- Ask for reviews. Sites like Yelp! and Angie’s List are where people go to find out if you’ve got a good reputation. Odds are you have a ton of happy fans that have never thought to submit a review for you. Sending a simple, polite request to your customers asking them to share their opinions of your services on these sites can do wonders for your positive word of mouth.
- Be proactive. Any travel agent can book a vacation — there’s no reason to tell a friend about that. But if you save a traveler’s butt when the unexpected happens, or if you get them a really great deal, they’ll tell everyone about you. Be prepared for the unexpected and take advantage of any opportunity to save a client.
- Pick a specialty. Having a specific, focused topic supports healthy word of mouth. Being the “all-purpose travel agent” is too broad for anyone to share or talk about. Instead, become known for a particular niche — you’ll still get calls for everything else, but people will recommend you when they hear someone looking for something specific.
- Do a live event. Get people talking by hosting a reception, a party, or an educational class. One of the advantages a travel agency has is that it’s not just a Web site — it’s got a physical location and can use it to bring people together. Bring folks to you with a lesson from an expert traveler or for a post vacation celebration.
- Help fans share their travel experiences. When people go on vacation, they take tons of videos and photographs, representing a lot of examples of the experience you helped create. Help them share it by setting up Flickr accounts and Facebook groups where your travelers are invited to share their pictures and videos with their friends.
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Great advice! Three of five I had not considered. Thanks, Andy! Terrie Mead, Travel Consultant, AnyWhere But Here!, agent@ilv2fly.com
In the mid 90's there were over 36,000 appointed Iata / Arc agencies, and now the figure is just over 15,000 and most did not get "bought out", they simply stopped being "order takers" and "transaction makers"
I good or especially in hard economic times if you are not providing value coupled with service you will not be distinguishable between other companies or a robotic website.
Everyone better have a distinguishable niche' that they serve well!
Dear Andy: I feel we have a great 26-year reputation for great rail journeys on the world's top trains and great personal service. We get wonderful feedback from our members and clients, both for our magazine and for our journeys, and they refer their friends to us often. We reward them personally and not just with a travel credit. But I had never considered asking them directly to review our services to another source. What a great idea! I will follow through right away and let you know how the clients feel about doing this. Then I will learn to twitter.
Sincerely,
Eleanor Flagler Hardy
President
The Society of International Railway Travelers
That sounds great Eleanor– we'd love to hear your progress. Then we'll work on getting you on Twitter!
Dear Andy: Thanks for the specific advice. Quite often these articles are impractically general. I am new to the industry, but have found success my first two years by concentrating on a niche of localized, small-group tours to villas in Tuscany and chateaus in France, primarily using word-of-mouth and a little local advertising. I, too, get fantastic feedback from my clients, but had never considered the Angie's List idea. I will try that right away. I just signed up to the SmartBrief on Social Media newsletter, and already it has paid off!
Thanks Again,
Ihla Crowley
Owner/Operator
Drifter Sister LLC
Catch The Wind Tours
driftersister.com
I just checked out Angie's List. I have never used it so didn't know you have to join and pay a fee before you can post a review. I can't see asking my clients to pay to give me a review. However, I suppose I could say something like, "If you are a member of Angie's List, would you be kind enough to post a review of my services?"
Now I'll check out Yelp!
Ihla Crowley, a.k.a. Drifter Sister
Catch The Wind Tours http://www.driftersister.com
This is great! I love the proactive approach which we all need to be doing in this struggling economy. Keep up the good work! Cheers, Amy
Just want to mention that I checked Angie's List. I didn't know you had to pay to join in order to look at reviews or place a comment about a company. I would never ask my clients to pay to give me a review. Will check out Yelp! next.
Ihla Crowley
Drifter Sister
Catch The Wind Tours http://www.driftersister.com
Great practical advice. I've been building ADVOCATES vs. customers for the 12 years Sol Provider Travel Company has been in existence. We definitely don't feel 'odd' about asking our travelers to share their experiences they've had with us and even get EXCITED to ask them to tell their friends when we've "saved" their trip.
LOVE the Live Event idea….will start planning one pronto !
Great tips Andy, keep up the great work!
Donna Dykstra CTC, MCC
Professional Travel Advisor
Sol Provider Travel Company, Inc.
A Great wordpress post, I will bookmark this post in my Del.icio.us account. Have a good day.