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THE HOW-TO MAGAZINE FOR TRAVEL TRADE PROFESSIONALS 3
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The DESIRE to travel starts early and continues throughout one’s life – are you marketing to Generation Z?
Share your money making ideas in SELLING TRAVEL. CONTACT Steve Crowhurst steve@sellingtravel.net 250-760-0893 www.sellingtravel.net
Publisher: SMP Training Co. www.sellingtravel.net
Contributors Steve Crowhurst, Anthony Dalton, Steve Gillick.
Attention Suppliers: Advertising in SELLING TRAVEL reaches the serious business-minded travel agent. Promote your products and services using Selling Travel’s unique promotional formula – you write the articles on how to sell your own products offering step-by-step selling tips, tools and techniques that you know have worked for your agency accounts. Full page rates range from $399 to $499 based on number of insertions. Remember, if you can’t sell it to them, they can’t sell it for you! Please note that Selling Travel, owned and published by SMP Training Co, is not connected in any way to Selling Travel magazine published by BMI Publishing Ltd., and based in the UK. The latter publication focuses entirely on destination and travel/tourism product training and is circulated solely to the UK and Ireland travel industries. To benefit from this resource visit www.sellingtravel.co.uk and be sure to subscribe.
SELLING TRAVEL is owned and published by Steve Crowhurst, SMP Training Co. All Rights Reserved. Protected by International Copyright Law. SELLING TRAVEL can be shared, forwarded, cut and pasted but not sold, resold or in any way monetized. Using any images or content from SELLING TRAVEL must be sourced as follows: “Copyright SMP Training Co. www.sellingtravel.net” SMP Training Co. 6171 Strathcona Place, BC, Canada, V9T0A1 Note: Steve Crowhurst is not responsible for outcomes based on how you interpret or use the ideas in SELLING TRAVEL. T: 250-760-0893.
CHECK THE SELLING TRAVEL WEBSITE OFTEN FOR NEW PUBLICATIONS
SALES & MARKETING TIPS, TOOLS & TECHNIQUES FOR ALL TRAVEL TRADE PROFESSIONALS
Steve Crowhurst, Publisher
BUT HOW? This is the question. It’s the missing link between losing ten grand on a marketing whim and making ten grand in commission. The HOW is something I have always chased. Always asked for. It would seem that I just have to know HOW “it” is done. From that quest came the realization that everything has a process. There are steps that get you ‘there’ – to success. Applying the principle of HOW to the activity of selling travel we find a huge gap in the knowledge bank. For one thing, over time, I realized that those travel trade professionals who tell the rest of us how to increase sales are not actually delivering the HOW. They are telling us the WHAT (to do) and not demonstrating HOW to do the WHAT! That means Houston, we have a problem! Br sure to join me September 27th 2016, at 1pm Eastern for a one-hour webinar on HOW you can put The Power of HOW to work in your favour. The webinar is arranged through The Travel Institute. In this issue of Selling Travel you’ll be teased into attending the webinar to learn HOW to get more HOW! Let’s get busy, and don’t forget you have a series of e-Guides you can purchase from The Travel Institute that will help you move ahead in most things related to selling travel. Here’s to your continued success! Best regards. Steve Crowhurst, CTC, CTM Hon. steve@sellingtravel.net www.sellingtravel.net
Hi, I’m Steve Crowhurst, and I’ll be presenting The Power of HOW webinar hosted by The Travel Institute. If you like a fast paced, no-nonsense, street-smart and travel savvy delivery, turn up on the September 27th! I’ll be explaining HOW you can get past the WHAT (to do) and get to the HOW (to do it). After this webinar, you’ll be asking all those gurus to prove they actually know by showing you HOW!
REGISTER RIGHT THERE
Nexion Canada Provides Agents with Easy Options to Boost Online Presence Nexion Canada agents have three options for building their website: a micro-site, a personal site in conjunction with Nexion Canada or building their own website independently. Nexion Canada is now offering agents three new website options for members to build their online presence. The first, is a fully designed and ready to use micro-site featuring the travel agent’s business and is an included benefit for all Nexion Canada agents. The second option is a more robust personalized site, built at a discounted rate when using Nexion Canada’s preferred Web developer; this website allows Nexion Canada staff to populate the website with content relevant to each travel agent’s business. The third option allows Nexion agents to build and manage their own website. “A strong online presence is an integral part of doing business today; it’s where our agents make their first impression with clients and potential clients,” said Mike Foster, President of Nexion Canada. “The response to this technology offering we’ve developed for our members has been tremendous. I highly encourage all Nexion Canada members who want to start or improve their online presence to take advantage of this complementary opportunity. It’s also a great reason to join Nexion.”
One of the many benefits to this offering is that Nexion Canada agents don’t need to have any website management experience to keep their site up to date. The micro-site and cooperativebuild options allow Nexion Canada’s member services team to continually update agent’s sites directly with information about destinations, travel news, special offers and more. This provides a constantly fresh and robust site and removes any perceived barrier to a professional online presence for travel agents who are neither familiar nor comfortable with updating and managing their business website. Thanks to the professional set up and ease of use, 53% of
Nexion Canada agents have a published site or are in the process of publishing a micro-site through this program. “Our agents understand the ever-increasing importance of having a robust online presence, through a professional website and social media,” stated Esther Roemmele, General Manager of Nexion Canada. “We want to support our agents with all the tools necessary to flourish. With this simplified and ready-made option, our agents can focus on what they love and do best, creating memorable travel experiences for their clients.”
To learn how to succeed as a professional business owner, backed by Nexion Canada’s many great benefits, call 866-399-9989 or email sales@nexioncanada.com.
This is the missing link to all things. It’s the piece of the puzzle that’s missing. The HOW is missing. If you are not being successful in your travel selling career, it’s usually because you don’t know HOW or you’ve learned how but it was incorrect. Even at very senior levels, talking the executive floor, there’s a knowledge gap between doing and doing it as it should be done. Sure that CEO can count the moola, but can he or she use that new social media tool like they should? Nada. BUT if young Teresa from the reception spent ten minutes with the CEO to show him/her HOW… then problem solved. Now you ask yourself what don’t you know HOW to do, and who has the answer? Who can show you HOW? Knowing HOW is power. It’s the new corporate currency and within the travel industry it is something to be learned and used. By that I mean if you are a supplier BDM, then you had better know HOW to teach your agency accounts HOW to sell your products. If you are an agency manager, you had better know HOW to show your front line and home based travel sellers HOW to market your preferred supplier’s products, HOW to market your agency specials, HOW to market themselves and of course, HOW to close the sale when someone is attracted and makes contact. What Level of HOW do you Know? Here’s the main challenge: recognizing if what you know is the best level of knowledge to achieve your desired end result.
If your sales are low If your marketing results in zero clicks If your tour is still empty If your social connections are in the thousands but no-one books with you
Then you don’t know HOW.
The Next Step Learning HOW is all about getting past the WHAT. The WHAT is that snippet of experience that others give you – it goes like this. 1. “You know WHAT? You should be into groups, oh yes, that’s where the money is!” 2. “Here’s WHAT you should be doing… you should be selling a niche market. That’s what all the successful travel agents are into these days. Sell a specialty and you’ll make money!” Sounds familiar? Yes it does. Here’s another: 3. “Social media is where it’s at. If you’re not into social media marketing than you don’t know WHAT you’re doing.” Getting past the WHAT Anyone can lead another person’s life. Tell them WHAT to do. That is very easy. It’s the same in the world of selling travel. Everyone knows WHAT you should be doing. And there’s the rub. They know the WHAT, but not the HOW.
Start Asking the Hard Question This is HOW you get to HOW. You ask HOW? Simple eh? Not exactly. There could be a few challenges in the way and they depend on where you sit in your career. If you work for a corporation then challenging your direct report from manager to CEO could be a pink slip situation. Don’t need that one. The answer then is for you to learn HOW to ask HOW? Here we go: The Supplier BDM Let’s start here with one of your preferred supplier’s BDMs. This person is in sales. They are in the role to push you to sell their tours, cruises, hotels etc. So if they are going to be successful and you are going to be successful – they need to make sure you know HOW to sell their brand. So, when that BDM pops in the agency or makes the phone call, and makes a push for you to sell MORE… that’s a WHAT. That is your signal, it’s your sign to ask HOW? The Look: yes you may get a quizzical look from that BDM who might be thinking, “Oh come on how long have I been calling on you and you still don’t know how to sell my brand?” There’s a piece of the puzzle missing. They haven’t actually, never actually shown you HOW to market, sell and then close a sale of their tours. Never. I guarantee it. Think back to a recent interaction with a supplier BDM. Did they actually show you, I mean demonstrate any of the following:
HOW to create a professional ad featuring their product HOW to create a social media post that was perfect in every way WHERE to find the best images and graphics on their own website
HOW to sell their tours using this or that phrase HOW to close the sale of their products using this or that lure.
When it comes to showing you HOW or demonstrating HOW, I’m talking about actually getting you to role play and repeat the words they would use until you can repeat it naturally. “Well, (customer), this is one of the best tours of Europe this year. It covers every place you said you wanted to see, it’s priced to your budget and guess what, Brand co name, has even included a free night at the airport hotel so you don’t miss the coach! In my opinion, this IS the tour that ticks all those boxes. Let me do one thing before we go any further and that’s check availability…” “You are in luck. Nine seats still available and so that you do not miss out, I have reserved two seats for you - now we can continue talking about the tour and if it is the best fit for you then we are ahead of the game.” Now here’s a clip I always used to make sure the customer understood how things really work in our business: “You may not know this, but those 9 seats are being looked at by over 15,000 travel agencies and a good 80,000 travel agents and that’s why I booked to hold them for you. I can guarantee they would all be sold by tomorrow morning. Right, let’s proceed and make sure this is the tour for you.” That’s what your BDM should be showing you, teaching you, demonstrating to you. Now the kicker – this is what YOU should be asking them to show you HOW to do. No more settling for being told WHAT to do, ASK for the HOW and make sure you get that HOW.
The WHAT is never the HOW Here’s the challenge for most people, they get mixed up with what WHAT is and what HOW is.
Here too, you can text in during the webinar, and ask the presenter to tell the audience HOW to accomplish, to do, to say, to write to go about doing what they have suggested.
1. “You should be into groups.” That’s a WHAT.
Some slides offer a trend… the presenter simply mentions it and is about to move on… don’t let this happen. You text in:
2. “If you wrote a catchy subject line you’ll attract more response.” That’s a WHAT. 3. “If you write a subject line like this, you’ll attract more responses.” That’s a HOW. You understand the difference, yes? Hope so. Listen for the WHAT, followed by the WHAT and before that person moves to yet another WHAT, cut in and say this: “I love the sound of that… show me HOW you do it…. -
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Can you write it down, the actual words I mean… Can you show me, here use my computer, show me how you would write that call to action… Hey, let’s role play… I’ll be the customer and you show me how you would close me word for word…”
You can see that HOW I am suggesting you ask for the HOW puts the BDM in this case on the spot. So you must be careful not to overly embarrass them, but then, if they don’t know HOW, or cannot demonstrate then they have a challenge. They should know HOW. It’s their job. The Show You Know Challenge This a huge challenge in the travel trade. Even for those suits who speak on stage at conventions and spout a load of WHAT but never deliver on the HOW. It’s the same with travel webinars. They are usually boring as hell and only present a series of slides that the presenter reads! Hello. Well they’ve proven they can read a script. That’s it.
“About that trend for Millennials moving to Snapchat… what do you suggest we do to capture them and HOW would you do it, I’m looking for a step by step process…” Now you understand that a webinar cannot usually be halted for a ten minute side bar – so chances are the presenter will “park” your request or state they will follow up post webinar. They are off the hook and gone. Do not let this lie. You get hold of the people behind the webinar and push them to push the presenter to explain. This is something that rarely happens. Most webinars end with a dull thud, and that’s unfortunate. Asking Head Office for the HOW That’s right. HQ has the answer. Well to most things they do. More than likely the HOW you want and need to know lies in the experience of someone in the company – either at head office or in the field or amongst the associates who have joined the home-based organization. The HOW you need then is in someone else’s knowledge bank. You could ‘ask’ through the internal channels, blog, help line, bulletin board. You could email people like ME (!) who will chat with you and show you HOW related to topics I / we specialize in. Make a Need-to-Know List What is missing from your knowledge bank? What is causing you to miss the target and flounder when it comes to marketing and selling and closing? Make a list. Write it down. Get it out of your head and then write down who you think has the answer.
Next Step – Make The Call Some years ago, when I went out on my own as a management consultant, trainer, creative dude known as The Idea Generator I needed to know. I needed some HOW. What did I do? Well I had a book written by a famous guy, very creative. What I did was this: I phoned him. That’s right. I tracked him down to his home and I spent about twenty bucks and made the call to the States. He was doing dishes at the time I called. I checked if it was okay and I gathered not many people call him to chat about HOW he made it. He said yes. In the ensuing 15-20 minute discussion he told me his story. Wished me well and we hung up. I had gotten one guy’s HOW and it was worth every cent. That’s HOW you gain more HOW. Sure you can email, too. That’s a nice way to do it. Very soft. Easy peasy. But if you really need to know, and you don’t mind meeting and chatting with people who have actually made a go of their career, then phone them. No answer? Leave a message that you’ll call back. Or, you can always work the pincer movement – you make the call, they are not in, you leave a message explaining why you called AND then state you will also send an email. “Hi Tarone, this is Steve Crowhurst, I’m in the same business as you, but struggling a little. If you have the time I would really like to know HOW you did ??? I’ll send an email to explain in more detail and thanks in advance for any advice you can offer….” Nice and tight. Not gushy. Business like. Not begging. Asking. That way, they will get your call / message and chances are they will reply.
Identifying the HOW Steps This may sound easy, and it is, almost. When you look at how something is done, from changing a flat tire on a bike or arranging a group tour for 20 people, travelling to 3 continents and 9 countries, there are steps in the sequence. If you miss one step, then that tire will not stay inflated and that tour group will be spending a night in the cold somewhere along the itinerary. There are steps in your marketing plan, your social media promotion, how you meet and greet a customer and how you close the sale. The steps in the process are what you are asking to be shown HOW to do. This sounds mundane I know, however once you have every step told to you, shown to you, demonstrated, and then you do it and your sensei shows you where you did not do it correctly and watches you do it again, say it again, create it again – you know, “…wax on, wax off, wax on, wax off…” then you will earn your black belt in HOW. Make Sure You Get EVERY Step Many times the sensei, the guru showing you HOW will miss a step. Not intentionally, but simply because they move so fast and perhaps zip through one step but forget to mention it. Take your time, review each step, try it yourself and when there is a disconnect, you ask them to show you again. Show You Know - Teach Someone Else One way to prove you understand the process and now know HOW to do “it” is to teach / show someone else. When you do this, you’ll be explaining the process, demonstrating HOW it all works and if the person you are teaching can do it, then you know, you know. It is an effective method to consolidate your own knowledge. Right. Over to you. Get that list of the things you need to know HOW to do. Then seek your guru advisory board.
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The urge to ‘connect’ with a destination emphasizes the importance of niche, or special interest travel. In the old days, travel advisors concentrated on vertical data collection. It was the scenario from the Dragnet television show where Sgt. Joe Friday’s demand for “Just the facts”, defined the show. In travel, those facts were the basics: where are you thinking of going, how many are you travelling with, what’s the budget, active or leisure…great! You’re good to go! But these days, the emphasis is on something that marketers call “horizontal data”. If you can look at a horizon and take it everything you see: the ocean, the islands, the palm trees, the fishing boats, the cruise ships, the seagulls and the splash of a dolphin, then you get a broader picture of your surroundings. The same holds true with travel.
STEVE GILLICK Horizontal data refers to the one-on-one interview process where, like a detective, you ask, probe and converse with the client to uncover all those special interests— niches—that may have been hidden up to now. Presented with this information, you can then probe further into the client’s hobbies, passions, dreams. A statement such as “I’ve always wanted to go into the restaurant kitchen and prepare a meal” unlocks a whole realm of possibilities. Using your experience you can start asking questions about their culinary interests: Morning food market shopping with a chef? Preparing the food in the kitchen? Helping to actually do the cooking? Pairing the meal with wine or craft beer or an artisanal cocktail? Serving the food. Tasting and evaluating the dishes. All these activities can be arranged. Congratulations! You have now put together your first niche market culinary experience for a client. Typically, the client is bowled over by your creative suggestions, your ability to pull together all your experience and local contacts in order to offer something truly
out of the ordinary. You have done what others only dream of doing: you have added “value” to the client’s vacation and this is the foundation for what we call the Travel Performance Equation: Wowing the client (the Wow) = Referrals, Testimonials and Repeat Business. This is the most powerful expression of relationship building. Here’s HOW the Wow works: Step One: The Greeting. In an agency scenario, or a coffee shop meeting, stand up, approach the client, look them in your eyes, smile (and show some teeth), extend your hand (or fist), shake hands or touch fists, invite the person to sit with you. Step Two: Relationship Building. Most travel advisors want to talk business right off the bat. But a few minutes of establishing the relationship goes a long way to develop rapport and trust. Ask the client about their travel plans and then, empathetically, talk a bit (i.e. don’t monopolize the conversation) about your own travels as they relate to your client’s travels. A shared experience at that museum in Italy, or a hiking trail in China, or a restaurant in Buenos Aires carries with it
the subliminal message that you are a traveller with experience, and with similar interests to the client. This is all part of relationship building. Step Three: The Interview. Once a comfort level has been established with the client, then you need to get down to specifics. Remember that they want you to use their time respectfully, while at the same time, they need to feel that their time with you is worthwhile and holds the promise for valuable travel advice and counsel. The interview is the time to ask all those ‘magic wand’ questions including: “If you could wave a magic wand, where would you want to go and what would you want to do”? This usually brings out some of those hidden wishes. “I love chocolate and would love to visit a chocolate maker while we’re in Peru, and actually work in the shop for a few hours”. “I’m interested in craft beers and would love to hang out with a Brew Master when we go to the Czech Republic”. “I am a birder but none of my friends really know this. I would love to go on a day trip with an experienced birding expert when I visit Panama”. Other topics you can ask about (remember, you are looking for that ‘horizontal data’ where you spread your informationgathering net as wide as possible) so ask about their leisure activities—and how they define this. To some, leisure is lying on a beach. To others, leisure is climbing, trekking, exploring and being as active as possible. Find out about the client’s hobbies, favourite television shows, movies, restaurants, music, and about the friends and family who may travelling with them. Step Four: Secret Agent Stuff. Once armed with information about what your clients really want to do (the special interests…the niches), don’t panic that you know nothing
about satisfying a particular niche. (My client wants to explore the world of cheeses and cheese making…I’m lactose intolerant— what do I know about cheese?) Instead, get excited about the opportunity to expand your knowledge, to contact those local experts that you’ve been storing away in your business card file for years, and to put together the most amazing cheese tour possible. Your secret weapon is the contacts. These are people you’ve met on fam trips or on business trips. This is your gold—this is one of the things that differentiates you from other travel advisors and makes your value, well, invaluable! Step Five: Take Small Steps. OK so its fine to ask your contacts in Switzerland or Holland about cheese tours and what kind of magical itineraries they can put together for you, but if you really want an understanding of cheese (just as an example of a niche interest), then walk into the local cheese store and strike up a conversation with one of the clerks. Google “everything you ever wanted to know about (cheese) on the internet”. Make a list of possible “cheese” venues: morning markets, cheese shops, farms, cheese makers. What about dishes that are made with cheese…fondues, sauces, mac n’cheese? The imagination has no limits. Then run some of these ideas by your client who will probably be impressed with the variety of activities you are able to come up with—and arrange to satisfy their interest. Step Six: Communication. Yes the client expects you to put together some suggestions to satisfy their niche interest, but relationship building involves communication, so part of the process is running ideas by the client to make them feel part of the process. You will be able to judge to what extent you can contact the client and how often. Usually it’s good practice to
save up a number of ideas and then arrange for a phone call or an in-person meeting to discuss what the client wishes to do.
and that you can implement these ideas on the client’s next trip, establishes trust and confidence.
Step Seven: Follow up. After the niche interests are confirmed then it’s always a good idea to follow up with the client at the destination, and then again when they return. Get their feedback—and their suggestions for improvement. This again is part of the relationship building process. Making the client feel they are important, that you value their ideas and suggestions,
Wowing a client is the end result of knowing the client, discovering how they wish to connect to the destination, what energizes them when they travel, and then fulfilling their expectations of a value-packed travel experience. Use your expertise, your customer service skills and your list of contacts to show your clients that you know HOW to put the POW! in the WOW!
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Someone asked about my former magazine IC TRAVEL AGENT and what happened to it. Well I was publishing three magazine with similar content and decided to go with Selling Travel as that is what everyone does regardless of being in a retail location or working from home. Here’s the entire suite of issues with plenty of home-based selling tips. Click the image to view them online.
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