Luxury Travel Advisor - December 2008 - (Page 6) EDITOR'S LETTER Take Time to Market Yourself O The dogfight is on: If you’re not spelling out exactly what you’re doing for your customers, you’re not going to survive this recession. ften the most practical ideas sound so simple; however, these are often the concepts that require the most creativity. Courtyard Travel, whose executives are featured on our cover this month, has created the Courtyard Club, into which it’s compiled all of the benefits that it offers to its clients. These perks are services provided through existing programs and include airline and hotel upgrades and other amenities, as well as the service that is provided by the actual agency. It’s all artfully described in a marketing piece and sent to clients who are invited to join free of charge. Brilliant, no? Too often, a natural sense of humility prohibits us from voicing out loud the good things that we do. That’s a mistake, because there are those among us who are less humble and who are constantly giving themselves a shout-out, even for the most mundane acts. Meanwhile, you, the diligent luxury travel advisor, are toiling late into the evening to ascertain that every detail of your clients’ trips are seen to. By the time you’re done, you’re too exhausted to even eat a proper dinner or give the dog a pat on the head, much less promote your full array of bespoke travel services in a professional and creative manner. Well, it’s time to make time for marketing because the dogfight to secure the trust of those consumers who are still traveling is on. If you’re not spelling out exactly what you do for your customers now, you’re not going to survive this recession. Moreover, the customer is wilier than ever; they know there are deals out there and they want them, even if they can afford to pay full price. Even so, they need to be encouraged to travel. Remember how they were at the ready to go off to wherever their neighbor had just returned from because they wanted to “keep up?” Their neighbor is now hesitating to travel because of the uncertainty of the economy. That means your client is again imitating them, but this time it’s not to your advantage. If you want to reach your customers, you must be sure your marketing message speaks to them clearly and is designed to garner results. At the recently held Leading Hotels of the World conference in Boston, Marshall Calder, the group’s senior vice president of marketing, said that LHW in 2009 will do less brand advertising and more tactical marketing. Included in that effort will be past successful programs that provide specific value adds. You might consider the same strategy; even if in the past you’ve focused on simply projecting your agency’s bespoke image, it might be time to get a little grittier and promote programs that provide a free night, complimentary transfers or all-inclusive meal options. When you launch such promotions to your client, be sure that the message you send to them indicates that you care, that you are here to pamper them. Follow the example of Sheila Yellin of Courtyard Travel, who insists that notes be handwritten to clients. However, make it a sincere effort—no photocopies with just the name handwritten. By the way, Sheila Yellin and Greg DeClemente have a number of strategies they’re implementing to get through these challenging times. You can read all about them on pages 40-44. In my mind, however, the best takeaway is that it’s important to find a great business partner. Both of these individuals have been in travel for a while, yet they’ve only recently found each other and collaborated to do some very interesting things. If you feel you’ve been flying solo for too long, consider teaming up with that individual you run into only once in awhile on fam trips or at industry events, but that you feel shares the same vision as you do. These are tough times; it’s nice to have a partner who not only understands you but who can complement your skills and supplement the passion you feel for delivering stellar luxury service. RUTHANNE TERRERO, CTC Vice President/Editorial Director rterrero@questex.com 6 LUXURY TRAVEL ADVISOR | December 2008
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