10 tips + 10 weeks = 100 New Methods to Grow Groups–Week 2, Go corporate | Travel Research Online

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10 tips + 10 weeks = 100 New Methods to Grow Groups–Week 2, Go corporate

Corporate groups represent a huge growth opportunity with thousands of companies booking incentives and meetings annually. Not many travel agents are in this highly lucrative marketplace because they are afraid to jump in. I firmly believe there is room for more!

Here are 10 tips I plucked from boot camp to get you stoked about building a bigger, better corporate group business. Want all of my expert tips, tools and templates? Check out my group boot camp and own them all.

11.  Corporate groups are a highly rewarding ‘niche within a niche.’ To get corporate groups you need to go fishing specifically for corporate groups. To be successful, your branding and expertise must be spot-on. Companies don’t hire ‘jack of all trades’ travel agents to do their corporate groups. You need to truly master the corporate group business model in knowledge, branding, and of course, delivery.

12.  You are not responsible for sourcing and selling to all the individual guests. The company that is sponsoring the incentive or meeting provides you with the list of travelers.

13.  The travelers don’t pay you, the company does. You are not responsible for chasing down deposits or final payments from the individual travelers. You’ll pretty much collect one check for the whole shebang from your corporate client, the one sponsoring the incentive or meeting.

14.  Incentive groups don’t travel on the cheap. Accommodations are typically in high categories – sometimes suites. All details like airport transfers are conveniently packaged in.

15.  Meeting groups may be luxurious as well, but not as a general rule. While meeting group clients may be more cost-conscious, all details like airport transfers are usually part of the package as well.

16.  Corporate group clients in general usually don’t demand ‘rebates’ and ‘discounts.’ In fact, they usually start off by giving you the budget. They absolutely will expect solid value and expert service. They absolutely may compare offers.

17.  Expect companies to issue an RFP (request for proposal). This document will reveal exactly what they want from you. Your sales presentation must answer with precision!

18.  You stand to earn significantly more than the supplier commission. That’s because you will never sell an off the shelf product; you will create the package which also includes a fair markup for your efforts.

19.  Accommodations booked at higher levels yield higher margins, so you are already off to a good start.

20.  You stand to catapult your commissions on all other bookings even after just one corporate group booking.

stuartbootcamp

If mastering the corporate group arena has been on your radar, you will find meetings and incentives happening everywhere. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of your best customers are a part of corporate events themselves or know people who are. Perhaps group boot camp can steer you in the right direction.

Did you check out our tips from week 1?

Stuart Cohen is an international speaker, trainer, keynoter, health coach, solopreneur, business coach, travel fiend and the founder of resortforaday.com—the world’s largest seller of hotel day passes. His boundless passion is inspiring others to achieve higher levels of success and happiness. Audiences love his fun, refreshing and lively training workshops. Learn more about Stuart and his bootcamp at stuartlloydcohen.com.

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