January 2010
Group Sales at Your Fingertips
by Les-Lee Roland
For some agents, "group" is a scary word. They wait for the groups to find them, such family reunions or alumni trips. Groups fall into our laps unless we create them, and agents don't realize that the groups are right there in front of them.
The most overlooked, but most important, asset in your office is (drum roll please!) your database. I don't care if you use a computer program or a shoebox with pieces of paper in it - it is your most important asset without a doubt. I cannot emphasize it enough. Even if you're just starting out, you must have a functioning database.
Whatever program you use beside the basic info (name, phone, address and e-mail), set up categories of birthday, anniversary, occupation, kids, and more. You have to take notes as you interview the clients. Some instructors call it "qualifying the client," while I refer to it as "interviewing." In general conversation, I find out everything I need to know to select categories for my groups.
The easiest category is the birthday. If you look through your current database and select everyone who has a celebration in the month of March, you may be surprised. I literally have a birthday group booked somewhere (usually a cruise) monthly. OK, in 2009 I did combine a couple of months, but I still had eight groups going with this common denominator.
Six to eight months in advance, I send out a mailing of the Birthday Celebration. A special cocktail party, a shore excursion, and a birthday photo are all included. When you look at your database, first select the ones who are celebrating a milestone. If they are going to be 70, 65, 60, and so on. If you select the right offering, encourage them that special rates will be available for their families to come. I also ask the birthday celebrants to bring one present worth no more than $10 to be put into a grab bag. Each one gets to pick a present, and some keep what they get, and some do trades with others.
If this is promoted successfully, you will see the increase in numbers, and clients will continue year after year.
Another facet of your database is where they live. Not just the address, but if it is a condo, gated community, or a retirement area, and whether they have a home owners association. Remember that this comes out of natural conversation. For example, "I see that you live on Whitmore Avenue. Is that one of the apartments or condos with a home owners association? The only reason I ask is that I have group rates that may work out best, and I have lots of community areas that do travel as a group. Can you provide me with a contact person, and I will send out the info? Maybe your neighbors will like to travel together."
Don't expect 100 percent cooperation. If you get 30 percent, you will be lucky. And prosperous! You can also decide if you want to offer a Tour Conductor allowance or other amenity to the person who helps you get this started.
Finding out if they have any children gives you an idea of when they can travel. If the kids are young, perhaps they need family time during school breaks. If they are retired, then it may be family reunion time. Either way, it helps you to gauge when and where to offer groups.
Finding out occupations opens a multitude of doors. Past military, law enforcement, nurses, as well as union members, current or retired. If you don't know the promos offered by suppliers for each of these categories, then you either don't read your e-mails or you haven't met with your BDMs or taken enough webinars or specialist exams. OK, if you still don't know which cruise line has the union special rates, e-mail me for the answer. My e-mail will be at the bottom of this article. Warning: There are literally more than 100 different unions covering many occupations. Just by asking that one question, a dialogue opens: "Are you currently working? Oh, you're a retired plumber. You're involved with the union in XYZ city. Gee, did you know that I can arrange a special rate on a Caribbean cruise for union members? Perhaps I can send the info to the person who does your newsletter?" Voila - a new group door just opened.
I had a teacher who was trying to plan a summer European cruise. I told her there were special rates for teachers, and she said that there was a bulletin board at the school as well as at the Board of Education offices in her city. She posted the flyers for me. Yep, a group participated, and continues every year, in a different destination - and it grows and grows. Plus, besides traveling as a group, I get referrals from them, as well as additional requests.
Now, for years, I had my favorite database listing called the Druthers List. "Tell me, if you had your druthers, where would you like to go?" Because of the success of the movie, this has now turned into The Bucket List. Same question, and, surprisingly, some of the same answers: Hawaii, Tahiti, China, Italy, France, Costa Rica, and new to the list, the Galapagos. When you analyze your database, you should pull out the similarities of destinations, and when you have five couples showing interest in one of them, put together group space at the right price and contact them. "Ding Dong - we now have a special on Tahiti, with free airfare, yadda yadda." You can even create a flyer with the Bucket List destinations shown to plant that seed in their minds.
What! You don't have a newsletter? Shame on you! Don't rely totally on the Internet. You should still send out something tangible for them to see, save, post on their refrigerator, and share with their friends. If you don't want to send it out monthly, do it quarterly. But do it. Make it inviting. And, make certain that every piece you hand out or mail, and on your business cards, newsletters, and flyers, state that you specialize in groups and welcome referrals.
I have an assortment of business cards. I have cards for my travel agency (the basic style). I have another type of card that focuses on groups and meetings. I have another one for referrals - I offer these to clients to give to their friends. When their friends use the referral card and book something, I send a thank you gift to the original client. So, now I have lots of clients asking for the extra cards to share. Business cards are your least expensive sales tool.
Another way to use your database quarterly is to invite your clients who have traveled within the last year to a thank you party. A simple cheese and wine event. Nothing special - except that you ask each one to please bring some pictures of where they traveled to or some great souvenirs they brought back. You already know where you booked them, so you should have some collateral on the location as well. And, set up some areas around the room, with small poster boards, so they can show off what they brought.
Now, the key is to mix and match whom you invite. Don't invite just the clients who went on a Caribbean cruise. Select people who went to different places. Also, have some tentative dates and rates for these locations, along with sign-up sheets for more info. You will find that people love to brag about where they have been, what they saw, and how great it was. The key is not to invite your complainers - only happy clients. This is a show-and-tell gathering. Your clients will ask questions of one another about destinations. They will look at the pictures and souvenirs, and their interest will be peaked.
My best reaction was for a Baltic cruise. I got enough people signed up to make a small group from one of these gatherings. When they went home, with each person taking flyers to share with others, the group grew and grew. This was a soft-sell group. My clients sold the destination for me. And, each time I throw a thank you party, the attendance and the sales increase for groups. Plus, you do get some individual bookings as well.
If you belong to a consortium or your host agency plans out its group space for 2010, take advantage of those opportunities and include them in your offerings. Take out that new calendar for the year, and make a commitment to promote something every two months, if not monthly. Once you get the hang of it, your group business will grow and grow. You must remember, it's not just having groups contact you, it's your responsibility to create the momentum.
All of the above tips are just from using your database. Your clients will bring you referrals each time. So, now you see that you can start a group from something you take for granted: your database. And, if you haven't noticed, I didn't use the words "affinity" or "pied piper" and I didn't have to dangle "tour conductors" to anyone. Those are being saved for another column.
Let me know your success stories, as we all learn from one another. And, if you want more info on the union rates, just email me at packagedeals@comcast.net.
Les-Lee Roland has been a travel agent for 19 years, as well as a travel writer and motivational speaker. She has won the award of Travel Agent of the Year and also North America Home Based Travel Agent of the Year from by Travel Trade Publications.
(Credits: Hannes Grobe, PrintBusinessCards.com)
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