Thanking clients with a bottle of wine sent to their cruise
stateroom or hotel suite is standard among some travel agents, but to Anne
MacIntyre of On the Map Travel in St. Louis, it's an uninspired gift.
“It's so easy to send a bottle of wine on the ship. Then,
maybe they get it and maybe they don't. Maybe they want it and maybe they don't
really care for it.”
MacIntyre, a former marketing director of AARP Travel and
former co-owner of General Tours, likes to pack what she calls “wow” in each of
her client's itineraries in lieu of the bottle of wine.
In a recent webinar for the Travel Institute she described
that it's part of her strategy to cement relationships with clients by thinking
“outside the box.”
The first step, she said, is to make sure you know the
client. “Are they quiet or flamboyant? Do they love to eat? Where have they
been that they've just loved?”
Talk about your own travel experiences and watch their
responses to find out what sort of travel experiences they like, she said.
MacIntyre puts the “wow” in the relationship with her
clients before the trip starts. Her agency recommends pretrip movies that are set in or are about the destination they're traveling to and
suggests apps that add to travel enjoyment.
The agency provides city maps, fact sheets, tipping
recommendations and more in a folder that includes a flash drive with all their
trip information should they lose their paperwork.
But what really helps her agency stand out from the
competition, she said, is that she and her colleagues look at every day of each
client itinerary to see how they can “build in a wow.”
She writes to the general manager at every hotel that her
clients stay at, even if they are on a group tour, to let them know that her
client is coming and to politely ask for a complimentary upgrade.
“Those letters get my clients more special surprises than
you can imagine: flowers in their rooms, room upgrades. And, some hotels will
put a note that the flowers are from you.”
She and her agents also look to where they can add
individual experiences that are special, even if they are on a group tour.
“It can be something that doesn't cost anything but is
amazing,” she said. “I tell my clients who are going to Paris to have a
cocktail at the Hotel Raphael's terrace bar for a view of the Eiffel Tower at
sunset. The fact that you know about this means a lot.”
For clients heading to Los Angeles, she buys tickets to the
Ferris wheel at the Santa Monica Pier, an inexpensive gift but an experience
that they will remember. New Orleans travelers receive tickets to a
Preservation Hall performance.
For her clients traveling in Morocco, there's a honey seller
in the Fez bazaar who offers private tastings of artisan honey. MacIntyre tells
her clients to ask their guides to take them there.
Again, she recommends working with hotels to create the
experiences that are special, which MacIntyre calls “un-Googleable,” providing info or an experience that they wouldn't be able to find on their own.
“Hotels are sometimes your best friends. You can call the
desk and ask them what they suggest. You can't believe the things that we've
been able to get for our clients.”
MacIntyre typically looks at what her commission is going to
be from a trip and sets aside about 10% of that to spend on clients to get that
“wow.” One of her most popular “thank you” gifts for big-spending clients is
providing a complimentary Town Car ride from their home to their airport.
But agents don't have to spend a lot for the “wow.”
For clients heading to Machu Picchu, she prints a Pablo
Neruda poem inspired by the stunning site high in the Andes.
“I send a copy off with my clients and tell them to open it
when they are at the ruins and read it. Or, I send it to the tour company and
ask them to have the guide read it at Machu Picchu. It's very moving when
someone is reading those beautiful words early in the morning as the mist lifts
from the ruins. People remember that, and it only cost me $7 for a copy of the
book or even less if I just copy a couple of pages.”