| There’s a difference between a ‘seller of travel’ and a ‘travel professional.’ Your certifications are credentials, but by themselves may not be clear to your prospective clients. Here are five things you should be doing to differentiate yourself from the wannabees:
1. Educate Prospects. They don’t know what CTA, CTC, CTIE, DS/LS or other designations from The Travel Institute mean. Treat your designation(s) as FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) on your website. Read up on The Travel Institute’s Digital Credentials and the marketing tools it offers. Explain the years of experience, miles of travel and hours of study that you’ve invested. Tell them what that means in terms of planning an exceptional trip. Talk about ease, reliability, safety… how they will benefit from working with a professional.
2. Motivate Prospects. Why should I work with you? I can do it myself on any number of sites, even save some money. What makes you so special? Translate your professionalism into benefits to the prospect. Here’s a simple technique that will change the way you write for and talk to prospects: First, read through the copy (the words) on your website. How many sentences talk about you and how wonderful you are? Take each one of those sentences, and rewrite it starting with the word ,‘you.’ ‘You will have a travel industry insider guiding you through the planning process.’ ‘You will enjoy the advantage of working with someone who has been there.’ Your prospects care only about one person, and it ain’t you. It’s themselves.
3. Be a Brand. Whether you’re a multi-national corporation or an individual working from your dining room table, it’s important that you brand yourself so your prospects will think of your name first. The name under which you operate should reflect what you do and what makes you the ideal choice for your prime prospects. Certainly, if you’re working with a host agency, its brand will be highlighted on your website and marketing communication. If you’re using your individual name (or if your business name doesn’t really tell your story), you must have a ‘tag line’ that explains you. It’s a few extra words that go just below your name and logo. Your tag line explains what you do and who you do it for. ‘Bob Johnson, CTC – Kid-Glove Luxury Travel Planning.’ ‘Mary Jones, CTA – Exotic Destinations for Adventurous Travelers.’ Use it everywhere you use your brand, including your LinkedIn and Facebook pages.
The best brands are focused on specific types of prospects and products that they want.
4. Provide Content. Think about the last major purchase you made. You probably went online to research the available options. The best content-oriented websites provide three kinds of content: Content generated by the business (you!), curated content (content you have pulled from other sources), and content that your clients provide (your blog). The more content you provide, including links to related sites (always opening a new window so they don’t leave you to get there), the more they stay bound to you.
Write about destinations, products, and services. Show photos and videos. Encourage clients to participate in your blog and to post their own photos and videos.
5. Be Accessible. Questions and complications come up in the process of planning even the simplest itinerary. When they do, the prospect wants answers. They can dig around on the Internet, read through blogs and forums… or they can ask you. Make it easy to contact you with questions and concerns, and by all means, answer immediately. Give them an email contact page, your actual email address, your phone number, and if practical, a chat option on your website. In today’s connected world, people expect answers immediately. Not tomorrow, now.
A designation has value only if prospects understand what it means. And they want to know what it means in terms of their own interests. Safety, simplicity, reliability, ease, insider information, local contacts… what does it mean to them? Demonstrate your professionalism by providing the information and service they expect and wrap the whole thing up in a brand identity that makes you stand out from the crowd. You’ll bring in more business and take home more money.
By Larry Mersereau, CTC, Founder, PromoPower LLC |
