By Rita Perez, CTA, MCC, VTA, Owner of Take the Helm, LLC, and member of The Travel Institute’s Professional Educators Program.
Summertime sometimes equates to a slower pace for many travel advisors, making it the perfect opportunity to prepare for the upcoming busy holiday season and beyond. So how then can you best utilize the summer months to streamline your business operations?
These five strategies will help you set the stage for success in Q3, and Q4, and paint a great foundation for 2025.
1. Get Ready for Q3, Q4, and 2025
What do you want for the rest of the year, leading into 2025? What do you need? Is it more revenue, is it more help, is it more space? Do you want to take time off for the holidays? You need to plant the seeds of your long-term vision now, and it starts by having your goals in clear view.
Action Step: Map out objectives, including income goals and what products/services you want to prioritize selling to get to your income goals. Create a sales and marketing plan based on these goals.
2. Fine-Tune Your Processes and Systems
Summer is a great time to look at your internal processes and systems. Review and document your workflows to 1- make operations easier for you and anyone you hire and 2- find areas for improvement. This could mean auditing your email automation or revisiting your task lists.
Action Step: Create a detailed checklist of all the processes you might have in your business. Some examples include sending invoices, preparing an itinerary or sending emails. The more time-consuming part will be to write out all the steps you take for each process. Dedicate a day or two to write or update a process, add it to your project management tool of choice or CRM and create any workflows to make them run automatically. Then rinse and repeat.
3. Revamp Your Online Presence
Is your website copy starting to feel a little outdated? Are you offering new services? Will you be launching a new group trip soon? Your digital marketing assets are not just “set it and forget it” and the summer downtime is a great time to update not just your website copy but also your social media bios, Google Business Profile, and contact forms.
Action Step: Do an audit of your digital presence and write a list of what needs to be updated. Utilize AI to help you revamp copy, or hire a professional copywriter for larger-scale projects. Bonus tip- make sure the copyright date on your website is updated to 2024 if you haven’t already done that.
4. Batch Your Marketing Efforts
While you’re able to take a breather, batch your content 🙂 I’m sure writing a social media post or blog article is the last thing you want to think about at the Thanksgiving table. Do “future you” a favor, and start prepping your Q4 marketing efforts now, before it sneaks up on you.
Action Step: Set aside a week to batch-create content (newsletters, social media, videos, blogs, etc.) by laying out a content calendar for Q3 and Q4. Photograph new travel experiences if you are vacationing this summer or research new destinations or suppliers.
5. Plan Future Promotions and Partnerships
Part of planning ahead is being proactive and not waiting for things to happen. What sales opportunities can you create for yourself? How can you promote future sales events like webinars, trips, or partnerships? Now is the time to stay visible and plan for future programs. Have I mentioned how much “future you” is going to thank you, yet? 🙂
Action Step: Build a promotional calendar that stretches into the beginning of next year. Network with potential partners, identify supplier promotions, and set up your sales events and/or group trips.
If you’re not where you’d like to be with your travel agency, summer is going to be a great opportunity to press the reset button. Dedicate whatever downtime you might have now to review, re-evaluate, and build up your energy, so when the fast-approaching festive season arrives, you’re confident and prepared, and not scared and overwhelmed.
And if you need some support in driving your sales for any season, download my free Sales Boost Checklist filled with sales strategies I use in my business when I need a boost in revenue.
