The weekend just gone saw the itravel team come together at the Hunter Valley Crowne Plaza for their first ever conference. A big focus of the weekend was on INSPIRING itravel Advisors to live their best lives.
For this reason, inspirational speaker and business consultant Meg Salter came along to the conference to give the itravel network tips on how to be the most productive and popular Travel Advisors around.
The itravel team was certainly lucky to be able to tap into her wealth of knowledge (Meg herself used to work in the Travel Industry so she GETS IT) which was delivered in such a captivating and humourous way.
Here are Meg’s top tips for winning clients and smashing goals.
1. Stop the spam
Meg looked around the room full of Travel Advisors, asking them to raise their hand if they still sent newsletters to their clients. Several sheepishly raised their hands.
“It’s time to STOP IT,” Meg said.
There is no need for newsletters that bombard clients. We want to market ourselves in a way that shows we are TRAVEL EXPERTS and newsletters do NOT prove that. So what’s the alternative. Look to tip 2.
2. Write an ebook
When Meg suggested itravel Advisors write their own ebook to prove that they are indeed experts she got a few incredulous looks.
Hear her out.
She said the ebook only need be small and simply focused on what YOU are an expert in from cruising to destination weddings.
She said in an office environment the team could even do a chapter each on their speciality. Now we’re talking.
A travel agency with its very own ebook, how good would that look, she said.
She also suggested Advisors could start their own YouTube channel, doing short (less than 2 minute 30) videos on their niche.
“It’s free, easy and incredibly valuable,” she said.
3. Ban the word busy
Yes, Meg KNOWS Travel Advisors are busy… but she emphasises how important it is to jump off the ‘treadmill’ every now and then and look at ways to attract new clients.
If you get stuck in the ‘I’m too busy’ cycle, you’ll never be able to look at your business with fresh eyes.
4. Scrap the to do list
Meg says items on to do lists often never get done. What’s better she suggests a list with your top three most pressing things to get done listed as detailed action points, rather than just one word.
This fits in with her idea of breaking things down into steps (i.e. write the table of contents for my ebook rather than write that ebook). Things will become more achievable.
She also reminded Agents that their INBOX is NOT their TO DO LIST.
“If you are running your to do list via email, everyone who has your email address is running you life,” she said.
- READ: ITRAVEL CONFERENCE: What makes a successful Travel Agency in 2019?
- READ: FIRST TIME: The itravel network loses its “conference virginity” in The Hunter Valley