Being a #travelpreneur is no walk in the park. It often requires skill, patience and resilience especially during tough economic times when your business and its profits need to maintain some level of stability. When travel isn’t high on your client’s list of priorities and they are not willing to spend, you naturally may be faced with a dip in sales. However, this doesn’t always have to be the case.
To help you sell more, despite the market indicators, here are a few of FlightSiteAgent’s top tips.
Stay on top of quotes
- Be quick: When you receive an inquiry for travel try your best to respond on the same day. This will impress the client and make them feel as if they’re high on your priority list. If time allows create a quote and attach it to your response thus giving them all the information they need versus sending countless emails. By putting in the extra time and effort, you’re more likely to convert the sale.
- What you put in, you’ll get out: The quote you share with your client is a visual representation of how your travel business works and how you treat your clients. Therefore, even though it’s important to get your quotes out soon, it’s even more important that the quote is of a high quality, suggests the best deal and that there are no spelling errors. Ultimately, this is your chance to convince a potential or current client that you are the best at what you do.
Get to know your clients
- Follow up, follow up, and follow up: We cannot stress this enough. Did you know that 80% of sales are made after five or more follow ups? Through regular communication you’ll get to know your clients’ travel habits which will make it easier for you to sell more relevant deals to them, whether it be for business, pleasure or both i.e. bleisure.
- Plan: Multi-day itineraries can be complicated, however it is very important to spend time on this. Ensure all the information provided is 100% correct so as to avoid unhappy clients and/or unnecessary travel hitches.
- Build relationships: Nurture repeat and referral clients and build a solid database which includes all client details. This will help you understand your clients better, making it easier to spot opportunities to sell more.
- Trust is key: If your clients believe that you’re the best in what you do then they will trust you and chances are they’ll continue to book through your travel business going forward.
Sell travel better
- A good way to get your client’s attention is to focus on value for money, not price e.g. by advertising an ‘early bird booking discount’. Helping them get the best deal possible will show how valuable your service is.
- It’s important to be confident in what you do and in the value that you add to your client’s travel over and above the monetary cost. This could include factors such as offering great customer service, keeping your clients up to date with the latest relevant travel news and special offers and ensuring that they feel taken care of.
- Always keep in mind that most people need to take a time out during the course of the year so we advise that you touch base with your clients and suggest one or two ideal destinations where they can go for a short, refreshing getaway.
- Always remember experiencing amazing destinations and enjoying quality time with families and loved ones can create priceless lifelong memories. Try to sell an experience to your clients rather than just the destination itself.
- Clients want to feel like they’re getting their money’s worth in a tough economy. We suggest selling package holidays that offer all-inclusive options. Club Med and NCL do this well. This is also a quick and easy sell for you as packages are put together by the relevant tour operators for you to sell at a mark-up. For more assistance on this contact [email protected].
- Educate clients on travel. Often costs can be saved by travelling with a companion. Therefore encourage solo travellers to consider finding a travel partner to join in on their adventure.
We hope that these tips boost your sales. Don’t be too hard on yourself; selling travel can be tough at times, but with enough commitment and motivation you’ll be on your way to success. If you have any further questions about this service call 086 133 3392 and one of our friendly account managers will be able to assist.