Selling Travel - March 2013
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Are you ready for when opportunity strikes? THE E-MAGAZINE THAT FOCUSES ON THE REALITY OF SELLING TRAVEL
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The Sales Resource Magazine for Travel Agents
Transcript of Selling Travel - March 2013
Are you ready for when
opportunity strikes?
THE E-MAGAZINE THAT FOCUSES ON THE REALITY OF SELLING TRAVEL
3 Editorial 4 What Is Opportunity? 5 How Do You Prepare For Opportunity? 6 The Certified Travel Industry Executive Program 7 Just Published – The Travel Agency Manager Magazine 8 Waking Up To A World Of Opportunity 10 Recent Opportunities 12 The Grand & Luxurious Opportunity
13 New Tools 14 Looking For Opportunity 16 Thriving Opportunities In Travel – Steve Gillick
18 Promoting The Opportunity To Have You As Their Travel Agent 20 Creating An Environment For Opportunity
23 The Infographic Opportunity 24 Giving LinkedIn Love = Opportunities – Cory Andrichuk 26 The Lowly Business Card Or Has It Just Morphed? 29 The Humour Opportunity in Selling 30 Have You Got Your Copy Yet? 31 Connect And Contact Information
Publisher SMP Training Co.
www.smptraining.com
Contributors Steve Crowhurst Steve Gillick
Cory Andrichuk
Copy Editor Lisa McDougall
Selling Travel is owned and published by Steve Crowhurst, SMP Training Co. All Rights Reserved. Protected by International Copyright Law. Selling Travel can be shared, forwarded, cut and pasted but not sold, resold or in anyway monetized. Using any images or content from Selling Travel 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 Selling Travel or on the Selling Travel website.
TABLE OF CONTENTS – ST MARCH 2013
EDITORIAL – MARCH 2013
The Keys to More Opportunities Some say there are opportunities coming at us each and every minute; the trouble is we just don’t recognize them when they are staring us in the face. We’ve all experienced two or three opportunities recently ranging from a crippled cruise ship, to a Changing of the Guard at the Vatican, to a meteor crashing into our planet, not to mention airline mergers. The question is: Were you a spectator or a creator? All too often an opportunity is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It is not what it seems to be and it could be your mind that’s telling you that this is ‘the one’ – this is going to be big. But it’s not true in terms of generating commission at this point in time. You’ll need to measure the opportunity against your past experiences and use certain business tools to help you judge the opportunity for what it is. You will hit and miss and eventually strike it lucky. Others will notice your hard won success, which will look as if you are blessed with the magic touch. Only you will know the truth. In this issue of Selling Travel we touch base on what this thing called opportunity really is and how you get ready to exploit it when you finally see one, find one, create one and when it actually lands in your lap.
You’ll need to create a working environment where ideas and opportunities are discussed and expected. Key word here is expected. If you do not believe in the laws of attraction then you may want to read up on the topic. So much of what ‘comes to us’ is brought about by the very vibes we put out and circulate around ourselves. You know this to be true. When you expose a happy, vibrant, interested and relaxed personality, people will warm to you. You will attract people like you. It’s a universal law, or so it seems. The opposite will not garner many opportunities. Trust me. Read. Enjoy and switch on that opportunity you. Here’s to a very successful March. All the BEST! Steve Crowhurst, CTC, CTM Publisher and New Business Generator
ANNOUNCING A New Sister Magazine
You can find it HERE.
Want to write for Selling Travel? Share your successes with your fellow travel agents and submit an article based on an idea that has made you money. Spell out the idea and the steps you followed. Submit to me here: [email protected]
Opportunity in the travel & tourism industry is ever present. Many times it will seem that in order to capitalize on it, you’ll be going against a few universal laws that generally and inwardly tell us that you, we, me, should not make money from someone else’s misery. According to Business Dictionary, their definition of opportunity is this: An exploitable set of circumstances with uncertain outcome, requiring commitment of resources and involving exposure to risk. www.businessdictionary.com
That definition is enough to scare many travel agents away from taking on any new opportunities – however, the wording is right on the money. Exposure to risk is not something that comes easy to travel agents in the general sense, which is why only those with a Type A risk‐seeking personality seem to take advantage when that opportunity presents itself. The term ‘going on risk’ in our trade means that you would have bought seats, paid a deposit on beds and berths and, in essence, invested in your ability to turn a sale on a
product you have purchased. This is something the typical street front retailer is used to doing – not so much retail travel agents. Usually the supplier takes all the risk and the travel agent simply promotes the supplier’s product. Now, what if a supplier offered up a deal that required you to invest and purchase up front X number of seats, beds, berths – would you jump on it? It’s an opportunity that you know few of your competitors will follow through on, meaning YOU might just be one of a few going for this deal. That’s what an opportunity in travel and tourism is. Generally an opportunity in this industry does not go mass market across all travel agents. More so, just those that are positioned to take it on and make it happen – committing resources, which are time, money, human effort and judging the risk as to be worthwhile taking. Then there are ready‐made opportunities that simply require you to stand up and say, “Over here!” These are the opportunities you must learn to recognize early.
FIRST THINGS FIRST… do you want to know about opportunities when they happen? If your answer is yes, then you must prepare for them. You’ll remember from the previous page the words, commitment and resources.Here we’ll explore four elements that you’ll also need to think about and make sure they are embedded in your plan. Generally an opportunity has four elements that are integrated and present, given the timing/time frame of the opportunity.. The timing, often referred to as a ‘window of opportunity,’ might be a few days or it could be a few months. A short time frame can sometimes result in knee jerk reactions and mistakes being made in the rush to profit.
Here are the four elements that are associated with preparing for an opportunity:
1. A need 2. The means to fulfill the need 3. A method to apply the means to fulfill
the need 4. A method to benefit
The more control you have over each element, the better. There will be a variety of situations that, in order to become an opportunity, require someone to see ‘the need’ and then fulfill that need. Keep this in mind: “Out of Crisis, Comes an Opportunity” – which means whenever something drastic happens in the world, there is a tourism opportunity to be had.
HOW DO YOU
PREPARE FOR
OPPORTUNITY?
The newly redesigned Certified Travel Industry Executive (CTIE) program is a bold collection of courses and on‐line training focused on the critical skills that today’s travel professionals need to succeed. Graduates will learn how to grow their business while earning recognized industry credentials. The CTIE certification is parallel to the Certified Travel Counselor (CTC) certification, thus, representing the pinnacle of travel industry professionalism for seasoned travel professionals who are interested in advancing their career.
NEW: It is no longer a prerequisite to earn the CTA designation or test out of CTA prior to enrolling in CTIE. NEW: While studying for your CTIE, you will enjoy Premium Membership benefits such as white papers, expert webinars, podcasts, blog posts and much more. NEW: All courses are completed online in The Travel Institute’s Communiversity. NEW: Interest free 12 month payment plan is now available. The CTIE program is perfect for travel professionals in non‐consumer sales roles such as::
Suppliers Host agency executives Consortia leaders Marketers
Internet travel executives Back of office accountants IT support staff
The new CTIE curriculum covers these five core competencies:
Communication Leadership Management Sales and Marketing Customer Service
To earn the CTIE, travel professionals must:
Possess at least 5 years of full‐time industry, management or business experience
Complete a 2000‐3000 word White Paper
Commit to annual certification maintenance to retain certification
After certification, commit to annual Travel Institute membership
That’s right. I’m giving two‐thumbs up
for The Travel Institute’s CTIE program and recommend you check it out. At the same time look for my management webinars and workbooks that will indirectly support what you learn by studying the CTIE content. Click on The Travel Institute’s logo for more information. Read TAM here.
TAM is written for management by management. Content supports the management role from executive to senior to mid-management to supervisor.
Topics focused on overall management soft skills ranging from human resources, coaching and leadership to budgeting, public speaking & PowerPoint presentations to communication, planning, EQi, CQiB, staff meetings and more.
A pure no-fluff how-to e-Magazine with no trade advertising.
Steve Crowhurst, CTM President, SMP Training Co.
T: 250-752-0106 www.smptraining.com
TAM’s Direct to Desk Webinars are in the
works. Train the GREEN way!
Click to Read
AND
There is, believe it or not, a world of opportunity each and every day and most of those opportunities are ready for the taking if you have put certain events in motion. Here are 14 keys to help you wake up to more than a few opportunities each day.
1. No matter what your niche may be, ALWAYS promote a luxury version of it.
2. Always promote a world cruise,
no matter what. 3. Always ask for referrals. 4. Always build your mailing list by
offering something to subscribe to and detail the benefits.
5. Always host a consumer event
where you can meet and engage with 10 to 50 people, live and in person and all at the same time.
6. Always watch, listen to and access
on‐line the morning news and the trade news and look for the travel opportunity.
7. Always ask, “Is anyone else
travelling with you…?” 8. Always ask your clients what they
do for a living, if a staff vacation program is in place and who manages the company’s corporate travel.
9. Always, send your clients your
new brochure as soon as it arrives with a letter asking them to call you.
10. Always end the year with a phone call to each client asking where and when they plan to travel in the coming year.
11. Always ask each client if they
belong to a group or association and whether or not they travel as a group.
12. Always ask your clients in a
mass marketing format, “Where are we going this year?”
13. Always post, “Now accepting
new clients.” online, in your agency window.
14. Always follow up, follow up and
follow up. So there you have 14 keys for generating new opportunities and if you activate each one, they will build over time and eventually it will seem that each day a new opportunity has arrived. It will, however, be as a result of your hard work and tenacity to sow the seeds for growth in advance. Feel free to add to the list. Nothing is carved in stone, as you know. Make sure if you think it, ink it, and do it.
Good, better, best; never let it rest till your good is better and your better is BEST!
Okay… here’s a good one! No, we’re not going to dump all over Carnival as that wouldn’t be how you create an opportunity.
Your cruise clients know what went on, they are seasoned cruisers and these things happen, but, if this is a first, everyone will now know how to handle it if and when there is a repeat.
Turning this event into an opportunity is what you must concentrate on, and although the mass media news channels were pitching disaster, they were headlining cruising – and that’s where you come in to promote… you got it, CRUISING! You still have time.
If you wanted to go with the flow, you could also push RIVER CRUISING or you could push any other type of travel – especially land‐based tours.
The Pope has decided to call it quits and that takes guts at any time in a person’s life. This man just gave every travel agent a huge opportunity to cash in on his, The Pope’s, departure and the arrival of his successor. A double opportunity.
Check with your suppliers NOW and find out who is arranging what tours and when. This is a do‐it‐now action plan you must follow if you want to be in at the start. It will be a ‘Where Were You When Pope Benedict Stepped Down?’ event, for sure.
Hadn’t seen this in my lifetime until now, and I tell you, it made me think how fragile our existence really is. Imagine a rock just a tad larger hitting a major city. Well no, better not think of that. Think about the event, where it was and what will come about because of it. That would be tours to the region. Not right away, but they will happen.
You’ll need to start knocking on the doors of your eco clients, star gazers and UFO followers, to mention a few.
WHOEVER OWNS THE
NEWS, WINS!
Take this slogan to heart. Live it and be sure that next time the likes of CNN go after a travel related story, and assuming they have it wrong, you stand up and start pitching for yourself and your fellow travel agents. Better if you head‐up a large travel company, as you would be, should be noticed. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for any events that could turn into opportunity, or take the reigns, as stated above, and generate your own sources of spin‐off revenue.
When it comes to teaching new selling opportunities there’s only one speaker that delivers the
WHAT TO followed by the HOW‐TO.
You know WHO.
Engage Steve for your 2013 Fall Conference, Convention or Management Meetings.
For more information please contact
THE GRAND & LUXURIOUS OPPORTUNITY
You will read elsewhere in this issue that I suggest you always try to add a world cruise to whatever it is you are marketing. Or if cruising isn’t your niche, then how about pushing one of the Grand Tours of Europe? Need something more grand than grand? Let’s go for the Around the World tour by Private Jet. Actually, it doesn’t really matter what you choose as your grand and luxurious opportunity – what does matter is the effort to include it in your basic marketing plan. And now to the nitty gritty and the usual response to my advice to sell Grand and Luxurious. Yes, I hear you – “Our client’s can’t afford to pay $100,000 for a trip.” Or, quite simply, “We don’t sell luxury…” If you were thinking that as you were reading this – you’d be wrong on both accounts. There is always someone who can afford a luxury trip and all travel agents sell luxury travel. If you don’t sell it because you don’t know how, well that’s a different story and one with a happy ending. You can learn how. So work with me and just do it. Just work a high‐priced trip in amongst your everyday offers. What are you selling? Let’s go All Inclusive Caribbean. Now let’s add the most expensive Caribbean resort into that mix. Playing with numbers – let’s say that resort or hotel comes out at $3,000 per night. A 10‐night stay = $30,000 and change. Not bad. If you hadn’t placed that resort amongst your regular offers you would not have attracted any interest at all. If you do add the luxury resort into your promotional mix, you at least have a chance. From here on then, that’s your mission. Look for the most expensive version of what you are promoting and work it into your advertising and promotional plan. Don’t chicken out now! Get it done.
Here’s a list of categories and pricing for one cruise line. Surely you could handle asking someone, “How will you be paying…?” and then mouthing the words one hundred fifty three thousand and eighteen dollars.
As I know you know, there are world cruise rates that are way more than a mere $153,018. At least you’ve given your client something to think about. Don’t be shy. Just do it and you never know when someone will call or email for more information – or to book an appointment with you. Study luxury travel – not every agency or agent has the confidence to sell it. This makes you the luxury agent for your area. Can you do it?
Well now, let me send you to this fabulous webpage on the 123rf.com website. Glorious images for you to choose from – not free, but not expensive either. If you are producing a quality digital brochure, then you’ll want to invest here. http://www.123rf.com/travel
Screen capture software is such a neat tool to have open and ready to click. One of the best is SnagIt and this app will allow you to capture video, logos, images and then shape them, crop them, remove unwanted space. Excellent. www.techsmith.com
If your emails are not resulting in many results, replies or reservations you should test your emails for spam. Simple words in the subject line can zap you into the junk folder. Check here: www.emailspamtest.com/
What have you got going for you that will create opportunity? Where are you from? What’s your culture, personal journey, religion, special interest… what is it you’ve got, had, experienced that you can use to attract, ME? If you are a Black American, can you sell to white Canadians? If you are Hispanic can you sell to First Nations? If you are here, but originally from ‘there’ – can you sell your home country to all of us? Answer: Yes.
So many times agents ask me questions related to new opportunities they can sell and what should they sell. I know it sounds too simple but I always say start with yourself. What have YOU got that you can sell me? After that we delve into the agent’s previous career, if they had one before joining the travel industry, and look for that opportunity they are seeking; we also look at this agent’s personal interests. Many times the opportunity is sitting right there. To tell you the truth, as a guy born and raised in the UK and now a Canadian citizen, I can tell you that I have never received a consumer promotional brochure, email or invitation to visit any part of the US by a Black American travel agency/travel agent. I have received brochures from an Indian travel agency in Delhi though!
LOOKING FOR OPPORTUNITY
It’s ALL About YOU! Here’s where the opportunities can be found. The reason they are overlooked is that most of the time we take ourselves for granted and assume either no one would be interested in what we’ve got, or that my neck of the woods would not appeal to anyone, or perhaps you, we, me lack the confidence in ourselves, our culture our anything. The North South Travel Route All North American travel agents have clients they have not yet met across the 49th. American agents now have 34.5 million Canadians to attract and Canadian agents have 314 million Americans to chase. Be a consumer for the moment. If you live in the southern USA, have you ever been invited to visit the Northwest Territories by a First Nations travel agent? Chances are the answer is no. Here’s The Opportunity As that sinks in, you will quickly come to understand that where you live has something others want to see. Most of the time travel agents are seeking local clients to send overseas and that’s good. Everyone is doing it so the opportunities are limited to perhaps you offering a better price and that’s about it. Sure you can offer better service and perhaps a value add – however, when it’s the same vs same, the price will factor into the deal. The key word I have used is “invitation” – that doesn’t mean free. Use it the way tourist boards do. The most recent form of invitation extended to the world was that of the US Tourism and the Land of Dreams promotion. That was great. Now ask yourself, if you are an American travel agent, what did you do to ride on all that buzz to generate inbound travel opportunities from Canada, Mexico, overseas and even state to state?
Your Self Inventory Time to take stock and find out what it is you bring to the opportunity table. Here we go.
Who are YOU really?
Why would I buy travel from you?
What have you got that’s new and exciting?
What’s on your bucket list I’d like to do, visit, experience?
What would attract me to visit your area, city, town, village…?
Are you creating a trip based on your own interests? What’s happening?
Where have you been? What have you seen?
How many miles have you travelled?
What’s happened to you along the way?
You get the idea. No matter who you are, colour, race, creed, location or nation, there is always an opportunity waiting to be discovered within that you should let out. Let’s go!
A wise person makes more opportunities than they find. - Francis Bacon
Playing with “Structured Experiences”
In 2004, the robotic rover ‘Spirit’ landed on the planet Mars, to be joined three weeks later, by ‘Opportunity’. Spirit became immobile in 2009 and stopped communicating with NASA shortly afterward, but Opportunity thrives to this day, moving around the planet and sending back scientific reports. You could not ask for a better analogy to the travel industry if you tried.
Spirit is what keeps us driving—the enthusiasm, the energy, the curiosity, the customer greeting; and it is opportunity that keeps us thriving—the wherefore and why—the reasons why we are enacting that spirit in the first place. In a game that we use to train staff, called ‘structured experiences,’ we choose a theme and then ask for a list of values associated with that theme. Each team ranks the values in order of 1‐10, with 1 being the most important. To use a non‐travel example, the theme may be ‘personal comfort’ and the values contributed by the players may be: family, love, home, security, money, health, happiness, friends, warmth and peace. We then make an announcement that an edict has been declared whereby each team can only possess 7 values—which means they have to eliminate 3. A further edict will reduce the number of values to 5 (thus eliminating another 2) and a final edict will reduce the number to 3. It’s a tough, challenging, sometimes heart‐wrenching play‐exercise, but the purpose is to get people to think, to work in teams, to discuss ideas and concepts amongst themselves and to clearly define the values so that each team member is on the same wavelength. If we were to set up a travel ‘structured experience,’ we might pick the theme of ‘travel counselling’ and collect the following values: opportunity, knowledge, spirit, confidence, people, service, competence, team, money, FAMS. We would then ask each team to go through the exercise of ranking these
values...and then of course the various edicts would be issued forcing each team to crystallize their thoughts about what travel counselling is all about. And at a conference with perhaps 25 teams of 4 people each, the answers would be as varied as there are stars in the universe. But for some, that word “opportunity” would be ‘up there’. Opportunity in travel is the ability to see beyond what is in front of you. It is predicting a client’s behaviour or travel patterns based on what they have related to you in an interview before or after they travel. For example, a client who loved the free upgrade at the all‐inclusive resort may not be able to go back to garden view rooms anymore and may want to embark on a more luxurious vacation next time. Opportunity is watching the news and projecting trends of the future in the industry—and then seeing how these trends will affect your clients in each generational demographic. For example, if the trend is toward experiential travel then you have to consider what you can do to add in that ‘experience’ component for your senior travellers, boomers, Gen X’s, Y’s and Z’s. Each experience may be different but again, interviewing your clients, holding surveys, contests, focus groups and more, will help you ascertain what they are looking for and indeed, how much ‘experience’ they want (cooking classes in France? Language lessons in Japan? Working on a ranch with Gauchos in Argentina? Catching fish with Cormorants in Vietnam? Bungee jumping in New Zealand?)
Guest Article by Steve Gillick, CTM [email protected]
Opportunity is reviewing the hundreds of lists of ‘Top Destinations for the Coming Year,’ choosing some of the ‘new’ countries, then learning about them, and asking your clients if they may be interested in travelling to them (after you have pointed out the benefits). Part of this opportunity is appreciating that clients in all generations are looking beyond the mainstream to the ‘what else’; the ‘I can’t believe I’m going to...’ mentality. And this list could include such places as Suriname, Bhutan, Uruguay, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Albania and more. Opportunity is taking the idea of communicating with your clients and seeing how THEY want to keep in touch. Social media affords a variety of ways, but don’t discount the traditional methods of telephone, fax and email (some would argue that they are once again coming into vogue). Cloud technology allows you to be anywhere on the planet (Earth) and communicate with anyone else on the planet. What do your clients want? And is there an opportunity for you to learn something new along the way (e.g., think back to when you first heard about Skype) and then suggest this to other clients who may want to communicate in this ‘innovative’ way? Opportunity is seeing what else you can do with your travel counselling skills. Can you write a column for the local newspaper and become the authoritative voice of travel? Can you interest the radio station in a weekly 15‐minute Travel‐With‐Me program? Can you start a blog about your own experiences in travel? Or turn your experience in dealing with clients into a customer service blog? Can you take inquiries about a destination or a niche market and turn them into a community information session with the goal of putting together a group of like‐minded travellers? Can you learn about countries in trouble and discuss
in your agency newsletter how tourism may help a country get back on its feet? Can you lead a campaign for your agency or community to adopt a child or a village or send farm animals to those in need? Opportunity is taking the beginning of this article and saying to yourself, “Hmmmm....games at my national conference or training meeting...what a unique idea to engage the participants, have some fun but at the same time, drill down on some basic destination skills.” In fact, many organizations are looking to ‘gamify’ their training sessions to make them more memorable. It’s one of those
leadership‐by‐example scenarios where you use a game to train and then the managers in the audience take the concept back to their agencies to work on skill‐sets that need review or enhancement. Are you game for this opportunity? If not, then play with the idea a bit.
The travel industry has opportunities galore and all you need to do is keep your eyes and your mind open to ideas, trends, statements, news, client feedback, new products in the marketplace, technology trends, etc. It’s no more difficult than what you do now when you read the newspaper or listen to the radio or watch television. You know how your personal antenna perks up when something interesting is covered on TV? Well, as the consummate travel professional, your antenna should be picking up ideas that will accrue to the value of your services now and in the future. Want to grow your career? Step one is to embrace that career on a 24/7 basis and to use all your senses to build up your knowledge and feed your curiosity. Take the concept of ‘opportunity’ as a guideline for success. Grow it, nurture it, exploit it and enjoy it. Just like on Mars, opportunity thrives...but in travel, it’s YOU who is in the driver’s seat.
Steve Gillick’s first article appeared in the Dunera Ship Newsletter in 1967. Since then he has written extensively about travel. He authored the Scam Watch column in Canadian Traveller Magazine for many years, wrote and edited CITC’s industry and consumer newsletters from 1995 to 2012, authors the ‘Travel Coach’ column in www.TravelIndustryToday.com, composes travel blogs at www.talkingtravelblog.ca, contributes articles to www.travelmarketreport.com and www.sellingtravel.net. Many of Steve's blog‐articles have been posted to www.broowaha.com where over 10,500 consumers have enjoyed his thoughts on destinations and travel trends. Steve is the creator of the live Conference game called ‘Are you Smarter than the Average Traveller.’ Test your knowledge with the sample quiz at http://bit.ly/gillickquiz4u. ‐[email protected]
PROMOTING THE OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE YOU AS THEIR
TRAVEL AGENT This might come across a slightly presumptuous and that’s because, well it is! Yeah. Rock on and let the world know you are the BEST! Someone has to do it and why not you? There are ways to do this and do it right, so let’s explore those moves you need to make and crank up the Book With Me opportunity.
You are the BEST are you not? I thought so. But let me ask that again. The BEST means the BEST and so when you market yourself as being the BEST, your existing clients and clients‐to‐be will want to know why, how… and what makes you the BEST. Would it be your travel experience? Can you drop a few names of powerful people that you have served? Do you have any photographs of you standing right where you say you have stood? You need backup – then you can use a slogan like:
TALK TO THE REST BUT BOOK WITH THE BEST!
Oh I know this slogan might cause a challenge in the local travel agent community, however, they do not buy from you. So no need to worry. This type of headline will draw attention to you, which is what you want, and it has to be for the right reasons, as mentioned above. You cannot come across as boastful and with no depth to your statements or claims. If you have a niche market then you’ll want to attract big spenders within that niche. Let’s talk about wine tourism as it covers so many countries and so many types of wine. You could actually, if this was a niche for you, start what I call a ‘niche within a niche.’ Select a bottle, a maker, a label, a region, a type of wine… you know more than I do. Make sure it’s a wine that wine‐lovers would fly to the ends of the earth just to get a taste. But only YOU are offering the tour to that place where your wine clients can taste that taste. You have to go big, you have to be first and you have to be best. That means you know the people who own and run the vineyards. It means you know the best way to get there and you know the local cafes and anything else that being BEST means to a client paying a high price for their travel.
Now we must study your website, the way you dress, your agency décor and so on. Does it, do you, does everything shout loud and clear as BEST?
TAKE IT TO THE STAGE Time to step up your game plan. Time to strut your stuff. Now if you really do want a key to an opportunity, this is it. To turn the key in the right direction means you must be a powerful presenter, be able to hold your audience and mesmerize them with your oratory skills and storytelling.
Research Burton Holmes, the man who came up with the word Travelogue and the man who, back in the day, delivered six thousand Travelogues at black tie events held at Carnegie Hall. So eloquent in delivery and a style all his own. A one‐of‐a‐kind. BEST of the BEST. Here’s your mission: work on your BEST side. Secure a theatre, invite your upscale guests, make it black tie if you can, charge for the event as wealthy people will pay to enter, it’s a privilege PLUS they are coming to listen to you and to be enthralled about their next trip booked with you. Now what could you promote? Why not start with National Geographic’s Around the World by Private Jet. You make commission. The NG logo is a seller. No one else is selling it. You could, because you are what? A:_____ http://www.nationalgeographicexpeditions.com/expeditions/around‐the‐world‐jet‐tour/detail
Okay one thing is for sure, when you retire from the travel trade you do not want to be thinking woulda coulda. This poem, said to have been written by an 85 year‐old woman, puts it all in perspective when it comes to going for it. The rest of the poem can be found here at this link: http://www.wunrn.com/news/2007/03_07/03_12_07/031707_poem.htm
Opportunities will find you IF you make yourself available to them and you can do this by creating a favourable environment in and around your agency, your team and of course yourself. This ‘creating’ means that you are doing new things, trying new things, posting new things, going with social media and blogging
what’s going on with you and your agency and the world of travel. You are putting yourself ‘out there’ where the opportunities live. Some opportunities have not yet materialized but, like rogue waves, they are coming soon. They are just in the process of building the momentum when they will come crashing into your life, and in a good way. Much of that has to do with creating anything that comes on the heels of personal experience and how you position yourself and your agency to be found. The laws of attraction are at work here, too, not to mention the universal laws of asking for what you want. For that to transpire, however, you’ll need to know what you
If I had it to do again, I would travel lighter next time. I would go to more dances. I would ride more merry‐go‐rounds. I would pick more daisies.
I WOULD CREATE MORE OPPORTUNITIES!
want and how to ask for it – and right there is the creation app! When ideas are suggested in your agency or in your own mind, what happens to them? Are they shunted off to a dark place or a folder or simply left to whither and die a lonely death? Do you have an idea file, hold idea meetings, use any form of on‐line collaboration tools that allow your team, other agencies within your company and even suppliers to participate? If you can tap into collective experience, this will help when you have an idea and need the input from more experienced agents and management. Without a doubt, almost anything in the world can be turned into a travel and tourism opportunity. Remember the 2004 Asian Tsunami (and can you believe it was nine years ago) and the total devastation it caused? Of course you do. Do you remember the ancient coastal city found in India as a result of the waves pulling back tons of sand to reveal parts of the ancient structure? That is what happens in the world of tourism and that is what an opportunity looks like. The outcome of a death dealing tsunami creating jobs and tourism dollars. There were many travel agents who felt sad about this event, others donated to the cause and others thought, ah ha…OPPORTUNITY! Here’s a report that appeared in 2005: Friday, March 18, 2005. Probably one of the first good things to come out of the 2004 tsunami in Asia, ancient ruins were discovered in India. Fishermen along the shores report seeing the ruins along the shoreline near Mahabalipuram when the waters receded just prior to the arrival of the tsunami. Mahabalipuram is a port city of South India, dating back to the 7th
century, around 60 km south from the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu. The fishermen reported a complex consisting of ancient temples. Some mention seeing at least 20 distinct temples and hundreds of refrigerator‐sized blocks. The walls were covered with barnacles, coral and mud. Local folklore tells of an ancient port in the area. On the shore, three structures consisting of elaborate carvings in the shape of animals were uncovered. The structures appear to have been covered in sand, which had been wiped away by the force of the tsunami. The structures appear to belong to a port city built in the 7th century. The sculptures, representing an elephant, a lion and a flying horse, were commonly used during the Pallava dynasty, which ran from the 4th to the 9th century, archeologists say. The temples along the shores of Mahabalipuram are already a famous feature of the city, and have been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. Legend has it that the city was home to seven pagodas. Underwater excavations of the area by the archaeological society, run by the Indian government and Navy divers, began on Thursday.
When something of this nature is found or discovered by the forces of nature, then you have, in tourism terms, a unique and one‐of‐a‐kind opportunity. In this case the outcome had to grow into the opportunity it’s become. The area had to be excavated, catalogued and prepared. The UNESCO stamp also helps. If you were interested in ancient temples you would have followed this event to the point where you learned tourists are allowed to visit. That’s when you rise up and seize the day and attempt to be first at monetizing this event. You would have
contacted the Indian tourist board to discuss the opportunity. The Laws of Attraction Have you read, The Secret? It’s pretty good and it deals with the law of attraction which can be applied to so many life events.
Life experience will tell you that you are drawn to some people more than others and vice versa. You are drawn to a certain destination more than others. There is an attraction that is more than ‘good looks’ and for some people perhaps hard to grasp. The laws of attraction work in the selling of travel, too, and if you want opportunity to find you, you must prepare yourself and your agency, your marketing and in general, put yourself out front and centre so that opportunities, the right opportunities, can indeed locate the beacon you are transmitting and hone in. Niche Opportunities We can focus on your niche here as no doubt you would love this segment of your business to grow. If you sit quiet nothing will happen. To create opportunity means you must actively sow a few seeds, do a little more promoting than usual, send out the vibes that you are open for business. You may think you are doing this, but chances are you are not creating as much buzz as you think you are. When you want niche‐based opportunities you will need to stand taller than the rest and that means promoting yourself on‐line,
appearing on talk shows, writing newspaper columns and pumping up the volume about what it is you actually do and sell. Then, as you hit the airwaves, the opportunity will be able to sense you and head in your direction. You’ll know the saying, “When your ship comes in, do not be standing at the airport!” This is telling you to be very careful and attentive for when that law of attraction works, and your signal is strong, that opportunity will come whizzing past and you will need to grab it or lose it. How Fast Can You React? As an independent IC you have, or should have, a faster reaction speed to that of an agent working for a major travel agency chain. Within the chain agency is red tape. This prevents quick decisions when the opportunity requires commitment and resources. The decision‐making speed here might be a week or more. So what is your reaction speed? You need to know. Creating the environment where those opportunities can flourish means you have put into place a series of steps that allow for quick decisions. It’s a matter of who does what and when. Document your methods so that everyone in your agency understands the protocol for when opportunity strikes. Don’t Miss Another Chance… If you have watched others in the trade reach a certain level of business and/or launched a new tour, website or made millions by simply being first, then you know what you have to do if you want to seize the next destination that’s going to sell out. Make sure your name becomes a household name related to your niche market. Anyone thinking of ancient temples should immediately think of you. Same for scuba diving, hiking, wine tours… you must initiate those laws of attraction, keep your office environment open to all ideas and process them properly.
THE INFOGRAPHIC OPPORTUNITY Here is a quick and easy way you can enter the world of infographics without having to study programming, software or struggle with tech’ stuff. You can use good old PowerPoint that should be resident in your MS Office kit, no matter which version you purchased. Click on File, Page Setup and then select Custom to set the width and length of your infographic. As you can see below, I have selected 10 inches wide and 20 inches long (height).
Now you create your infographic that could promote features of a certain destination, the value of cruising or the numerous golf courses around the world ‐ the options for information are numerous. The main point here is that the information you provide is based on solid facts and figures that will cause a client to say, “Aha!” and respond with a booking. The example I am displaying here is an infographic I’ve been working on for the travel trade. It’s not complete as yet ,however, you get the idea of the flow. Once you have finished your infographic slide, click to view it in SlideShow format and then use a screen capture program to capture and save your work as a JPEG. Now you can share it, email it, post it, etc.
There are quite a few sophisticated infographic software programs you can use, however, for the quick and easy way, power up your PowerPoint and give this a try.
I told myself to write something that did not touch upon business social media in this month’s article and failed… sorry! I hope you can understand why as my combined professional passions of sales coaching, everything entrepreneurial, and business social media simply is pouring out of me these days! Steve has done another super‐fantastic job of defining and helping you understand a business topic labeled ‘opportunity’ and then provided countless resources within this issue to begin implementing such ideas as soon as your coffee buzz kicks in (don’t drink coffee? Then go grab a soda and
watch your sales grow!). I now want to enhance it with a cool proactive idea to go for gold in 2013!
Give To Get On Linked In. Opportunity knocks and presents itself on Linked In, and then shows up in person
when you give Linked In recommendations.
Make it a practice to grow your Linked In Connections daily (yes daily!), and then set a goal to connect with all clients (search for them in the people search graph daily), supplier DSM, BDM, DOS, VP, CEO and Presidents you can think of. Once connected, give them a brief or extended recommendation. I recommend you get sincere, personal, and grateful for their relationship and HOW they helped you, supported you, and provided you with some personal attention to detail. See some examples (48) of HOW I write them for my friends and professional connections here, and what they have written for me (80). Get proactive, and hustle a little more in the business social realm like Linked In and make it a good habit to check IN 2‐3 times a day with Linked In. Post, re‐post, tweet, update, and add more information to your profile. Linked In is great at telling you HOW to update and make your profile even better! Such proactive entrepreneurial hustle makes a HUGE difference in your online and offline opportunities. Gone are the days of waiting for the phone to ring from your clients, never mind from prospects in your community. Give Linked In LOVE and watch your brand grow in the right direction at the same time. Coach Cory Want to learn more about Linked In Love – watch these great videos.
Giving Linked In LOVE = Opportunities
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Business cards create opportunity and that’s why I am a proponent of them. I collect them. I look at them. I learn from them. But things are changing. Times are changing. Technology has changed how we communicate and leave our name behind. If you want to be leading the pack then you may want to take a hard look at that business card you do or don’t hand out. When you start to use a new and unique idea to build business, you’ll also have something worth blogging about. Something to post to your social networking outlets. You can add an image to your website with a comment, “Don’t forget to ask me for my business card…” and go on to describe what it is you’ll be handing over across the desk.
The Vidioh Business Card Try this concept. The Vidioh range of video business cards. These 50 x 90mm cards come with 2.8” screen and integral speaker which auto‐runs the video on opening. The video business cards can be charged using standard USB to mini USB cable. There are two options available: Side opening and top opening. Now that would make an impression, at least for the first couple of views before you close the sale. Starting prices: 50 cards $31.50 each.
The WiseStamp Signature An email signature today should also be a business card and do more than just list your name. The WiseStamp technology lets you create an email signature that links to your social networks, such as displaying your most recent Tweets. You can check this out here: www.wisestamp.com
Icon.Me Moving up in terms of technology, this business card is fantastic. Share with anyone, anywhere. Your icons live in the cloud and are easily shared through email, smart phone, on‐line or in person –assuring your contact information is always current and accessible. https://www.icon.me/
http://www.vidioh.co.uk/products/business_cards/
Prestoh.com Prestoh Mobile Business Cards also leverage on‐line tools that you probably already use! Your Prestoh Card comes with a free personalized QR (quick response) Code and advanced vCard to download your contact information. Encourage new connections via LinkedIn and also broadcast your business card information. http://prestoh.com/ Alright. You are getting the message. With more and more of your clients and clients‐to‐be, as in prospects, carrying tiny computers in their pockets, the traditional travel agency business card has some competition. They are static and don’t do anything for you until someone, a client, reads it to reconfirm something or passes it on to a friend. In contrast to the old, tried and true card, the new business card applications can bring together all of your social media locations, your website, your email, your promotional video and more. The old card has morphed into the interactive business card. The traditional business card still has a place and it, too, can be updated to represent the current you. What’s happening here is a reduction of text. Some cards are now simply a name, an email address and a social media contact. The telephone is still the #1 channel for clients making contact with their travel agent so, for the moment, best to keep that phone number on your card. This refined type of card works well for home‐based agents who do not have a physical street‐front operation.
The Boris Smus Minimalism Business Card Very clever. Invented by Boris Smus, the concept is simple, but only he thought of it! Secure your email address, your Twitter handle and website as you see here. In one line of text Boris gives us three addresses in one.
(http://smus.com/minimal‐business‐card‐design/)
The Mini Moo Card Last but by no means least, this is a neat idea that presents your client with a glorious travel image on one side and just enough space on the other side for the Boris Smus style address. Click here to view the moo: http://us.moo.com/ Two more ideas coming up. A Facebook styled business card and a flash drive concept.
The Facebook Business Card Come on, you know it’s all the rage. Got to be there even if you don’t agree with it, understand it or don’t believe your clients are using it. Facebook. Chances are you are right. Chances are you might be wrong, too, so better to ride a winning horse. What a great way to promote your Facebook site than to use a Facebook business card. And what’s that, you ask? Well, it’s a very clever take off on the Facebook look. Here’s a sample based on my own Facebook page. On the front of your Facebook business card, add text related to what you do and sell, list your niche market and so on. On the reverse, add your contact details and your social networking links. This idea is wonderful if your Facebook page is the one element you use to communicate your travel products to the world. Who needs a website? Some people don’t.
Flash Drive Business Cards You have seen this type of business card at travel trade shows. They are being handed out by suppliers to YOU! This business card has a USB connection built into the card. On it is the supplier’s information, brochures, etc. You, too, can use this type of card. Your content would promote your agency and what you sell. You might be able to negotiate with a supplier to co‐op with you, share the cost and have their logo and content added to your card. AND FINALLY… a USB key to opportunity! One more style of flash drive business card shaped like a key. There are many companies producing these flash drive business cards so search on‐line for the one closest to you.
Use this space to tell and sell what you do.
ABC TRAVEL
The
When you add a touch of good, clean humour to your selling you can, by most accounts, boost your sales. The art is to not tell jokes but to include humourous stories about your own travels, something you’ve witnessed or you could relate something that your clients told you about. A recent Air New Zealand video is a classic and uses the star power of Bear Gryllis to explain in‐flight safety.
Selling with humour can and should roll over into your social media marketing, too. Here’s a blurb from Ipsos Global telling us how something of interest posted on‐line can help keep clients attached to your brand. Socialogue: A Clever Brand Keeps Fans on Hand. One‐third (34%) of those who follow a brand’s social networking page say fun or interesting posts make them feel more connected to that brand. The younger the demographic, the more effective these kind of posts are as connection boosters: 39% of those under 35 claim a stronger connection is forged when a brand’s posts interest them, 31% of those between 35 and 49 and 28% of those between 50 and 64.
While other brand actions – e.g., discounts, free offers, contests – have a stronger effect on brand and consumer connections, injecting interesting and funny posts can help keep interested consumers coming back to your social networking sites to see what’s up. That’s why it makes sense for marketers to be hands‐on when it comes to social networking content. So there you are. More trips to the bank where you can share a humorous thought or two. Look for funny quotes, stories, videos and make sure they are clean, tasteful and travel related – and of course, relate your own stories. Here’s the AIRNZ link you can pass along to your clients as you promote New Zealand in this case. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnM7xuhzjWY
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