Lessons Learned from Advisors Who Started During the Pandemic
byDori Saltzman/
在扎根大多数旅行的大流行期间开始旅行业务并不容易。但是,这并非不可能,因为几位顾问旅行市场报告在共同199年大流行期间成立了自己的机构后就学beplay客服会了。
他们学到的教训是一些知名旅行顾问可能认识但可能忘记的真理。当客户丰富的时候,就像在大流行之前一样,很容易忘记基础知识。
Here are a few key lessons these new agency owners learned that allowed them to be successful in what many would call a crazy time to own a travel business.
Remember Your Why
Starting a travel business at a time when few people are traveling can be frustrating. But when things get difficult remembering why you started the business and finding ways to stay positive are critical to getting through the hard times.
“It was time for me to go into business for myself and I had such a great passion for travel,” said Dawn Nowlan, a former retail executive and owner of a Dream Vacations franchise in Charlotte, Michigan. Nowlan opened up for business in February 2020, while news of COVID-19 was just starting to spread.
“当地板从我们下面掉下来时,我仍然觉得这是正确的决定。这真是令人恐惧的时机,”她告诉旅行市场报告。beplay客服
尽管进行了艰苦的战斗,但诺兰说,每当她感到沮丧时,她一直回到她的原因。提醒我们,她在皇家加勒比海的Vicki释放中听到的报价将邮寄在桌子上,“每个红灯最终变绿色”,其下面的“记住您的原因”一词。
“It’s important for me to stay focused and not become a victim of the situation. I think mindset is everything,” she said.
Focus on the Positive
在思维方式方面,新的旅行顾问乔安妮·米歇德(Joanne Michaud)认为,积极的态度至关重要。Michaud于2020年11月在大流行中心购买了她的凤凰城梦幻假期专营权。
Like Nowlan, Michaud has focused on staying positive rather than dwelling on the difficulties.
“I believe we all have a choice in life. We can choose to focus on the positive or the negative,” she said. “Instead of focusing on those instances [cancellations], I focus on the positive of the new bookings coming in. And the ones that cancel, I know they’ll be back when the situation stabilizes.”
Michaud补充说,当她第一次开放时有现实的期望。“我告诉自己,如果我的第一年销售,那将是一个奖励。”
总部位于纽约州长岛的Crafty Getaways的共同所有人Sam Yaffe是一家旅行代理机构,他于2020年11月与合作伙伴一起成立(他们的实体位置于2021年4月开业),他称其为您自己。
“When you want to build a business, you can’t be afraid to take chances, as long as you believe in yourself.”
分享是最好的营销
With the exception of Yaffe and his partners, all of whom had worked for other travel agencies before, the advisors TMR spoke with started their agencies with no customer base. They had to find clients, gain their trust and convince them to travel, all amidst a backdrop in which travel was deemed dangerous.
Several turned to social media as a way of connecting with potential clients. More importantly, they used social media to share their own travel experiences.
“我认为分享信息和我的经验使他们感到舒适,” Michaud告诉TMR。自2021年7月以来,她每月都旅行,并在社交媒体上记录了每次旅行。
“当人们看到您这样做时,有些人认为这是有风险的。而其他人则有很多好奇。‘你怎么做?’‘安全吗?”它灌输了信心。这表明我知道如何浏览入门要求以及在各个国家成功旅行需要做什么。”
Nowlan也做得同样。“我进行了几次家庭旅行,并记录了整个事情。我展示了它在机场的安全。度假村的卫生协议是为了确保每个人的安全。测试……我觉得这帮助很多人看到了,‘哦,她在那里。也许我们可以做到这一点。’我的业务确实从那里开始增长。”
For Nowlan, social media has become one of her primary drivers of business and she doesn’t expect that to end any time soon. She’s created several weekly “events” on social media including a Travel Reel Sunday, where she posts a 15-second video of somewhere in the world people want to go, and Travel Talk Thursday, during which she talks about what has happened in the travel universe during the past week.
她说:“这样的事情使他们参与和了解,并建立知道,喜欢和信任的环境。”
Networking Works
Michaud credits social media for helping build her business as well, but says most of that comes from others recommending her on social media. Others that she’s met through networking.
“I joined every networking group I could. I literally do one networking theme group per day. It’s a lot of work but it has been tremendous,” she said.
在每次参加网络会议上,她都有机会谈论她的最新旅行。不是作为正式演讲,而是因为她的网络同行知道,她总是从某个地方回来。
“They love being able to follow along that way… They ask questions. It’s not like information is being forced on people. It’s just generating curiosity,” she said. And it keeps her front of mind, when people in the groups – or their friends and family – start thinking about travel.
“Not only do people in my networking groups ask for themselves, but they refer friends and acquaintances, saying ‘oh my gosh, get in touch with her, she knows international travel. She’s always doing it.’”
对于已经拥有客户群的Yaffe和他的合作伙伴来说,与旅行伙伴建立联系一直是他们成功的关键。
“对我来说,无论是客户还是供应商,这都是建立关系。这些关系有很长的路要走……建立关系可以持续一生。当我们决定开放自己的业务时,我开始与所有联系人联系,说我们正在做的事情,您能帮我们吗?由于我与他们的关系,每个人都给了我们几乎最高的佣金级别。”