es, Virginia, there still are
brick-and-mortar agencies out there, thousands of them, and many of
them display brochures and wonder if it does them any good.
One agent on our Web site forum complained people were gobbling
up brochures but weren't buying anything.
Another agent, joining the fray, told the troubled agent to get
the brochures away from where people could get their mitts on them.
Move them behind your desk, this agent said, and "hand them out
judiciously."
This agent said brochure-grabbers were probably either "waiting
for a companion to finish shopping or collecting brochures for the
kids' school reports."
One savvy agent chimed in that it was a good idea to get a name,
address, phone number and e-mail address from a prospect before
giving out a brochure.
A more aggressive agent suggested she "wouldn't hesitate to put
up a sign that brochures cost $1 each but are free with your travel
purchase."
I've heard a few pretty good stories over the years about how
agencies handle brochures. Here's my favorite:
A tour operator has been sending brochures out to travel
agencies for some time at no little expense. One day, the operator
is walking down a street and passes a travel agency. He notices his
own brochure prominently displayed on a rack in the store
window.
The tour operator decides to find out how the agency is using
the brochure to sell his trips, so he goes into the agency,
pretending to be a customer, and specifically asks for information
about his own tours.
The travel agent says the agency doesn't handle that tour
operator because "they never send us any information."
At that point, the tour operator tells the agent who he is and
points out that his brochures are in a rack prominently showing in
the window.
"Oh," the agent says, "we never look at what we put there."
Let's hope that was a worst-case scenario. As for the best case,
I rather liked the idea of keeping brochures where an agent can
find them but a customer can't get at them easily.
The agent who suggested this approach said it can be a bit
awkward if you have a customer seated at your desk and you have to
reach behind you or step away to get a brochure.
"You might have to interrupt your conversation at the desk
briefly," the agent said, but it's one way to ensure brochures go
only to qualified shoppers.
The idea of selling the brochures for a buck and applying the
dollar to the cost of a trip also has promise.
Selling brochures might be a better business than selling
travel.