Referrals and key influencers can play a major role in the profitability of your travel business. Key influencers can be anyone from the person who cleans your office to the governor of your state, and they can bring you more business than you thought possible. This post will focus on how to generate key influencers to help you build your business. If you choose to pay referral fees, you’ll only spend money after you make money.
Keep in touch after someone has booked a trip.
Send emails about what clients should expect as their travel date gets closer. Keep a dialogue with clients after you’ve booked a trip for them so they know you’re there for them—no matter what purchase they made or how much they spent. Be available for them. If you take care of your clients and build relationships, they’ll take care of you.
Focus on the client and their experience, and ask for referrals.
You should have a system for staying in touch with all your clients, and when you have an opportunity, ask them if they know anyone who needs a travel advisor. People are happy to talk about and refer you—but they don’t always think of it on their own, so ask! When you do, they’re likely to think of several friends and family to refer you to.
Acknowledge your clients.
Be diligent in sending thank-you emails and holiday and birthday cards. Use your monthly newsletters and quarterly mailings to give clients more helpful information and offers they might be interested in, such as travel tips and notice of upcoming specials. Encourage them to forward your newsletters to friends, coworkers, and family.
Give clients a referral fee if they bring you a new client.
Referral rewards don’t necessarily have to be money. Maybe special amenities, free services, or special pricing for their next trip would be good incentives for referrals. Whatever you choose, make sure you’re giving them a reward that is relevant and meaningful so they will continue to refer you. Give a discount or extra perks to your new clients. Reward clients for repeat purchases and perhaps create your own loyalty programs.
Don’t always focus on new leads.
Always get feedback on the experiences of past and current clients and find ways to improve them. You’ll get more referrals and more repeat business, so you won’t have to go out looking for new business—it will come to you. It’s easier to sell a current client than to find and sell a new one.
Don’t make the mistake so many businesses do by focusing on the shiny new client while ignoring your previous and current clients. While you need to keep marketing to prospects, use at least an equal amount of time, energy, and resources marketing to old clients. You’ll build a more loyal client base quickly and sell more frequently.
You have a choice about the people you work with, and you don’t have to take everyone who comes your way. We have all been building our businesses the wrong way. We started our businesses and told ourselves we needed to bring in the cash, so we worked with everyone we could.
You don’t have to do that anymore. Build your business from the inside out, and choose your clients. When you do, you’ll be shocked at how quickly you attract clients and the quality of those clients. You’ll make more money and more referrals because the inside-out business model feeds on itself. Once you know who your ideal client is, the rest is easy.
Start with your why.
All businesses function on three levels: what they do, how they do it, and why they do it. Most businesses can identify what they do and how they conduct business, but very few can identify why they do it. By the way, money is not a why; it is a result.
You should lead with your why, and to determine your why, think of a leader who inspires you and makes you want to do business with his or her company. His or her why is probably similar to your why. For example, Virgin Atlantic is a leader in quality and innovation. They’re upfront about the fact that they believe in making a difference, and they put themselves in the customer’s shoes to find ways to make it better. They’re driven by why they do it, not by what they do. Their leader, Richard Branson, would be able to create a success of any business because his why would carry over to any industry.
To formulate your why, look at what you’re good at, your successes, and your struggles, especially those you want to fix in others. Then think of what you would do if you had a billion dollars but still had to work every day. When you think of what you would do, keep asking yourself why until you hit a reason that stops you in your tracks and makes you feel like you want to cry. That’s your big why.
Hills of Africa’s why is to help our clients live the heart, soul, and magic of Africa . . . because we know firsthand how magical it is and believe everyone should be getting some of that.
Now that you know your why, you need to know whom you want to work with. Ideal clients are easily identified, happily pay what you are worth without negotiating, get great results from working with you, will tell others about you, and are those with whom you enjoy working. They fill you with energy and excitement rather than drain you.
To help you identify your ideal clients, go through your client folders and lay them out on the floor of your office. Grade them “A” though “F.” Now look at the “F” clients and write “I never want to work with clients again who ____,” and list all the things you don’t want in your clients. For example, you might say, “I never want to work with clients again who aren’t decisive.”
Now turn every statement back into a positive and say, “I want to work with clients who ____.” Using the example above, you might say, “I want to work with clients who are decisive.” Make your list of positives, and gather the “A” and “B” clients. Do those clients match your list? Identify other common denominators among your “A” and “B” clients, and you’ll have a good idea of who your ideal client is.
To get to know them even better, learn about them on a deeper level. Where do they congregate? What do they read, where do they network, and whom do they do business with on a regular basis? What clubs do they belong to? Finally, find out who has a list of these people. If you don’t know, ask your “A” and “B” clients.
The more intimately you can know your ideal clients and what they want, the more successful you’ll be, and the more money you’ll make. Never be afraid to ask your ideal clients what you can do for them and how you can do it. They’ll be happy to tell you, and you’ll be light-years ahead in achieving the success you deserve.
Are you working with your ideal clients?
