10 Critical Tasks Travel Advisors Should Do Now to Ring in a Profitable 2023
During the fourth quarter of every year, Corporate America gathers in their boardrooms to review their essential annual analyses of the current year’s business performance and to conduct strategy sessions to determine their direction and objectives for the coming year. Travel advisors would do well to take a page from their operational playbook, setting time aside to evaluate the state of their business and to decide where to go from here.
If accomplished between now and the end of this year, these 10 critical tasks will help any travel advisor set a solid foundation for a profitable 2023.
1.预测2023年的预订。
“我每年执行的最关键和最重要的任务之一是在新的一年中校准和预测预订,以使我的观点和现实检查。这很简单,当我花时间通过电话和电子邮件与所有当前客户联系,不仅我进行了精彩的对话,而且我将自己的名字与客户保持在线和中心。此外,我总是要求推荐,因为它为此付出了回报。这项任务一直很有趣,并且在几周内展开。客户总是告诉我,他们很喜欢追赶我,他们感谢我的签入。”
-Denise L. Wiggins, global executive advisor and CEO, Denise Wiggins Travel & Health Services
2. Send printed holiday cards.
“我的任务是简单而有效的。我把假期cards to all clients in my database, as well as my preferred suppliers. While this may seem obvious, I was surprised last year to hear of many colleagues who sent holiday e-cards, then were surprised when good clients opted out. With the volume of email in today’s inboxes, to me, an email greeting is easily overlooked and may be considered insincere. My client and supplier relationships are a critical mainstay to my business. I consider the cost of professionally printed cards and postage to be a valuable investment in my treasured connections.”
-Epic Travel LLC的所有者Kathi Russ
3.运行数字。
“Travel advisors should not enter into a new business year without knowing their numbers. They need to know how much their business costs to run, how much commission each preferred supplier will pay, and how many sales they need to make in order to hit their goals. Without this intelligence, they are running blind.”
- 旅行业务增长战略家和电视节目主持人Sandra McLemore,旅行营销与媒体
4.评估业务的多样性。
“This is a good time to stress-test your business regarding the diversity, or not, of the markets from which you derive most of your revenue. It is widely reported that many agencies have specialized in either particular types of travelers or in specific destinations. This strategy has many advantages, but it also creates new risks. Overconcentration in one or two markets can leave the agency exposed to unexpected downturns in demand from a variety of causes, many of which are unforeseeable. Diversification can spread the risks resulting from specialization. At the other end, too much diversity can lead to loss of focus and lost profit opportunities. Balancing the risk and rewards of various forms of concentration/specialization in a well-considered plan is the best course. Evaluation of the specialization risk factor should be part of any year-end review.”
- 旅游行业顾问Paul M. Ruden,也是美国旅行社学会的法律和行业事务前执行副总裁
5. Call, don’t email, your clients.
“First, recognize that any client who has not yet booked with you again is someone I refer to as an ‘UNclient.’ To get their business back, take the next step by dedicating a full day to making phone calls (not emails!). Even if you end up in voicemail, ask this powerful question, ‘What can I keep an eye on for you in 2023?’ Advisors who choose to do this critical task now will have the most robust 2023!”
-Stuart Lloyd Cohen,Calc,首席动机兼特别活动发言人
6.组织和整理。
“对我来说,我的一项任务是从供应商那里删除所有旧的电子邮件和营销材料,从那些与我的目标保持一致的人那里取消订阅。在新的一年中创建我的待办事项清单,并为即将到来的税务季节准备好文件夹,以确保我准备好一切。最重要的是组织我的潜在客户清单,确保我有当前的联系信息以继续向他们进行营销。最后但最重要的是,看看我的销售和赚取工作表,使我能够看到自己的优势和劣势。”
- Dreamscape Travel Group的所有者Janine Fydrych
7. Plan out your marketing.
“A content plan for creating and distributing information focused on destinations and experiences will be essential. Travel advisors are urged to choose either podcasting, videos, or written content - and then consistently put out new content each week. This is the only way to keep email subscribers engaged, and it also goes a long way to positioning the profession as a critical part of travel planning.”
-Sandra McLemore, travel business growth strategist and TV host, Travel Marketing & Media
8. Assess your time management.
“我的诀窍是时间管理。代理商应该真正提高他们在此之前所做的事情的整体效率,这并不能帮助他们赚钱,而他们需要做的事情。摆脱无用或官僚主义的任务是关键的任务。例如,清理额外的文书工作。使您的目标是在2023年无纸。使用手机上的笔记,您可以在桌子上稀疏的桌子上散步的任何地方都有笔记。还要井井有条。就我个人而言,我的收件箱永远不会超过200个,并且所有内容都会尽快分解为一个适当的文件夹,在我需要时可以找到它,但是让我当前的待办事项清单非常干净,容易。”
- 乔纳森(Jonathan)旅行的首席执行官兼旅行计划者乔纳森·奥尔德(Jonathan Alder)
9.考虑实施新的业务模型。
“我的工作方式与传统的零售休闲旅行社截然不同。我提供定制的年度旅行订阅,所以今天,我正在为我工作的每个客户留出几个小时。我预先向前付费,并搁置适当的时间来帮助我的客户实现旅行目标。这些订阅是一年一度的,它们的时间为20个小时,每小时250美元。我只为那些持有年度订阅的客户提供量身定制的工作。”
-Ralph Iantosca,CTA,LS,DS,所有者,Iantosca Travel
10.雇用商业教练。
“旅行顾问应该寻找一位商业教练和导师,他不仅了解行业的基础设施,供应商关系的复杂性,而且还具有营销和出售旅行的经验。选择与其他旅行顾问一起工作的导师或教练。最强大,最成功的旅行顾问建立了周围的学习和支持社区。”
- 旅行业务增长战略家和电视节目主持人Sandra McLemore,旅行营销与媒体
As we head into the holiday season, we hope these fellow travel advisors and industry experts have inspired you to take a look at your book of business in a new way, or motivated you to add at least one fresh approach to your agency’s operations. Good luck and happy selling in 2023!
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