I think we can all agree that we have more time on our hands than we expected right now. Right? We should all be figuring out how to weather this storm financially. We should all be working on updated business and marketing plans. We all should be making sure we are in touch with clients. And we all need to be washing our hands. I was re-reading my article a few weeks ago about what Annie Petronio was doing with Annie’s Escapes and keeping her clients up to speed and it got me thinking (dangerous) and I came up with a great (if I say so myself) idea. Zoom!
OK, so Zoom is not original; but it is integral to my idea.
We already know that people are not traveling. But, they are getting tired of being pent up. Will they want to travel as soon as the restrictions are lifted? That remains to be seen; but you can bet they are thinking about it.
Why not host a weekly Zoom call for clients and prospects. Again, not to outwardly pitch them to book travel but to begin to think about it. As boredom sets in with the stay-at-home orders, this is a crowd just looking for something to do!
Schedule an hour-long meeting once a week with a supplier and invite you prospects and clients. Topics should include:
- The travel. A bit salesy, but talk about the destination, the experiences, the lifestyle etc.
- The response. Let your clients know (via the supplier) what actions have been taken and what will be taken to ensure safety moving forward.
- The questions and answers. Open it up to your attendees to ask the questions that are on their mind. Let them hear the responses right from the horse’s mouth.
- The wrap up. Thank them and ask them to remember you when they are ready to pack their bags.
Now take it one step further. Integrate Facebook Live. Zoom can be free—the freebie gets you 40 minutes of call time per meeting (never enough) and up to 100 attendees which is more than you need. For $14.99 a month (no commitment beyond a month) you get up to 24 hours of call time per meeting and 100 attendees. But, it also allows you to share the meeting as a Facebook Live video.
This opens a lot of additional options:
- Solicit questions in advance from your Facebook followers.
- Ask them to share the meeting with their friends.
- Allow them to ask questions in real time without being on the call (you need to monitor your feed).
- Boost the post or promote it after the fact. Facebook advertising is a bargain.
And while I am not typically a fan of discounting, with a difficult year ahead of us, it may make some sense to end your call with a non-expiring discount or gift. Perhaps your supplier (make use of those preferred relationships) could help you out, or it could be something as simple as a custom luggage tag when they book.
It will take some time to organize, but the suppliers all want to get in front of travelers and as we all know face to face works a lot better than an email.
The idea certainly is not the answer to a down year in travel, but it does have potential considering the current restrictions. Seems like a good way to spend some time!
Thoughts? Leave a comment!
