Diversifying Your Sales Strategy

In the last two years, we’ve heard that we need to pivot, shift, and ultimately test new sales strategies to get in front of the planners and clients we’ve missed . But have any of those changes included diversifying your existing practices? Recently, we looked at our association, our members, and your needs and realized it was time to make inclusion a priority, not only for MPI Carolina’s but also for your teams .

In general, we understand that there’s no “how to” guide for diversifying your sales strategies. However, we included five steps below to get your team on the right path to new markets, greater economic impact for your destinations, and, ultimately, a more inclusive and equitable experience for your visitors.

1. Conduct an Internal Audit

What can you examine immediately to assess where your visitors are coming from? The best way to do this is to pull some tags in your system. Look for tags that be related to: a. Multicultural b. Women c. LGBTQ+ d. International

If you don’t already have these tags, this is a great place to start categorizing your diverse businesses, meetings, and clients.

2. Create a Feedback Loop

Reach out to diverse planners, attendees and partners you trust and ask for feedback about their experience with your team and in your destination. What experiences are missing for diverse visitors you may have for everyone else? What could your team or community partners do better? Would they return to your destination?

3. Collect Data

Use the internal system audit and feedback loop to start a data collection process for areas you can target right away to make changes. Once you have those areas of instability, create some internal task forces to tackle quick and simple changes. Some of these task forces may include: a. Collateral audit and changes b. Inclusive imagery bank c. Update blog/website content d. Include your marketing and communication teams in the above three task forces for support. e. Inclusive hiring and retention f. Develop inclusive community champions g. This is a great place to engage your board, local partners and visitor services.

Include your HR and operation teams. Often, planners and attendees want to work with and support organizations and destinations with team members who look like them. This builds trust and psychological safety, which ensures transparency throughout the sales process.

4. Engage! Engage! Engage!

Start engaging in inclusive conferences and events. On average, the multicultural tourism market brings in $100B+ each year (Black travelers alone). Reach out to associations and partners in our space to ask how to participate, partner, or sponsor events to get in front of new audiences. Our very own DEI committee is a great place to start! We can connect you with different organizations, conferences and practitioners for you to be involved.

5. Reach Out for Help

If you took the time to read this and thought, “Whoa, there’s no way we have the capacity for this!” I get it! We’re all jumping back into the in-person events with sometimes new team members, new budgets, and new goals. If this is you, reach out for external help. Hire outside consultants who understand our industry and the goals that can move the needle forward for you.

These steps above are just a start; sometimes, you may find that you may implement them at different times throughout the year and not in this format. However, if you’re looking for more ideas to help your sales team develop inclusive and equitable practices, reach out to the Miles Partnership DEI team at DEITeam@MilesPartnership.com and mention this article!

Dei Connects

What is DEI Connects?

The “DEI Connects” event series is a way to gather industry colleagues to connect, learn about each other, discuss industry and personal challenges, and share ideas and inspiration in an informal safe space .

Previous DEI Connects events have included a meet up at Bitty & Beau’s, a coffee shop creating a path for people with disabilities to become more valued, accepted and included in every community, and a tour and discussion at the International Civil Rights Center and Museum .

Why did your team implement this event series?

MPI Carolinas values the importance of fostering a sense of community and networking among our diverse membership . Gathering together and sharing our stories, experiences, challenges and best practices is a wonderful way to enrich every member’s professional and personal life So the MPI Carolinas DEI Committee created the “DEI Connects” series as opportunities to gather in an informal setting, at locations that give back to the community, to do exactly that – connect with your fellow MPI friends or friends-to-be!

Who can I contact for more information or to send suggestions?

Kathryn Short at Kshort@visitraleigh com or Mitch Savoie Hill at info@savhillconsulting .com .