Ears of Experience — Unexpected surprises | Travel Research Online

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Ears of Experience — Unexpected surprises

I know I have spoken about keeping things personal in prior columns; but I truly believe that is the one thing responsible for increasing our business. If I speak to someone who brushes me off because they are on their way to a tennis match or soccer game, I write it down so I can ask them about the game the next time we speak or when I shoot them an email.  If they mention their child is sick, I flag it in my Outlook to email them a couple days later–just a quick note “to see if you child is feeling better.” Not only does this give you that personal connection to them for their vacations but you will be top of mind for them to refer business.

Many clients have every intention of referring your business; but when they remember you  for the little things, they remember you, it is simply how we are wired. With technology and Outlook calendars, or whatever your preference, you can easily set these up. But, I am convinced the key to success is to  do these things not for the business it might bring in, but because you really care about them. I know that seems obvious, but if I try to “squeeze it in” and don’t have the right mindset when calling or the wrong tone in an email, the wrong message clearly can be sent. I take a minute to be thankful for the opportunities and the wonderful clients and come from a place of gratitude and care.

Another initiative I began this year which now falls into the “who knew” category, is starting every ezine with a personal message from us. We learned this from our mastermind group and holy cow! We get more opens on ezines now; and since we can tell where they are looking, we know they love this section. We typically have a picture of something that has happened in our life recently and then a brief paragraph before going into the ezine. I am now convinced that people won’t buy from you until they know, like, and trust you. We live in a time when things like Facebook are so popular because people want to know. This week’s edition features a photo of Jon and me in Connecticut with clients celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary during a meeting for our mastermind group. I talked about how important we felt it was to squeeze in some “us” time, even if it meant it was in the middle of a business meeting.  We got emails back from people thanking us for reminding them to take that time for each other. In the end, we get an incredible response from these introductory paragraphs and can see that click-throughs to videos and links  are higher than elsewhere.

What have you started recently in your business that has been successful or surprisingly not a success? I would love to hear your thoughts on our ideas as well.

Amy Sinclair is the owner of a fee-free Disney-only agency called Ears of Experience. Ears of Experience builds custom Disney experiences for their clients with an emphasis on personalization. The agency even has Disney kid experts “on staff” to work with the children of clients. To contact Amy by email — amy@themouseexperts.com or visit her site at www.themouseexperts.com.

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