By: Laurie Beckmann, CTC, MCC
Welcome to the world of Travel. As an independent contractor, you are a small business. Just like any business, you must get the word out to potential clients. They need to know that you exist and how to find you for your business to succeed and grow.
1. Web presence:
If your host does not offer a website, then you must have one. Not only does it give you a place to define and build your brand, it also creates a sense of legitimacy. Most consumers expect companies to have a website. It is the first place for you to share your information and why you are the perfect Travel Planner for them. This is no longer a daunting task. You do not have to be a tech wizard or spend thousands or even hundreds of dollars to make this happen. Check out sites such as Wix.com for their amazing templates, and they can be free to just a nominal fee per year. There you can create an email address that is tied with your business name, again creating a more professional image and sense of credibility and stability.
Your website will become a perfect landing page for sharing specials, preferred travel partners, and travel tips. There can be a section where you share your own travel experiences and your past client’s reviews and raves. It is where your clients will go to learn more about you and your business, and with the correct SEOs and other search words, they may find your business as well. Millennials and Boomers alike have become dependent on the web – they will search you as well as the travel options you are offering. Be prepared – your clients may be more knowledgeable than you about a tour, cruise, or resort – You need to reassure them that partnering with a travel professional is to their advantage and that you are ultimately the expert and have their best interest as your priority.
2. Family and Friends:
Do not discount the value of family and friends. “The most credible form of advertising comes straight from the people we know and trust. Eighty-three percent of online respondents in 60 countries say they trust the recommendations of friends and family,” according to Nielsen Global Trust in Advertising Report.
People will do business with people they trust and know; many decisions are still about relationships.
3. Brand and Niche:
It is hard to be the expert in everything, so begin with your passion in building your Niche. Do you wish to specialize in Honeymoons and Destination Weddings? Are Family Vacations your passion, or are you an avid cruiser? This will help identify the market you would like to reach and where to reach them. If Romance and Honeymoon travel is your passion, you may be focusing on your newly engaged couples and have a soft and romantic look to your brand, while embracing corporate and incentive travel may have a more first class look, focusing on corporate events and linked accounts. If Disney is your passion, your look will be focusing on families, and your clients may be found at your local school events and youth sports fields.
4. Networking:
In the world of networking, you don’t start selling until you have established a “sharing” relationship. Be a giver. Serve others, and wait for the referrals, introductions, and other opportunities to come later. Don’t try to sell at a networking event! It hinders your ability to build relationships. Invest in the relationship first. Sell later.
It is great to join your local Chamber of Commerce and other business groups; however, if you do not go into it with the correct mindset, it may be a waste of time. People like to do business with people they have a relationship with. Building that relationship will also create a client for life. The easiest travel clients you will have are your repeat clients. Those relationships create your long-term success, and then their referrals are almost already sold on your services. The Business and Professional Associations may be where you also getting leads for corporate and incentive travel. Networking can also happen at Church, your gym, local PTA and just about anywhere you are. Volunteer with your favorite Charity event. There you will be working for a good cause as well as creating a larger networking group for your travel business. Many of the network opportunities will cost you nothing but time. It takes time to build great relationships, and those relationships will be the backbone of your business.
5. Trade shows:
Participating in local trade shows can be the perfect avenue for you to gain targeted travel sales.
In Choosing which trade shows to participate in, begin by thinking of what travel you are looking to market. Honeymoons and destination wedding clients can be easily found at your local bridal show. The majority of these are held in January and February, following some of the highest engagement periods of the year (Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve & Valentine’s Day). These may be small events held in local hotel banquet rooms to very large annual events at your local convention center. To find the promoters of the shows, check out your community’s local website page under events. Your community website and your local newspaper will most likely have a wedding section to use as a resource. The bridal show listings will have the Where, When and Who to reach out to so that you may ask for the vendor information.
Family travel is more what you are trying to sell, than consider the local craft shows, school PTA events, local YMCA, and other community organizations that are catering to the travelers that you are seeking. These events can be found online on your community websites, local newspapers, and school newsletters.
Trade shows geared towards Seniors and Boomers are also growing around the country and can be perfect for your river cruise, luxury travel, and longer travel market. Fitness and Wellness travel is another rapidly growing trend, so check your online community for Women’s Night Out, Fitness Night, Golf Expo etc.
Once you have Located a few trade shows that may be targeting your client and have reached out to the promoters, a few details to look at before deciding to sign on the bottom line:
- How much is the Booth? (be prepared to pay $50 – $500 to thousands, depending on the size of the show and the audience). The most expensive shows are not always the best for your clients. Sometimes the larger, more expensive shows are so large, you never get a chance to connect with the attendees. Think Quality over Quantity.
- How large is your booth? Is there enough space to show your display and create your brand?
- What are they supplying? (Often it is a 6- or 8-foot table and 2 chairs – but do not assume).
- Do you have a good location? What else do you need to supply? Some extra items will also be signage, banners, table coverings, and giving out any customized swag or bags. You want to add your entire overhead and cost into the day to figure out if this has the potential of a good profit for you including any extra help you may need to man your booth.
- Where are they advertising? What is the expected number of attendees? Has this promoter held the show in the past to have a track record of a successful attendance? These factors can help you decide if this is the right show for you.
Trade shows can be an amazing and profitable way to get your name in front of hundreds of potential clients in a very short time. Ask if they put the participating vendors on their website, and if so, can it link to your website. Do they provide a copy of the registration list after the show? You will want some sort of sign in at your booth, whether raffling an item, asking attendees if they are interested in attending a specific travel night, possibly a gift certificate towards a vacation. The most important part of all tradeshows is the follow up, and without some sort of way to collect interested clients’ information, there is no opportunity to follow up. Many businesses that have poor luck at trade shows drop the ball on the follow up, no different than forgetting that important step in your sales process of following up with your clients when they return home from a trip. The other big mistake is not having every piece of collateral you are handing out in your booth tagged with your label. When the attendees get home with their bags from all the booths and finally go back through the brochures they collected, they need to be able to reach back out to you. Never let collateral out of your hands at a trade show or anywhere without your contact information on it.
