"I paid $1,100 to have a designer create my Web site, but it's been
defunct for a while, and I'm not sure what to do with it now."
"I don't know where to begin."
Agents made these statements
-- showing various levels of technological sophistication -- during
the Web site "think tank" at the recent Institute of Certified
Travel Agents forum in Las Vegas.
In these sessions, small groups of participants brainstormed to
come up with the following tips:
Before working with a site designer, surf the Web first to
discover elements you would like to incorporate or avoid in your
own site.Develop enough useful and/or interesting content to get clients
and prospects in the habit of checking your site regularly.Provide links to weather sites (such as www.weather.com) and
map/directional sites ( www.mapquest.com) to answer common questions such as
"What's the temperature in Barcelona?"
Post clients' vacation photos and trip reports, and they will
lead their friends to your site. Develop a travel hot tips
area.
Commit the necessary resources of time and money to keep your
site regularly updated.Consider hiring interns or marketing students from local
colleges for this task. Also, technology-minded college students
can make up a low-cost advisory board to provide you with fresh
ideas.
Incorporate your Web site into all aspects of your marketing --
from your business card to voice mail (mention your URL on your
recorded message).Include your Web site address as part of your e-mail automatic
signature, so anyone getting an e-mail from you can click directly
into your Web site.
To help weed out shoppers, post a qualifying form on your Web
site for prospects to e-mail back to you.Make your agency personality part of your Web site -- with
graphics and copy that reflect you and your agents. One idea:
Introduce each of your staff members on the site with photos and
descriptions of their background.Establish a genuine relationship with prospects who e-mail you
by following up personally in a timely manner.More think tanking
ICTA's forums in
Las Vegas also included think tanks on finding and keeping
productive people and managing home-based agents. Among the tips
participants provided:
Recruit from outside the travel industry. Good candidates
include "moms going back into the workforce" and restaurant
workers.Hire for attitude; train for skills.Develop a "passport to excellence," a document which you stamp
every time employees complete a training course. When the passport
is full, employees can redeem for perks such as fam trips.Start an employee referral program with incentives for current
employees to refer good job prospects to your agency.Develop a strong relationship with a good local travel school
by either teaching a class (another good way to get a jump on the
best job prospects, whom you'll have a whole semester to evaluate)
or by using students as interns.When it comes to recruiting independent contractors, if you're
tapping an owner of an agency that is going out of business, "be
sensitive" when you make that first call, said session facilitator
Joanie Ogg, president of the outside agent group National
Association of Commissioned Travel Agents (Nacta). "Remember what
they're going through -- they're about to lose their child."No resolutions
Well here we are on the final countdown to the New Year. Again.
I swear that someone deleted two months from the 1999 calendar.
And right now I could really use that time because, as usual, I
have failed to live up to one (OK, all) of last year's
resolutions.
Which is
typical of my pattern: By Jan. 2 of every year, I realize I have
again chosen resolutions that go against my heritage (Italian),
personality (stubborn) or work ethic (70-hour weeks).
Take last year, for instance. I swore I was going to try and
look more like my picture, above -- lose a few pounds. But who am I
kidding? If it doesn't have mold or walk, I'll eat it. Exercise? My
typing fingers (I only use eight out of 10) are wonderfully tight
and fit, but the rest is a mess.
Last December I bought at least $50 worth of "get organized"
books. As of yesterday the only thing I found were the receipts and
that was by accident. They were in an old "to-do" file, which
reminded me I had bought the books in the first place. I'm sure
they are on my desk. Under something.
I swore that 1999 would see a kinder and gentler Lucy with
regard to walk-in travel shoppers. Every morning I would wake up
and repeat the word "diplomatic" five times. No dice, though. No
sooner would someone say, "I'm checking with a bunch of agents to
find the cheapest (fill in the blank)," and out of my mouth would
pop the words "This is a business, not a Mexican marketplace" or
"Call the airlines yourself."
I should just cut to the chase; resolve to gain weight, become a
desk chair potato, disorganize someone else's desk and really tell
the shoppers what I think. That way, I may have a chance to start
the millennium right. Happy New Year.
Lucy Hirleman, CTC, MCC, owns Berkshire Travel in
Newfoundland, N.J. Contact her at [email protected]; fax, (973) 208-1204.