IC Travel Agent September 2014 by IC Travel Agent

TRAVEL AGENT

THE HOW-TO MAGAZINE FOR ICs, OSRs & HOME-BASED TRAVEL AGENTS

SEPTEMBER 2014

THE ART OF SELLING TRAVEL FROM HOME

TABLE OF CONTENTS – IC SEPTEMBER 2014

EDITORIAL

THE WAY OF COURTESY

GETTING YOUR SHARE

CONSUMER TRENDS LINK TO REPORT

YES YOU CAN, AND SHOULD… By Jill Wykes

CLIENT TRENDS

FACEBOOK POSTS

NEW TOOL

TANGLED FX APP

USING TANGLED FX - RADIO ANNOUNCER IMAGE

TANGLED FX MARKETING

HOST AGENCY CAN BE… By Jill Wykes

SELLING IDEAS FOR THE FALL

THE TRAVEL INSTITUTE BOOK STORE

HOME BASED TRAVEL AGENT TRAINER - RESOURCE

ARE YOU ON THE LIST?

THE TRAVEL AGENT’S STORE – NEW RELEASES

SELLING TRAVEL WITH STEVE LINK

CLASSIFIEDS

Selling travel from home does not have to be a puzzle when you read IC! Find the host agency that best suits your needs.

Share your money making ideas in IC and help your IC colleagues. CONTACT Steve Crowhurst steve@ic-travelagent.com 250-738-0064 www.ic-travelagent.com Publisher: SMP Training Co. www.smptraining.com

click‘n’go! Advertising in IC Travel Agent reaches the serious business-minded travel agent. Promote your products and services via video, audio or generic text and images. IC Travel Agent is marketed direct to over 4,000 travel agents plus thousands more via social media channels such as Facebook, LinkedIn, SlideShare, trade contacts, partners and educational institutions. Your ad includes a BONUS How-to-Sell article. Full page rates range from $300 to $425 based on number of insertions.

If it’s not yet 5pm where you live, you still have time to make one more call, close one more sale or e-mail one more promotion!

Contributors Steve Crowhurst IC TRAVEL AGENT is owned and published by Steve Crowhurst, SMP Training Co. All Rights Reserved. Protected by International Copyright Law. IC TRAVEL AGENT can be shared, forwarded, cut and pasted but not sold, resold or in any way monetized. Using any images or content from IC TRAVEL AGENT must be sourced as follows: “Copyright SMP Training Co. www.smptraining.com” SMP Training Co. 568 Country Club Drive, Qualicum Beach, BC, Canada, V9K-1G1 Note: Steve Crowhurst is not responsible for outcomes based on how you interpret or use the ideas in IC TRAVEL AGENT. T: 250-738-0064.

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10/29/13 2:18 PM

Steve Crowhurst, CTC, Publisher

Helping YOU get YOUR share… This issue of IC Travel Agent is somewhat inspired by the Travel Weekly report on consumer trends and the affect they are having on travel agents. The resulting information from the survey clearly shows some opportunities being left on the table and not being factored into the agency marketing plan. Reports like these open our eyes to both missed and potential opportunities. To get your piece of the overall share it’s worth the effort to track down as many travel trade reports as you can, right-click and save to a file marked Data or Reports. The information you’re looking for is C2B – (Consumer to Business) meaning consumer travel trends and attitudes and not so much information about travel agents. Similar reports are published by official tourist offices, suppliers and trade associations also publish reports and companies such as Amadeus, too. How you read, interpret and action the data you collect is the focus of the Getting Your Share article. See you inside. Don’t forget to check out the new titles at The Travel Agent’s Store. Here’s to your continued success! Best regards. Steve Crowhurst, CTC steve@ic-travelagent.com www.ic-travelagent.com

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Thought I’d mention a recent phone call I received as it was so refreshing. It seems that a UK based publishing company was about to change the title of its magazine from Selling Long Haul to Selling Travel. BMI’s Managing Director Martin Steady called me to introduce himself and advise me of their plans. He wanted to know if there was any challenge to BMI using the Selling Travel name and how we could proceed. I always prefer collaboration to confrontation and so we agreed to mention the fact in our respective magazines that ownership etc., is separate and apart from the other. Job done. I mention the word refreshing as most often than not in this type of same name situation one party just steamrolls ahead, calls in all lawyers and simply does more damage than good. Based on the courtesy that Martin Steady awarded me in reaching out tells you a lot about the BMI culture, team and BMI Publishing Ltd., as a company – and to that end, I urge you to subscribe to the digital version of Selling Travel UK and especially if you arrange travel out of the UK to points forward. The information is first class and there’ll be plenty of UK based supplier contacts for you to make, too. The cover of BMIs fist issue of Selling Travel is shown below. Click the cover to access the link.

Getting YOUR Share

As you read through the current Consumer Trends survey by Travel Weekly thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s obvious key points that every homebased travel agent should acknowledge and think on rather deeply. At first glance it would appear that your sales are eroding and being siphoned off, more so by the consumer than any trade supplier trying to lock you out. At a second glance it could well be a trend that YOU are causing your own demise or lessening opportunities coming your way. There is also a trend suggesting that when YOU do attract a customer and they continue to do business with you, they tend travel more often than those consumers who book online. So thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a good thing to note which of course inspires you to set about attracting more consumers to do business with you.

The introduction to this report mentions the fact that consumers surveyed are still travelling and have taken on average of 4 trips in the last 12 months. Your response to this data is to check whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s happening with your sales. If your sales are not showing this trend then there is an obvious need for you to generate more interest within your own client list.

Starting with your existing client base, survey if you are getting ALL of their business. The plan is to retain and grow the share you have. The next and very important point made was this: suppliers will continue to support the agency community as long as consumers book high yield products with travel agents.

The report pointed out that agent advised consumers travelled more and spent more and this is music to the supplier’s ear. On the other hand there is an overall continual migration of consumers booking with a travel agent to booking online themselves or through OTAs.

marketing AND ask your existing Baby Boomer clients to refer their friends and also their Gen X children and family members. At the same time your marketing plan should include reaching out to the children of Gen X who would be Gen Y.

I think it would be safe to say that until the last Baby Boomer client no longer takes to the skies travel agents will always have a source of business.

Generation marketing and attraction will keep you primarily focused on the Baby Boomer generation, until they start to fade away. At the same time building your share of the Gen X and Gen Y travel dollar.

It is also safe to say that Generations Y and Z, having grown up on DIY technology, apps and all things online, digital and mobile will cause the greatest change as they take over from the then ageing Generation X and Baby Boomers entering their senior years. You can almost hear a distant hush as to when the last Baby Boomer of this generation leaves the planet.

As your business starts to attract more Gen Y travellers it will need to keep pace with all things mobile and app related. Again, if you read the data correctly, Gen Y & for sure Gen Z will be using their hand held devices to explore online and book online. That “line” could and should be direct to you, your website, your booking engine and the Ng of mobile technology.

The year is 2043 when the youngest Baby Boomers reach the age of 80 which is a rough forecast for when people stop travelling. So, despite the statements about Generation Y and Z booking direct, which would erode sales and supplier support, you have until 2043 to make your millions off the Baby Boomer travel dollar.

Escorted Tour Bookings Decline

To continue getting your share of the Baby Boomer dollar you’ll need to focus your

There is clear indication in the Travel Weekly report that travel agents are losing their share of the escorted tour market. The report points out that consumers are booking tours online and away from TAs. To regain your share you’ll need to promote the fact that you can arrange these trips. The sell has to be on the service not the tour itself. It’s the promotion of what you do that takes precedence – here’s an easy-to-do idea.

How easy to post this statement online, in an ad, in your emails on your blog and website and as a

“We book escorted tours to Europe.” poster in the agency window if you have one. You might want an all-encompassing statement and make the destination: “…to the world.” Such a generic promotion can run for weeks during the prime booking seasons. No need to be destination or supplier specific as that dilutes your reach and attraction. You want consumers to call, click or come in and ask, “Do you book escorted tours to…?” The next step in the process is to arrange local presentations and advise your consumers about what you do in a “live” setting. Once again you’ll expose the fact that you can book escorted tours and custom travel arrangements, too.

The OTA and The TA-O Let’s play the acronym game. You know what an OTA is, right? Sure you do. It’s an Online Travel Agency. You know how they work. They have a bank of people manning phones and PCs and answer calls and emails and close the sale. As a small home-based business, chances of you opening an OTA would be remote. You can however, be the TA-O, the Travel Agent - Online. A TA-O would need a quality website with a booking engine and it’s that combination that you promote. “BOOK ONLINE WITH STEVE’S TRAVEL.” Behind the scenes you do not have a 50 person call center – you have YOU. That’s all you need for the number of clicks and calls you’ll receive. Let the OTA’s handle the thousands of calls – you handle the number you want and need to attain your share of market and more so within the niche you prefer to service.

The Niche Route to Ruin Every travel agent knows that specialization is the key to sales. The Travel Weekly report points out the benefits of selling into a niche as long as you know what it is you are selling. And there’s the Niche Route to Ruin. Fact is so many travel agents jump on a band wagon that’s playing a tune they feel they can dance to and as it works out, they can’t. In other words you must truly be expert in the niche you select before you attempt to sell it. Expertise is the word. The Travel Weekly report states that 74% of travellers felt their TA was NOT an expert / specialist in the niche being promoted and there is another opportunity to gain more of your share. Expertise in the travel trade comes with age, it comes with having ‘been there, travelled that’ and it goes without saying, ongoing selfeducation. Now it may be you are from, born and or raised in the country you are specializing in and that gives you an edge. It does not however make you the expert. To be an expert in your own country you would have travelled it from coast to coast, border to border. You’ll need to know every town, village, event, historical facts and more. If not… you are not an expert just yet. You could be an expert in your country’s cuisine and that’s a different story. You focus is purely regional foods and recipes not country wide. Grab a niche, own it, read about it, study it, travel ‘there’ many, many times, learn the language, culture, history and then when you truly feel you can answer any question a customer will ask – claim your expertise and out market the rest.

TAs are the Best Hand-Held Device So much chatter about technology and how the consumer is using ‘hand-held devices’ to book travel. Well of course they are just like you and I. Why wouldn’t they? What’s the big deal? The main thing you need to know and do is keep marketing in the online space where your clients end up via their hand-held devices.

That space is still Facebook, email, your website and more. It doesn’t really matter which device the consumer uses, as long as they can access YOU and your marketing. My statement on this issue is that TAs must get between the consumer and their news. That’s it. You have to reach them where they shop and appeal to how they shop. In this case, for travel. Knowing how tricky it is to book a complex trip on a small mobile phone screen you could use that as a marketing platform and just as the trade pitched itself as “the best search engine” here you can turn that around to be ‘the best hand-held device’ presented this way:

Travel Agents are the

hand-held device for booking travel. You could had a comment such as:

“That’s because we hold your hand every step of the way.” The Travel Weekly report states that for 2014, 38% of those surveyed stated they had booked and purchased travel on a mobile device and 62% had not. So two things are happening for you: you have 62% who may have tried and were frustrated with the small screen, and missed taps and you have that 38% who made it happen but might have let you do the work and save the stress. Try the ad slogan above and see what happens.

Trip of a Lifetime TAs According to the Travel Weekly report on how consumers book their luxury trips, the TA comes out a winner. Now don’t be fooled by that data as wealthy people have travelled before and know what they need – and in many cases they can book direct with the supplier.

As I say, they are well travelled and well-heeled and comfortable dealing direct with the luxury cruise line, tour company, resort etc. As for the average wage earner who has a trip of a lifetime to book and do not have a spare 100K to fall back on, they’ll want to do it right and make sure their $15,000 is invested by an expert travel agent. If you are in the business of handling Trips of a Lifetime you will enjoy my new book coming out later this year called Dream Merchants™ This is where you can stand tall. State your expertise as a travel agent who handles those trips of a lifetime. Sell the sizzle and that sizzle is YOU.

Consumer Using Review Websites This is music to your ears. The fact that a consumer checks out a destination or vacation online is exactly what you want them to do. It saves you time and time is money. The challenge is this: if you do not market yourself as the go-to travel expert then your clients will review online and book online. So don’t fight online review sites, embrace them. Make sure you use them too and then you can market the fact that you can verify your client’s choices – for a fee of course.

Travel Reviews Validated Travelling soon? Looked on line and found what you want? Let us advise you and validate your choice using our real time experience & expertise. Our review fee is $250, however if we end up arranging your travel then the review fee is included in the overall cost of your trip.

Note: Make sure your client understands that the review fee is a standalone fee as you may need to charge additional fees based on what they eventually book with you.

Boost Your Share of Social It goes without saying that social media is here to stay and that most people who use social networks have an account with Facebook. No need to repeat that again and again as it is now worldwide common knowledge. Of course there are other social networks that your clients can join – in fact there are hundreds of them and if you fancy your chances, you could use SocialGo.com to create your own social channel JUST for your clients. Make sure your Facebook account is a business page and keep in mind you are in business to sell travel not actually to share pictures of your kids. Remember too that not all Facebook LIKES are real. Remember that behind all social networks there are liars, cheats, identity thieves and some who will learn when you are away on a FAM and go visit your house. Yes that’s right – they use Google Earth Street View to check out your front door, Satellite View to check out your back garden and laneways and then call the local heavy to do the job. THIS is why you keep your Facebook page strictly business.

If you embrace Facebook as a marketing channel versus a chit-chat channel then you will be following in the footsteps of your suppliers who know how to bizualize! That’s right they can tantalize and then bizualize and you must do the same. Make sure however that your clients

understand your use of Facebook and other social networks is for marketing purposes. Add this to your website: “Facebook is our chosen social media communications channel, be sure to LIKE us and receive updates on the best travel deals going.” Now your clients can expect what you post. No one can get upset that you have gone beyond that overdone word engagement. Your clients know why you are contacting them and no need to send a picture of a fluffy dog in advance. Unless you sell tours for pet owners. You will read in the Travel Weekly report that most people have more than one social network account and that’s because they have done the rounds, signed up but have done little else with that account. Not every client is Tweeting about the coffee they had this morning, and not so many are posting images of themselves in a unithong on Pinterest. Take it all in stride as the constant amongst all social media channels remains email. If you can email – you can do social. Back to Facebook for a moment – keep this in mind too: If you POST it, BOOST it. You can reach thousands more people on Facebook for very little money. If you spend time working on your post and it’s a wonderful trip you are promoting then give it credence and spend $50 with Facebook to BOOST it and increase your social share! 

Click Image to Read

Yes You Can, and Should - still email your clients, just know the rules.

By Jill Wykes

In this space I have been writing about the importance of using different channels to reach all your customers….this column will address email…yes , don’t panic…you can still email your customers provided you’ve got their permission. The introduction of the new Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation, or CASL, threw terror into the travel industry this spring as the industry became aware of the impact it would have. To make matters worse, the legislation is subject to considerable interpretation and even lawyers who specialize in the field are still trying to get to the bottom of it. It reminds me of when GST was introduced…even the federal departments responsible for explaining it didn’t have a clue as to how it applied to many, many scenarios. And so it is with CASL. I am no expert in this legislation and that is not the purpose of this column….you should get the right advice from an expert. But I am here to tell you that email remains an important channel to reach some of your customers, and is one that you should not abandon. There are a few simple rules about email that I’ve always felt are critical to getting them read instead of deleted and effective as a sales tool.    

Create a subject line that’s clear, concise and enticing. Would you open this up? Don’t use attachments…embed your message right in the email. Keep your message short, simple and with a call to action. Don’t send “heavy” files that may get rejected.

Check to see how your host agency can help you…do they have an email marketing system…do they handle it for you? Is there a limit to the number of names you can provide on Brought to you by: The Travel Agent Next Door

your customer list? Does your host agency provide regular promotions that can be emailed to customers? And very important, does your host agency target market your customers according to their interests and activities? This will also ensure your emails are read and not discarded. Email marketing can be very cost effective, so long as you can find ways to ensure you don’t end up in Junk Mail or Spam….your host agency should have solutions for this. And always remember, when it comes to marketing…..if you are out of sight, you are out of mind.

Client Trends After reading through Travel Weekly’s Consumer Trends 2014 report you should have enough information to turn around and check directly with your own clients as to which and what trends are percolating amongst them. It’s very important that you gather your own trending data directly from your clients and then you can check your information against certain reports to see just how well you are doing. Where it makes sense, you adjust your business plan.

Okay, how would you conduct your survey? By phone, email or online survey? My choice would be online survey. I have used the Survey Monkey program very successfully. They offer everything you need to create your survey and the basic account is free. The program is easy to understand and use so go there, start an account and watch the returns.

But I Only Have 200 Clients And that’s okay. Two-hundred people who will tell you what’s on their mind, where they want to go next, what they think of your service and expertise… it’s all good. Would be nice to have one thousand people on that list, but then that would be a different story wouldn’t it – you’d need a staff of two or more!

You’ll want the results to tell you how many clients, by percentage, are planning to take a trip, where to etc., so that you can clearly identify the trends within your client list.

Your Own Data Trends Between yourself and your accountant you can certainly run a few graphs that focus on this year’s activities versus last years. If you can plot your data over five years even better. What you are looking for is a pattern. Are the same sales patterns, month x month still there? Has anything moved up a month or down a month. Have cruise sales increased or declined? Have you lost any long term clients? Know why?

Gather Subscriptions Hopefully you have the full email address for each client you serve. If not, better start requesting them. If you live in Canada you will know that you MUST have your client’s permission to send them emails. If you live in the USA then your emails can be sent to anyone as long as you have an unsubscribe function that works. I use the MailChimp program and for home-based agents like YOU, it works so well. The basic account is free and allows for up to 2,000 email addresses and you can send, for free, up to six emails per month to each of those 2,000 emails.

Your piece of the pie might be secure and the trends in the past are repeating & growing. All good. But don’t rest there. Keep surveying your clients and check the responses against the trade reports such as the Travel Weekly survey. See what might be trending outside your agency and make amends as you sense there is an opportunity for you to grow. 

Facebook Posts I read recently that when you post something to your Facebook page it shouldn’t come across as ‘from the Marketing Department’ or be too pushy. Well, let’s get out of this old and done to death type of commentary and use Facebook for what it is. It’s a marketing tool and so whatever you post should look like and sound like it is coming from the Marketing Department. But first, you need to make sure your clients and anyone who clicks to your Facebook page understands the role Facebook plays in your travel marketing.

Okay. Whilst many of your travel agency colleagues are treading softly, softly and trying not to come across as selling something… others are on that Facebook marketing bandwagon with no apologies.

Beware the images of your home, your partner, your children etc. Not everyone that Likes you, likes you! Keep it business.

Make It Clear The difference is that some travel agencies have made it known that Facebook is their preferred social media marketing choice and that anyone who Likes the agency’s Facebook page will receive notifications of travel specials, events and more.

Steve’s Travel has selected Facebook as its social media outlet to announce travel specials, events and more. If you are interested in receiving the latest travel news about cruising, tours and customized trips then please click here.

They Join Knowing When a client “joins” your Facebook page then, they know as they click that they are joining in order to receive your posts, updates, notifications, flyers, images and videos that are promoting something they love and that would be travel.

Try these notices:

If you like travel, LIKE our Facebook page and we’ll keep you up to date with all our travel specials on cruising, tours and customized departures PLUS images and videos of the places we visit on your behalf.

Use the Timeline Image As you know you have that huge image area that heads up your Facebook page and right there is where you can add your comment about using Facebook for promotional purposes.

You get the idea. Tell your clients HOW you use your Facebook account and let them click to join or not. Once you build a solid audience who actually want to read what you post, ask them to spread the word to like-minded individuals who also understand that Facebook is your social marketing outlet.

You can and you should weave in a few personal travel posts and images as your audience likes to see images from a recent trip you took. That’s important.

From now on, when someone tells you to tread softly and NOT to promote on Facebook – tell them the dinosaurs left town a long time ago. 

This well-engineered, strong, sturdy and simple looking gadget is all it’s meant to be. It will hold your expensive smartphone rock solid in its grip atop your tripod, or extension arm. That ‘rock steady’ comment refers to your video and also your Selfie shots. There are two versions – of RetiCam, standard and XL. If you encase your phone, go for the XL. American agents can purchase from Amazon.com here. Canadian agents can purchase direct here.

Believe it or not I’ve been searching for such a clamp like the RetiCam for some time. I had purchased the spring loaded clamp sold by Photojojo, but my smartphone is encased in the Griffin Survivor case which adds some bulk to the phone. As I spend a lot of time outdoors and use my iPhone more for photography and video than I do as a phone (!) - I needed a clamp that would hold my smartphone tight as it dangled over cliffs on the end of an extension arm. I came across the RetiCam by chance as it was a small ad on an unrelated website that a friend sent to me. The clamp stands flat by itself so you can video from your desk or any other flat surface. For Canadian travel agents note that Amazon.com does not ship this item to Canada at the moment. I contacted RetiCam directly and the owner Hart was kind enough to sell direct and ship north. Great service. Shipping cost was $20 UPS. Job done.

RetiCAM® Smartphone Tripod Mount

Tangled FX

with Steve Crowhurst The Tangled FX App for your iPhone and or iPad is an absolute winner for recreating your travel images and selfies to suit any number of marketing ideas, themes and specific tours, too. The Moonsnail Shell on the previous page could be used to promote beach vacations, or perhaps if you serve a niche of shell collectors who travel the world, then it’s an obvious choice. The image on this page of me with my YETI, studio level microphone was shot and FX’ed to resemble a mix of the nostalgic radio announcer and present day Podcast + PodBlog. The concept of Tangled FX is very simple. You shoot a shot with your iPhone/iPad camera and then tap any of the many FX moods. There is a fine tune table of sliders where you can add more effects to lighten, darken, sharpen etc. The ‘current image’ would be low res in Preview and by tapping Preview the app renders to Full Size, tap to save it to your Camera Roll and then (for me) download it into Photoshop Elements for final touch up. So how could YOU use Tangled FX to boost your marketing activities, sales, presence and social media engagement?

Tangled FX Marketing It might show just a tad that I have fallen in love with the Tangled FX app. If this app ever becomes a desktop software, I’ll take one! There are many filters you can apply to your image however the one that I’m hooked on is Cartoon. The image changes in style, not so much cartoonish, more enhanced details. More artistic, almost watercolour’ish. Here’s an example:

The image above has been FX’d – here’s the original: The outcome is just so unique that you if start shooting now, using Tangled FX to convert your original images, you’ll be way ahead of the local competition as they try to determine what it is you are using. Here’s a few of the filter choices with my #1 choice highlighted: Original

Fibers

Swirls

Brush Strokes

Pencil Strokes

B&W Etching

Cartoon

High Contrast

Bloom

Small Details

Blurred

The Light Side

Webbed

After shooting the shot, and rendering it with your preferred Tangled FX filter, you can add your slogan or text to it – example shown on the next page.

You can make excellent use of your locally shot scenes that ‘look the part’ to promote overseas destinations or activities. The image above was shot locally where I live, however when enhanced using the Tangled FX app, the image takes on a different ‘look’ and can then be used to support tours of Europe for instance and as shown here, the push is to the artistic community, hoping to attract photographers and artists. Photographers are a safe bet as so many clients, probably 99% carry a camera when they travel and perhaps 20% are serious photographers. Amateur artists are also in abundance with the majority in the Baby Boomer generation who belong to local art clubs. So hook one client and chances are they might bring members of the art club with them. This applies to your photography loving clients too. In either case you are using the unique imagery of Tangled FX to attract your niche clients to travel with you. So now over to you. It may be Tangled FX or one of the many other FX apps that you can use on your smartphone. You also have various filters in your photo editing software such as Elements or Aperture (for Mac users) that will add a certain look to the image you would like to use. You might even find a special look or style that becomes your signature image and then use that to the point where the travelling consumer in your area knows just by looking at it, that it represents your travel agency.

Host Agency Can Be

By Jill Wykes

A SOLUTION FOR SMALL AGENCIES TOO Although we have focused this column on what to look for in a host agency for home based agents, there is a new model now available where small agencies can also enjoy all the benefits of having a host agency to rely on.

If you own an agency and you’ve maybe thought about an exit strategy….or you are just tired of all the behind the scenes work associated with owning a business and would like to concentrate on selling travel, then you will want to learn more about this option.

There are many other benefits to this arrangement. Your costs will decrease. You will have the opportunity to maximize your earnings by being part of a group, and you will have access to great marketing and other tools to help you attract and retain customers.

Most agents enjoy selling travel, dealing with customers, helping make their dreams come true and providing good service. You don’t often hear agency owners or managers say how much they enjoy invoicing, or marketing, or accounting or payroll.

As well, you will be part of a larger community for networking and sharing ideas. Before you sell your agency, or close it, be sure to look at this option. The Travel Agent Next Door has a program that could be just what you’ve been looking for.

Well, all the benefits that the right host agency can offer home based agents are now available to agencies too. This solution is perfect for agency owners who would like to slow down a bit, be relieved of some of the grind of operating their own business, but who really don’t want to retire and who enjoy the travel business. Let’s face it, we all enjoy the business, that’s why once it gets in our blood, few of us ever leave. So imagine owning a travel agency …but without most of the paperwork! And giving you support for your supplier, marketing and administrative needs. Brought to you by: The Travel Agent Next Door

Selling Ideas for the Fall

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s my time of year. I love the fall for the colours and the typical climate and from the selling travel point of view this time of year offers so many opportunities in both destination and type of travel. Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s explore, some moreâ&#x20AC;Ś

Coming soon to an open-air theatre near you is a wonderful, state-of-the-park explosion of autumn colour - a ready-made attraction that, if you market it the right way, will have your clients falling over themselves to book their travel with you. Fall foliage is a worldwide attraction and takes little to sell, provided you have a list of fall foliage destinations and suppliers which service those areas. No matter which destination you promote, there will be common themes to establish in your marketing and promotional activity.

Focus on such activities as hiking, art, music, weddings, dining, touring and the other 200 or more activities that people like to engage in when they go on vacation. Let's explore how you can use a multidisciplined marketing activity that includes direct mail, e-mail, voice marketing and video mail and F-mail. Yes, the marketing world has renamed an old activity and has also moved up one letter of the alphabet from E to F. Face-Mail is simply the art of getting face-to-face with your clients to tell and sell them on your Fall Tours.

Does anyone remember how to get face-toface with a customer to promote, sell and close? Our first step in the plan is product knowledge and research, but you knew that. Top Ten Fall Destinations It’s always a good idea to research and take note of ‘the top ten’ and you can apply this idea to any destination or activity you intend to market. You do not always need ten, you could go for the top three or top five. It’s the wording that attracts the consumer. Choosing a top ten for fall destinations is tough as every country in the world has its own ideas about rating a top ten and almost every country has their own version of fall foliage. We can stick to the usual destinations and you can expand into specific areas as you get to know about them. One of the key ingredients of course is – colour. In some areas there is a mix of reds, greens, oranges and in other areas just one colour with various shades. Generally each country offers its own form of celebration that is tied into the fall – this offers you a chance to tie in cultural aspects to the viewing of the leaves. In the past I have written about these areas: Southern Ontario, New England, Quebec, The Canadian Rockies and Atlantic Canada. Branson, Washington, D.C., Nashville, Myrtle Beach, New York City, Orlando, Niagara Falls, Williamsburg, Cape Cod and Philadelphia. If you want to look farther afield, you have Japan with its Kyoto hillsides and temples and, in the other direction, southern England with its beautiful old forests in the counties of Surrey and Sussex – and of course Europe boasts the same type of countryside.

Read Direct Mail When the letter "E" entered our marketing lives a few years ago, many travel industry marketers gave up their traditional off-line direct marketing activity. Not a good thing to do, especially as consumers are reporting more and more "e rage" over constant spamming and "t-rage" thanks to telemarketers making their calls during the best part of the movie. Direct mail is rising back to the top as a marketing format to initiate encounters of a first kind. The U.S. has its CAN SPAM law with fines for spamming and telemarketing overkill. In Canada, the CASL (Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation) program as of July 1, 2014 has pretty much ended all marketing to a consumer without their permission. So until you have that person’s permission to make e-mail contact, “old” marketing ideas can be used to great effect. Start with direct mail when you are targeting customers who have not yet given you their permission to make contact. Direct mail gives you the chance to deliver colourful postcards into the homes of clients you know and those you don’t know, yet. You would generate two mailings – one to your client’s addresses and the other mailing would be unaddressed mail to a selected area / postal code. As you know, a direct mail envelope that contains something the recipient can touch and feel is more often than not opened out of curiosity. Lead the reader to undo the envelope by directing them to do so on the envelope. Simply request "Check what's inside!"

What Will They Find Inside? What can you place in that envelope? A leaf perhaps. A dark red or yellow-to-orange leaf would do the trick and you purchase those online. Click the image below and you’ll end up on Amazon where Inspired by Nature has packaged the leaves for you.

If you have too much time on your hands you could cut the shapes from art paper! You could use one of your own photographs of a fall landscape or an individual leaf. Or, to go a little off your tree, you might try inserting a twig with no leaves. Your flyer would read — "Have You Twigged Yet? Yes, we want you to join our Fall Foliage Tour." Twig is a Gaelic word meaning to "observe, understand" and, as such, could fit well into this plan. Your flyer directs and entices the reader to contact you directly and/or to explore your Web site. When they land on your home page, there should a red-leafed, fall foliage button to click on. Remember, when a customer visits your Web site, they have complete control over the transaction— they can stay or go. Make sure you capture some data from your clients that you can respond to. Once the customer has arrived on your Web site, you must direct them to do one of the following call you, send an e-mail, register online, request information, enter to win, sign up

for the Fall Foliage newsletter or claim their Fall Foliage discount coupon by printing it off and redeeming it by visiting your agency. One of these ideas will deliver the information you need to continue the Fall Foliage promotion. The goal is to acquire the customer's name, contact information and the level of their desire to take your tour and most importantly, their permission for you to stay connected. Follow Up & Close The key next step to any form of marketing activity is, as you know, the follow-up activity. Once you have mailed your direct mail envelopes, wait the required delivery time of two to four days then make the phone call. “Hi, this is Steve of Steve’s Travel, just wanted to follow up with you and to check if you received our Fall Travel postcard? You did, wonderful. So please keep us in mind should you be touring this fall, we’d love to arrange your trip for you…” Keep it soft-sell at this time. If the client responds in a positive way, then naturally you’ll be asking for their email, when they might want to travel - you know how to do this. Fall Honeymoons Not everyone gets married in July. Target those planning to wed in the fall. This gives you not only a list of wonderful places to promote, but also words, phrases and images you can tap into for your marketing activities. “Falling in Love” is simple and combines both the season and the sentiment. Now all you have to do, if you wish to focus-sell a destination, is choose one and add the place name: “Falling in Love in...”

Lead Generation This requires networking and referrals and that means all your clients receive a “who’s getting married” direct mail, e-mail or general flyer. So if you have one thousand clients listed and one per cent respond, you’ll have 10 wedding / honeymoon leads to follow up on. Not bad. Falling in Love With Colour Who would fall in love with colour? Try photographers and artists. This is a wonderful time for promoting photography and art tours by group or individual departures. Contact local art clubs, societies and city art galleries and invite them to participate. Try a scenic shot on your Web site or embedded in your e-mails. Envelope Lift Note Fall Out Direct mail is a very clever marketing tool when it’s packaged correctly. Usually, once you undo the envelope a small piece of paper, the Lift Note, flutters to the floor,

causing you to bend over and pick it up. Naturally you read it. If that small piece of paper was cut in the shape of a tree leaf, fluttering to the ground, well you get the impression and the idea. The Lift Note is so called, as it lifts the response. It reads: “Don’t Miss The Fall Colours This Year!” Show Your Social Colours If you do have a fine selection of fall photographs and they all belong to you, then you can start posting them online and especially on social sites like Pinterest, Flickr and Facebook too. What you are trying to cause is a viral promotion as people share your image. If you add a subtle sales message on your image, this too will go viral. Gold Leaf You’ve now got a few more ideas on how to market the fall for some of that “Autumn Gold”. May the colour of money be yours, may it be gold and may it fall into your lap! 

Come with us to Kyoto, Japan this fall…

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