The Luxury Travel Specialist 4th edition course from The Travel Institute was released this week! The online course is cutting-edge, timely, and filled with expert advice and insights on current trends, traveler types, product offerings, and proven sales strategies- along with the latest tips on branding and promoting a luxury travel business.
There are three basic components that should be balanced to achieve the sale: product knowledge, an understanding of the customer’s needs and wants, and the selling process itself. Remember, selling requires interaction, not just action. Interaction means listening as well as speaking. It should be a conversation.
Here are 5 strategies that successful travel professionals have found useful in selling to luxury consumers.
1. Do Your Homework: Know the product you are offering and know it well. Research your suppliers and seek out Familiarization (FAM) trip opportunities.
2. Practice Interaction: There are two sides to every interaction. Seek important and crucial information, provide feedback and listen carefully to the customer’s responses.
3. Stress Value: A product can be both expensive and a good value. If you equate a product’s value with low price, you’ll lose the customer to a lower price. Nobody wins.
4. Be Authentic: Many customers have a built-in hype detector. Customers can tell when a salesperson is overselling a product, so always tell the truth, be authentic and don’t oversell. And, if you can work in some personal experiences with the product, all the better.
5. Speak Their Language: Be sure not to use travel industry jargon and acronyms.
BONUS: Don’t Bore Them: Time is so valuable. A bored client will walk away. Descriptive and honest storytelling – putting the client into the story – often is effective.
This week’s Friday Five post was based on material in The Travel Institute’s Luxury Travel course. If luxury travel is on your radar, this program is a must!
