Posts Tagged Marketing

One Of Those “Duh” Reminders

If you are like most agencies–home based, brick and mortar, or Internet based; your business is off due to the economy!  It sucks and there is no two ways around it.

But with ClientBase you have one of the most powerful tools at yoru disposal. And as long as you paid your ISP this month, you can easily drum up some business.

Why not query the clients who have made an inquiry in the last six months but have not purchased and send them a reminder that you still exist and want to earn their business? If you have been following my tips, you may even have regions in the reservation cards to target it a little better.

Don’t send them a hard sales pitch. Just say hello, and maybe a link about the new Italian Village at Beaches Turks & Caicos that is currently att 65% off.  I specialize in single parents (read: smaller wallets) and the price from a deluxe room to an oceanfront suite with a separate kid’s room and concierge service was less than $600 for a week. I upgraded 9 of my clients and the end result was $870 more in commission for me!

All with one simple email sent from ClientBase!

Level 2 Res Card Query–>FILTER–>

In the RES CARD CREATE FROM DATE enter the date code  =0,-6,0 (this will look for anything six months prior to the current date)

Go to the RESERVATION CYCLE and pull down and select LEAD.

Now all you need to do is click the EMAIL icon and send a message to the results in the Res Card Manager.

Here’s what the query looks like:

noclient

Res Card Create Date From =0,-6,0 Reservation cycle= LEAD Region/Destination= whatever if you are collecting it

Did this site help you out? You can always buy us a beer!

Tags: , , ,

No Comments

Wake Up Call!

If anyone tuned into the Travel Weekly virtual show yesterday, Mike Batt (CEO of Travel Leaders–formerly Carlson Wagonlit Travel Associates) had some pretty stern (and frightening words):

  • Expect a 20% drop in revenue this coming year
  • To build your business you will need to steal your clients

Everyone says that when the going gets tough, the tough get marketing. I definately see the logic in that concept, but from an agency owner that has lived throguh commission cuts and elimination, SARS, 911, and a war, I can tell you the wallet tends to disagree.

Well, remember to use ClientBase to your advantage. The price is minimal, and you have such a HUGE marketing tool at your fingertips.

Email is cheap. ClientBase has a great email engine to get both your targeted and general messages out. Utilize targeted marketing with your existing clients and send them relevant information when they need it. You will be a hero in your preferred suppliers’ eyes.

As for stealing clients…well, you ought to know how many (or who) is disappointed with their experience with you, so you know there are others disappointed with their web or brick and mortar agency as well. Start a blog, participate in travel forums like Cruise Critic. Get your name out there however and whenever you can. 2009 will be a year for guerrilla marketing. I hate to use a tired term but really–think out of the box!

Make a resolution that for 2009, each week you will use the program just a little bit more and learn a bit more.

Did this site help you out? You can always buy us a beer!

Tags: , , ,

No Comments