perhaps

not so much given the keyboard era versus the pen era. Many of you reading this will have a

love of the pen regardless of era and generation and you might even be calligraphers. So much

the better if you are. Here’s how this idea works:

To do this right, you’ll need real ink (hey!)

and a quality fountain pen, excellent note

paper that is made for this purpose and if

available, deckle edged.

You could purchase a generic pack of thank-

you cards from your local to big box

stationary store or you could create and

order your own custom designed stationery

that you would feel proud to send. At the top

of your letterhead / stationery you might

have your logo embossed in gold, copper or

silver – giving it a “posh” look. Or, to keep

your personalized thank-you note in line

with your client’s level of booking you could

have two or three sets of stationary printed.

It has to be said that black ink on off-white

paper looks excellent, too.

Penmanship is important here. A hard to

read chicken scratch will not receive much

attention. A nicely flowing calligraphic work

will. Always write by hand and learn to write

in both upper and lower case – versus

printing the message in all capitals.

A quality fountain pen with a wedged, italic,

sloping nib will deliver a wonderful script

that upon receipt, your clients will marvel at.

Your handiwork and the elegance of this

simple but now very effective note being the

main attraction. Yes, they will show their

friends and that means you have gone viral!

Be sure to keep your note short and crafted to deliver just the right amount of thanks. You can mention how much you enjoy / enjoyed working with your client and how they have impacted you and your agency. Thank them again at the close out.

Calligraphic ideas here.

Deckled Edge here

9. Discounts… This is an excellent way to thank your clients. Having the inside track as you do, you can explore

your supplier’s special rates and 2-for-1s, and for the right customer offer them these discounts

in advance of their release as a thanks for their past business. The key point here is to know

and have access to the discounts coming from your preferred suppliers. In some cases you will

have to wait until the special offer is announced, however you could secure an agreement with

your supplier of choice and be authorized to extend the discount in advance, privately and not

promote it openly.

Having the right connections helps and of

course your suppliers will need to know your

intentions for their discount.

The fact that you are using their discount to

reward a client is good because it means

more business for your supplier. You would

have pre-sold and pre-closed your client to

book with the supplier you have chosen.

Based on the travel profile of your top clients

you could make notes as to which of your

supplier’s products suit which client profile

and then go seek the discount. In some cases

the discount program may be created just

for you.

It’s a matter of being creative and keeping

your suppliers tuned into your ideas to grow

their business and yours.

At other times there will be standard

giveaways, freebies, value adds and

upgrades that your suppliers will introduce

to the general marketplace and it is here too

that you can make good use of each offer.

Although it is your supplier who is offering

the discount, you must deliver the discount

to your clients as if it was yours. You cannot

say it is, but you can let them know you went

hunting on their behalf to land them this

offer. Place the emphasis on your hard work

to win your clients a special rate.

This has to be a “Look what I’ve done for

you… as a thank-you for your business this

last year…” and make sure the discount is

delivered in a custom envelope or ticket

jacket or note card.

10. A Good Book Every traveller needs a good book to read – either a novel or a guide book based on the journey

they are taking and including their end destination, too. Today you have so many options in

how you get that book into the hands of your clients. Books and book gift cards or coupons

can become expensive so this might be a thank you that’s graded by the level of business you

intend to reward. Some clients will receive a book and others an eBook and others a coupon

they can put towards a book of their choice.

You want to add to your client profiles

whether or not they own an e-Book reader

and which brand. Let’s say it’s a Kindle,

which would mean Amazon, then you could

set up a gift card or a coupon or simply

purchase and email them a gifted amount

that they can then accept and open in their

Kindle / Amazon account. The same idea is

repeated depending on the reader, tablet

your client prefers.

Going forward this type of information is

becoming even more key to servicing your

clients through and via their digital

preferences. There are literally hundreds of

eBook readers and almost as many

platforms. The common format to all or

most is PDF. So, if you happen to have

written a travel book, and it is in PDF format,

you could perhaps use your own publication

as the book gift.

Moving from digital to hard or soft copy, this

type of publication offers more potential in

that you can now sign the inside page and

also write your Thank You message inside

the book. It will be there forever. The choice

of book is always the key to success and

means you’ll want to know your client’s

reading preferences. Is it mystery, murder,

mayhem or cooking? One more question to

add to the client profile as each new client

becomes a customer.

We’re combining a couple of the thank-you

ideas here – the gift card, a coupon, an

email, the calligraphy – they all factor into a

book being the main component of this

thank you.

You may reserve the book giving for your top

/ best clients as these days, unless the book

is found on the remainder table, they cost

$20 - $45. However, there are a few and

absolutely wonderful coffee table sized

books from Taschen that are huge and

glorious for a small price. A Taschen book,

signed over to your clients, will be shown to

all their friends without a doubt and the

book may not be travel related at all. I leave

it to you to review the choices at your local

book store or go online to the Taschen

website.

Don’t forget, in our current world it is so easy

to publish you own book and print them as

you need them, fully bound and ready to

sign. If you have the talent, get to it, write it,

publish it and use it as your year-end Thank

You gift and revenue generator.

One of my favourites…

(Click to View)

More Dalton Books here: http://www.anthonydalton.net/

Be warned! Once you open this book you’ll be transported to

a world of escapes and escapades through the nib of

Anthony Dalton’s adventurous pen. Laugh with him. Escape

with him. It’s all here along with more than a few characters,

chills and thrills that you’ll never forget.

11. Client Awards We hit close to this idea when discussing the recognition of your clients travels and so now we

move on to an Awards Event where you actually feature your most travelled, most cruised and

even the Customer of The Month based on the uniqueness of their trip. The idea continues and

helps to make your clients proud to be a customer of yours as you go above and beyond to

recognise your clients for their business and their travels. They should receive something for

this and giving them a well-designed plaque, scroll, or ornament they can display will make

them feel as special as they truly are.

So there you are. Your very own GLOBE

AWARDS SHOW. Tadaaaaaaaaaaaa! As and

when you arrange this event, you’ll invite the

local press, your suppliers and ALL of your

clients. You use the stage to thank everyone

for their business, hope to see them again

next year and now… let’s celebrate the 100th

cruise taken by Mr & Mrs…. and then the

hikers award, the beach award.

You can come up with any and all awards

covered by the GLOBE AWARD event. The

awards can be anything we’ve mentioned in

this issue… a book, a gift card, a discount and

so on and we cannot forget the recognition

factor where you have your #1 traveller talk

about their travels. Fifteen minutes of fame

for them and more bookings for you.

12. Send a Referral Here’s a great way to say thank you to your clients who own and run a business. If some of your customers are in business for themselves, just like you, then work out how you can send each of these customers a referral.

To do this you’ll need to know about your

customer’s business and the products and

services they sell and offer. Once you know

that you can focus on how you might

generate a business referral for them. Such

referrals are probably right there in your

agency mailing list and from that moment

on, it’s all about you promoting your

customer’s business to the rest of your

clients.

Best not to focus on just one or two clients

with a business. Consider them all in need of

referrals and then set about promoting all

your clients with a business to the entire

agency list.

If you wish however, you can also focus on

the clients who are big spenders with you

and also own and run a business. You may

not promote their business publicly but stick

to letting your inner circle of friends and

contacts know about this persons business

and make a referral when it seems right.

Perhaps you arrange an evening out with

yourself, your client and your business

referral.

“Hi Joanna… as a thanks for your travel

business this year I want to invite you to a

lunch with a contact of mine who I feel

could become a good client of yours…

interested?”

That’s about all it takes. Pretty cut and dried

and usually well accepted by both parties. If

this idea appeals to you then run a list of

clients who spend $10,000 or more with you,

check for their business and then decide who

amongst your contacts would benefit from

an introduction.

This concept also works for a good client

with a hobby. You could refer someone to

them who might enhance their skills, talents,

share something with them on a topic they

both enjoy.

13. App For That The world of apps is with us and never to leave us and that means you could

bf factoring in an App as your thank you gesture to certain or all clients.

Some of the apps I would suggest you give to your clients are FREE… others

cost a buck ninety-nine. You’ll need to surround what you send or offer with

words and phrases to suit.

My suggestion for the app you send off is

one that can help your clients in a moment

of distress. Given the world as it is today,

travelling can become a moment in time

when you need to call for help. So, my

suggestion is to send your clients an SOS app.

These apps allow your clients to tap the

screen of their device and request assistance

from the police, fire department and within

some of these SOS apps there is a first

responder program that tracks the GPS

location of the user and then puts the plans

in motion to extract them.

Another app for your cruising clients is Deck

Director and in its everyday use this app can

guide your client around most of the cruise

ships on the ocean today. Now, in an

emergency where they might become

disoriented on the ship, they can tap into

their app, select a location as to where they

are and where they want to get to and the

app will display the route. Excellent in times

of distress once again.

There are apps to locate washrooms,

medical assistance and more. So think hard

about what app your clients might make

excellent use of and plan your thank you

promotion.

The text above also mentions songs and if

you know the genre your clients enjoy and

you feel that there is a great travelling song

they might like, well now you can gift that

song to them.

As you know there are thousands of apps

and for sure there will be one to suit your

client’s hobbies and travel interests. Look for

the app that suits the occasion and gift that

one.

If unsure, try sending an art app – one that a

client can “play” with during their journey.

Sketching as they go. e-Books are also a

good thing to use as a thank you.

Be appy and secure your clients travel

business for 2015.

IS THE SMALLER TRAVEL AGENCY AN

ENDANGERED SPECIES? Much has been written about the survival of the smaller, independent travel agency in today’s

environment. The industry has seen lots of consolidation over the past decade or two. First

the tour operators started buying travel agencies, followed by larger travel agencies buying

lots of smaller ones. Yet there are still plenty of small to mid-sized agencies out there. So how

do they survive?

There are a few strategies for survival in an industry populated with vertically integrated giants, OTAs and huge retail conglomerates. One of them is to get out from under the crippling costs and workload of operating your own business.

These hard working independent agencies are subject to most of the hard costs that the much larger agencies face. So it is no wonder that many agency owners have just given up and sold when they got the chance.

Selling is not your only option…

But there is an alternative to selling out. Much in the same way that home based agents rely on their host agency to take care of the many costs associated with running a business, now smaller agencies are realizing that they too can take advantage of a similar program supporting small to mid-size agencies.

Imagine no longer having to pay your own registration fees & association fees, your own errors & omissions insurance costs, your telephone system costs, your accounting costs, your website. Add this up in dollars and you’ll find it is a substantial amount annually.

And imagine the time you’d save if you didn’t have to attend to all the administration time devoted to all of those activities. And think of all the time you’d then have to focus on selling travel. And meanwhile you can retain your agency’s identity if you choose to.

As well, you become part of a community of agents so that when you need support, advice or information, you’ve got it.

Most of us work in travel because we love it. There are solutions for staying in this industry we love and escaping some of the onerous costs and tasks that come with running your own business. Be sure to look at all options for survival.

By Jill Wykes

Brought to you by The Travel Agent Next Door

Go ahead and reward yourself this holiday by enrolling now in the CTA Certification

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5. See what some of our CTA graduates have to

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Being certified by The Travel Institute makes me

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strive and advance in my travel career. Without

the educational background provided by The

Travel Institute, I would not be the consultant or

agency owner I am today." Lori Washington, CTA

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