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If you have been reading The 365 Guide for any length of time, you know that I feel the concept of a Mission Statement is important for a travel agent to understand and employ. A mission statement is a clear and succinct statement of the aspirations of a travel agent as those aspirations relate to clients. Underneath the mission statement is a set of core values that are important to the agent. The moral and ethical underpinnings of the agent, their way of relating to clients, their expectations of performance are all encapsulated in a single statement. It’s a statement to the world of the principles for which the travel agent stands.   Below, you will find tools to help you build your own. Bonus -it will be the foundation for your 2014 marketing plan.

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Let’s state definitively we are all the owners of our own brand, our own “company” called “me, myself and I”. This was the insight of Tom Peter’s famous 1997 article “The Brand Called You.” The success of social media platforms like Linkedin was largely presaged by the notion of the individual as a brand. With that in mind, we need to consider how we promote and monitor our individual brands. Read the rest of this entry »

If you have been reading The 365 Guide for any length of time, you know that I feel the concept of a Mission Statement is important for a travel agent to understand and employ. A mission statement is a clear and succinct statement of the aspirations of a travel agent as those aspirations relate to clients. Underneath the mission statement is a set of core values that are important to the agent. The moral and ethical underpinnings of the agent, their way of relating to clients, their expectations of performance are all encapsulated in a single statement. It’s a statement to the world of the principles for which the travel agent stands.   Below, you will find tools to help you build your own. Bonus -it will be the foundation for your 2014 marketing plan. Read the rest of this entry »

Travel agents can surround themselves with all of the accoutrements of a travel planning practice, with plenty of supplier product and subscriptions to periodicals, memberships in consortia and posters on the wall. But unless a travel consultant also develops a solid sense of their own brand, they will forever struggle to market themselves appropriately.

Every travel agent needs a unique selling point (USP) that differentiates them from the competition. The unique selling point may be the agent’s familiarity with a destination or a theme, it could be the agents’ contacts, tenacity, enthusiasm or passion. The travel agent’s USP might be some business practice that in some way ensures the success of their travel planning activities for clients. Read the rest of this entry »

It amazes me when Independent Contractors (IC) expect 100% commissions from a Host Agency.  I’m even more flabbergasted when an IC is surprised to discover that their Host has defaulted on those same commission obligations.  Eventually the IC learns that 100% of zero equals  $0.00.

I spoke with a concerned agent last week.  He was dismayed that his Host Agency had defaulted on their commission sharing arrangement.  His prior Host Agency was supposed to pay him 100% of the supplier’s commission.  He thought the “100% Host Agency” could make up for the loss by doing more business!  Now it appeared that the “100% Host Agency” had run out of money and couldn’t afford to remit the agent any of his earned commissions. Read the rest of this entry »

Public relations includes:

• ​media (articles about you),
• networking
• speaking opportunities,
• events; and
• writing (articles by you).

In each of these efforts, your personality is at the core of the marketing tactic. When the public reads an article about your agency, hears you speak, works with you at an event, or reads an article you have written, they engage you as an individual, not as a faceless company. That encounter is intensely personal and carries an authority that an advertisement cannot. People are trained to ignore advertising. They are equally well-trained to engage those in their presence. Read the rest of this entry »

Branding is a vitally important component of your overall business and marketing plan. A strong branding strategy ensures the public will clearly understand your company’s value proposition. Poorly implemented, however, a brand strategy can leave clients perplexed and unimpressed.

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Let’s consider the tactics we will use to achieve the goals we have set out for our business. In each instance, we want to be certain our mission statement remains our touch-point. This will keep us consistent and properly focused. Likewise, each tactic should be designed to contribute to our marketing funnels, continually drawing both existing clients and potential clients closer to us, engaging with us and becoming evangelists for our travel practice.

There are an endless variety of possible tactics you can employ. Read the rest of this entry »

There is absolutely no doubt that a failure to plan is one of the biggest mistakes many business people make.  Without a solid business plan, even the best travel consultant can fail to act consistently in any given aspect of their practice. Planning is truly essential.

But so is action.

I see far too many travel professionals planning their lives away, getting ready to act, and then… not acting! The problem can induce a near-paralytic state. Too many times we over-plan and over-perfect, and in the process lose valuable opportunities to others who are quicker to act.   Read the rest of this entry »

Every travel agency seeks visibility in its marketplace. Through advertising, niche marketing, and solid networking, agency owners work to raise the profile of their travel practice above the crowd so the public immediately associates the agency’s brand with the word “travel.” Creating an association strong enough to be top of mind anytime someone thinks of “travel” is no small feat but, especially on a community level, it is achievable. No doubt, in your own community, there is at least one travel agency with more than its proportionate percentage of “mindshare” – people immediately think of that agency when they think of their next cruise or vacation. Read the rest of this entry »

Driving down a canopy-covered road in northern Florida yesterday, I spotted a sign at a Methodist church that indicated an “Alternative Christmas Market” was being held. The parking lot was filled with cars, and it looked like a good opportunity to pick up some interesting presents.  The very thought that I would actually have any shopping done prior to the absolute last minute was a source of peculiar pride. The word “alternative” suggested to me that I would be able to find some most unusual gifts, something never before seen under a Christmas tree by any of the people on my list this year.

Indeed.

As I walked through the doors of the church, I saw immediately that I had misunderstood the nature of an “alternative” Christmas.  Read the rest of this entry »

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Travel trade insurance company Trawick International provided a useful snapshot of each major cruise line’s pre-trip health and safety requirements in a TRO webinar last week.  The webinar provided information current as of last week, though fast-moving protocols may potentially change tomorrow. The webinar will be posted on TRO’s Webinar Page on Monday afternoon, August 8th. Read the rest of this entry »

Looking for extra income or just something to do while business was slow, travel advisors have expanded beyond their usual routines into new avenues—both inside the business and out.

At My Path Unwinding Travel in Waxhaw, NC, for example, Karen Shelton noticed that 11 of the 12 customers in her Disney Wonder group had booked suites—and decided to promote an all-suite group on Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas for the first time, so customers can compare the two.

“I’m super excited about this,” says Shelton, whose specialty has traditionally been Disney concierge-level suites. “I booked the Royal Suite for myself and got the ball rolling.”

The numbers are still coming in, she says Read the rest of this entry »

Do you know why your clients do business with your travel agency? Do they have a clear picture in their minds of what your travel practice represents? What type of relationship do you try to develop with your clients? How are your relationships reflected in the conversations you have with clients, your advertisements, your website and your other marketing efforts? Read the rest of this entry »

We have a strange relationship with what we know. We know we should have a written business plan, and we know we should have a written budget. We know we should have a mission statement. We know we should always offer travel insurance to our clients or get a waiver.

When we hear best practices, or even the general principles of marketing, sales, and customer service, seldom are we surprised. Good business advice is not often a revelation, but a matter of common sense, reminding us of what we already know.

Moving from “I know” to “I always do” can be a major undertaking. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m thinking about containers and contents lately. We all love great containers. Last year, I went to a local shop and purchased a new hummingbird feeder crafted by an artist somewhere near Asheville. Instead of the plastic parts found on a standard retail feeder, this one has a very unique red bottle as a container. It is decorated with copper tubing from which the hummingbird drinks and metal flowers are soldered onto the copper. It is a real work of art, and I enjoy it tremendously.

I’m pretty sure the hummingbirds, however, care more about the content in the bottle.  If I put something less to their liking in the bottle, it doesn’t matter how attractive the container.  Not only will they not drink from it, they will eventually quit coming to that particular bottle. Birds are quick learners. Read the rest of this entry »

Southwest Airlines & Delta have been leading the way in keeping middle airline seats empty. Southwest has committed to it until at least November 30, and Delta has made the same promise until January 6. Both airlines have also committed to reducing capacity in the forward cabins by keeping additional seats empty. In contrast, other airlines are cancelling some flights to try to fill their remaining flights.

No one is challenging the fact that leaving middle seats empty, and reducing passenger capacity in the forward cabins, is significantly safer. Their complaint is the revenue they lose. Read the rest of this entry »

The state was New Mexico. The time was a few years back. The place, an automobile dealership.

I was invited to share a few of my ideas and proven selling tactics to a room full of professional salespeople. Their monthly sales goal was to sell 300 cars every month. (Every month.) This simply means that I was not speaking to a room full of amateurs.

What caught my attention was that every person in the room carried a gold coin in their pocket, reminding them that they were the best in the business. Their one-word mission statement was Loyalty. Read the rest of this entry »

Enterprise Holdings Inc. has been the largest vehicle rental companies in the world for quite some time now. Enterprise Holdings offers travelers three great car rental brands. Alamo Rent A Car, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and National Car Rental are internationally recognized brands with an extensive global car rental network. Read the rest of this entry »

How do you make your travel practice known to the public? If you are like most travel professionals, you rely on a number of tactics to raise your visibility. You may use social media, public relations, or content marketing through your website, email, and blogging efforts. You may take advantage of speaking opportunities or write for a local newspaper. You may advertise.

Inherently we know marketing works, because in our own civilian lives we ourselves respond to well-placed and produced marketing and advertising.  We have less confidence in our own efforts, however. Read the rest of this entry »