At Tripology, we’re constantly telling our Tripologists to consider what consumers are listing as their travel budgets when investing in travel leads, but to also realize that many consumers don’t know how much a particular trip will cost and need the assistance of a travel specialists to help determine that.

We just received the following quote from one of our Tripologists in response to a courtesy email that helps prove this important point, and I thought I’d share it with you:

“What is interesting is that the last couple of Tripology leads that have converted to sales have disregarded their stated budgets and gone way over in order to get what they wanted.  When I purchase a lead, I take into account the stated budget, but that alone does not determine whether I purchase the lead, as I know that people will almost always find a way to spend what is necessary to enjoy the trip they anticipate.  Frankly, some consumers even know that they have no idea what the budget should be and just put something down to get their travel lead submitted.  That is why I consider other information besides budget when selecting a Tripology lead (ages, comments provided, destinations).” - Loretta Lamberth, Georgia

It’s up to you, the travel specialist, to educate the client about the costs of their dream vacation.  We find that consumers who use Tripology are looking for a great travel experience and know, and want, the help of a true expert to get them there.

Tell your friends! Become a Facebook “Fan” of Tripology by 11/15/09 & be entered to win a $250 Visa Gift Card! For details:http://bit.ly/3JHuYA

GOGO Worldwide Vacations Becomes a Tripology Travel Industry Supporter: http://bit.ly/28QDYe

Are you taking advantage of free leads from industry suppliers?  Get started now: http://bit.ly/Tp59z

 

Everyone is talking social media. Everyone, including me.

Last week, Tripology, Edelman (the PR giant) and the US Travel Association held our first “Social Media in Travel” meetup.

Social Media in Travel - Chicago Meetup - Oct 22

 

 

I was worried, initially, about the weather.  The driving rain in Chicago was enough to keep anyone indoors and we did have a few cancellations due to the weather. The room, in its most basic configuration, holds 50 people and nearly every seat was filled.  In the audience were people from companies and organizations like TravelZoo, the Art Institute, eWaterways, Mayflower Tours, Chicago Office of Tourism, Skydeck Chicago, CruiseOne and many others.

The presenters were:

·         Michael Dalesandro, CEO of Where I’ve Been. Michael presented on his amazingly successful Facebook launch which lead to WhereIveBeen getting over 9 million members!

·         Phil Gomes, Senior Vice President, Edelman Digital presented ideas on using social media from a public relations perspective.

·         And I in addition to moderating, presented some tips, including some from Tripologists, on how selling “online” differs from selling face-to-face.

Some key take-aways were:
From Phil: 

1.       You have to be where your audience is, so if that’s “social media” you need to be there as well.

2.       “Everyone should spend 30 minutes a day searching online. Everyone can find 30 minutes.”

3.       You can’t be anonymous in social media and you can’t be some fictional character, you have to be you.

From Michael:

1.       6% of all time spent on the internet was spent on Facebook

2.       Friends and family are the most significant influencers in travel decisions.

From me:

Selling successfully online requires you gain trust from the consumer. Social media is a great way to build trust.

The Tripologists that have “nailed it” (read they made over $100k is sales this year from our leads) are the ones who know how to “hook” the client with their first email.  Trust is big and if you can get a person to start to trust you from your first email, you’ll win.  The trick is making sure the potential client understands you’re A) professional and B) a specialist.  If your website, your facebook page and your twitter posts scream “I’m a professional travel specialist and look at all these people that trust me” you’re more than half way there.

Everyone really liked my slide about my Top 5 favorite tools to use in social media, so here they are:

1. KnowEm.com – (visit www.tripology.knowem.com ) to protect your brand from Social Media identity theft .  This is an awesome service; they’ll register you on every single social media site out there.
   
2. Backtype.com - to see what people are saying about topics that interest us, in REAL time
3. SocialMention.com – Like Google Alerts but for social media.
4. Twitterfeed.com – Feed your blog to twitter and more!
5. Twitalyzer.com - Measure Your Impact and Success in Social Media

 The event lasted two hours ending with some great conversation with the presenters and the audience.

If you are in the Chicago area and are interested in learning more about recent developments in the travel industry and staying ahead of social media travel trends, please join our meetup to stay in the loop on future events at http://www.meetup.com/Tripology-Chicago-Meetup/.  If you are a reporter in the Chicago area, please let me know as we would love for you to join us.

If you are in the New York, LA and San Francisco areas, keep an eye out for our meetups coming to your area soon! 

Happy selling.

John

 PS - Thanks SOOO much to Edelman and US Travel for co-sponsoring.

Since I spend half my time in the tech world and half my time in travel, I love opportunities where both groups participate.

The technology industry has had a great deal of success sharing innovations and ideas through a series of Tech Meet Up events. I was so inspired by this that I’ve joined with the U.S. Travel Association and Edelman to create a series of Social Media Travel Industry Meet Ups for industry players to discuss what’s working and not working for them in the social media space. As you know, social media has a tremendous impact on the way consumers research, book and plan itineraries for their vacations and business trips. Message boards, blogs, Twitter, Facebook – the list goes on and on – all make an impact on the choices consumers make.  

The first event will be hosted in Chicago on Thursday Oct. 22 , from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at Edelman (200 E. Randolph 63^rd Floor).  Learn about trends within social media and the travel industry and ways to utilize social media to help consumers with their travel needs.

Joining us to lead the conversation will be:

·         Michael Dalesandro, CEO of Where I’ve Been (will discuss his successful Facebook launch to get 9 million members!)

·         Phil Gomes, Senior Vice President, Edelman Digital (who’ll present ideas on using social media from a public relations perspective)

·         John T. Peters, CEO of Tripology (I will moderate and discuss how selling “online” differs from selling face-to-face.)

If you are interested in learning more about recent developments in the travel industry and staying ahead of social media travel trends, please RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/Tripology-Chicago-Meetup/.

If you’re in the Chicago area and want to join us, hurry, space is limited to 50 people.

Best,

John  

Travel specialists, have you registered for the free Tripology webinar taking place on 10/7?

The focus of this webinar is to: 
    * Provide you with a Tripology program update
    * Allow you to hear about how to make the Tripology program work for you by successful travel specialists
    * Inform you about a cost effective way to find new clients
Register now!  http://bit.ly/CP9g5

I have a feeling I’m going to catch a lot of heat for this post, but I have to tell you about my feelings about kids on planes.

For years, I’ve been traveling on planes listening to screaming, misbehaving and crying kids. I must admit something very dark; I hated kids on planes. Just the sight of them made me cringe.  I would spy them in the waiting areas and try to judge how misbehaved they’d be and what my odds were they would be sitting within one row of me or worse, next to me.

I recall one flight, I was sitting next to a man (he in the aisle and I in the middle seat – so I was already pissed) and the two little brats, er, I mean children behind us wouldn’t shut up. The man next to me continued to read his Wall Street Journal as if there was nothing wrong.  As the kids bounced and yelled, he kept reading.  Then the kids started playing “go fish” as they threw their cards and proceeded to slam the tray table connected to my seat repeatedly.  All the mother did was kept repeating “Calm down, you are bothering the nice man in front of you.”  (Ya think?) However, after one hundred times of saying this, I’m sure all the kids heard was “way to go, make more noise.” One last slam and I turned around and said to the mother “I normally am a nice man, but the fact you continue to sit there and do nothing while your children bang on my chair is unbelievable to me.”  Her response? “Sorry, but they’re only children.”

The slamming stopped for a few minutes and I commented to the guy sitting and reading his newspaper.  (Note: he hadn’t moved and, to my amazement, was still calmly reading.) “Do you believe this?”  His response? “I’ve got four kids at home. This is nothing. I honestly don’t hear a thing.”  I couldn’t believe his response and thought for a moment, he might have been their father; you know, a dad who travels with the family but acts as if he doesn’t know them.

As for me at the time, I never thought I could deal with kids on a plane. That is, until my wife became pregnant with our first child. I knew, at that moment, I was going to have to grow up and get with the program.  One thing I was sure about was 90% of a child’s behavior on the plane was in direct proportion to the effort put forth by the parents. Yes Mom and Dad, your children are your responsibility on planes or in hotels or anywhere else for that matter. Ignoring them in your own home is fine. However, ignoring them while they slam my tray table isn’t.

Fast forward at least eighteen years. I now have two children under three years old. Both are avid flyers.  My wife and I have, over many flights, put together a list of things we do and bring to make sure we have a good flight, not only for us, but for the people around us.  It’s not a foolproof plan, but it’s pretty good. So, here goes.

1. Kill Germs. Airports and planes are dirty. Bring disinfectant wipes and wipe down everything around your child on the plane; arm rests, tray tables, wall, window shade – everything. Carry Purell and wipe/disinfect their hands and yours regularly. OK, germs killed.
2. Bring extra supplies. The diaper bag has to be filled, complete with any supply that might ever be needed for any possible reason.  Extra diapers and supplies (30% more than you think you need – just in case of delays), paper towels, a cloth towel just in case you have to mop up a spill, plastic bags and ziplock baggies and an infinite supply of wipes.  Bring a little air-freshener too. Trust me, you may be used to your little-one’s spit-up smell, but everyone around you won’t appreciate it.
3. Keep ‘em busy. Children’s attention spans are short at a young age.  I plan the 15-minute activity list.  You should have one activity per 15 minutes. Keep  them busy and their less likely to aggravate you and the other people on the plane. Activities can be repeated, but only once an hour.  For us, these include: crayons on coloring books, regular hard picture book, sticker book, etch-a-sketch mini and one of those books with the special marker that reveals hidden pictures as you color.
4. Go ahead, watch TV. Here, television IS your friend. For longer flights, get a portable DVD player or something where you can play Barney, the Wiggles or whatever else you child likes.
5. Popping Ears. Infants cry during take-off and landing because their ears hurt.  So, make sure they’re drinking a bottle during those times to alleviate their ear-popping pain. It has worked like a charm for both of my kids.
6. Extra clothes. Bring extra clothes for the kids…and for you. Sometimes, children get sick, so plan for it. Sometimes children get sick on you which my wife learned on one flight when my son threw up on her. From then on, we’ve each carried an extra t-shirt with us, just in case.
7. Thou shall not kick. If your child is a fan of kicking the seat in front of them (why do they do this?), take off their shoes. One kick and it will hurt and they’ll stop doing it.
8. Hear no evil. No matter how well-behaved you think your kids are, they may cry. So, as soon as the flight attendant comes around offering earphones, offer to buy a set for each of your seat-mates.  On our last Continental Airlines flight, they were being offered at $1, so I automatically bought one for the five people around us.  One man kept saying “you don’t need to do that” but for a buck, it was a good insurance policy, just in case.
9. Thank you and Sorry! Sometimes your children are going to misbehave. It happens.  Yes, they are just kids (Okay? There, I said it.)  Or, they’ll be sick or something just won’t go as planned on the plane. You’ll make a few people miserable. You won’t want to, but you will. When we fly with our children, we carry a dozen gift cards (from Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks).  Most are for $10, but a few are for $50.  We use these as “thank-you” and “I’m sorry” for people that have either helped us (like the flight where my wife was flying alone with my infant daughter and flight attendant held my daughter when my wife had to use the rest-room.) On a flight that was delayed for three hours ON THE RUNWAY, our daughter spilled her drink on the man next to her.  It was just juice and she didn’t mean it, but she was fidgety. He wasn’t upset, but I felt I should at least pay for his dry-cleaning. He didn’t want to accept anything but was pleasantly surprised at the gift-card.
10. Dads – this one is for you. Your wife has enough to deal with so help her. Help her even more than you normally would. Take turns taking your children to the bathroom. Do more than your fair share. Traveling with kids can be fun. My daughter and I love to look out the window on take-offs. We love to look at the clouds.

As you can tell, I’m a firm believer in over-parenting on flights. It’s the right (and polite) thing to do. Your children and your seat-mates will thank you.  I acknowledge that things always won’t go as planned, so you should plan for that as well.  It won’t be easy all the time, but you have to make the effort. Traveling with children can be a great experience.

For those parents who think that ignoring their misbehaved children on the plane is okay and the rest of us should just deal with it – well, no. You deal with your kids.  At least, please, make a real effort.  We understand they’re just kids, but you are the adult.

For the rest of you on the plane, including people like the anti-child-on-plane person I used to be, people traveling with kids (especially single moms) need help, so offer assistance. Every little bit helps.  You’ll see how much they appreciate it.  My mother always says, “Be nice to people and they’ll be nice to you.” 

This year’s 9/11 post is going to be somewhat different for me; it’s the first time I write one being a non-resident of the NY/NJ area.  As many of you know, I moved to the Midwest earlier this year, but I commute almost weekly to New York for work. As I booked my tickets for my return trip home, initially I was supposed to leave yesterday, the 10^th.  However, I felt this amazing need to be in NYC today; where all people (and I mean all) share the pain of the day. I extended my trip by a day.

You see, in NYC, you’re hard pressed to find someone who did not know at least one person who was lost that day, or at least, they know someone who does. For me; it is two people.  I’ll say my prayers for them and all the people who perished that day in NY, the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania privately. This post is about something else; unity.

Everyone remembers where they were on that day. I was in Miami at a sales meeting for the very large tour operator for which I worked at the time. We were, that day, going to present our new international emergency plan and roll-out the “GO TEAM”; ten specially trained individuals who would fly to wherever there was an international emergency to take care of our passengers. Little did we know, our GO TEAM would be needed that day and worse, that we would be needed here at home.

As soon as the catastrophe began, we went into action, taking care of the plans and communication for the over 12,000 travelers grounded at points around the world, unable to come home.  It took almost ten days to get everyone home, but we did.  I won’t go into all the details about that project, because they are irrelevant. What is important was the feeling of unity that every American felt that day and the year or two that followed.  Every single house flew an American flag. Every car had some sort of sticker. We were as united as I remembered in my lifetime. There was nothing we couldn’t do together. 

Yet, eight years later, I was having dinner with friends last night and clearly the Republicans weren’t happy with the Democrats at the table. Political talk got extremely heated between the bankers, hedge-fund managers, real estate developers and others. I have not seen such fierce political division in a long time.  At one point, someone asked about the date and within a moment, everyone remembered 9/11.  Political discussions stopped in an amazing cease-fire.  We talked and toasted more important things like family and friendship.  I only wish we could make that feeling last.  America needs to be united, all the time, every day. I’m afraid however, Monday will come and we’ll again take political sides. The theme will be division and it is a shame.

So, as you go about your day, there’s no question you’ll be thinking about 9/11. Please, PLEASE tell me we all learned something that day and that the date isn’t just a memory. Try though, to keep that feeling of American pride and unity through next week, next month or for as long as you can.  Remember, life is fleeting. What we do all day for work is meaningless in the big scheme of things. Finally and most important, go home tonight, kiss your children, your spouses and your loved ones. Tell them how much you care about them. Help them whenever needed with whatever needed. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Do this every day, being sure not to miss a day, not a single day.

I’ve now spent over a year *really* looking at travel agent websites and talking to agents about their successes (or sometimes lack thereof) with Tripology.  Those that are successful with Tripology (i.e. selling online) have a few key, common elements, so I thought I would share them with you.

First, it is important to realize selling online is different than selling face to face; much different. With face to face communications, there’s a certain degree of immediate trust that your client extends to you.  They see you, an office, a phone and a sign on the door.  Basically, a physical address carries some weight when it comes to trust. (As we all know, sometimes it’s too much weight and overhead you can’t afford. More on that another time.)

When you’re selling online however, you have some work to do, just to get someone to speak with you, let alone give you their business.  Your initial email to the client and your website are your calling cards.  With respect to your initial email, come off too cocky and you’ll wonder why no-one returns your communication.  Come off too vague or cute and you can expect the same results.  (I just love the one’s that read “I’ve been in travel for decades and will make all your dreams come true!” Ahh, no, you’re not going to get a response to that email.) Ideally, you need to come off as confident, professional and trustworthy. We have some great examples of initial emails in our “Tripology 101” document available for free to all registered Tripologists on our website.  Assuming you do well with that, do you ever wonder what will the potential client do next? They’ll check your website; be sure about this. I’ll repeat this so you don’t miss it.  Online consumers will check your website as their first “sniff test” of you.

Gaining trust online is tricky yet so very important. Here are some thoughts on what your website should look like and include.

1.  Want to look like a pro? Hire one! Please PLEASE hire a professional to build your website.  I know there are plenty of companies out there (like some internet service providers – ISPs) offering templates that you can click through and design. So, if you’re tempted to take this route, well, DON’T!  Unless you design web pages for a living, don’t endeavor to build one for your travel business. Further, if your nephew says he can do it “cuz he just learned it in class” thank him, tell him you love him, but hire a pro.There are some very professional companies that specialize in building websites for travel companies and while I would prefer a totally unique website, these companies do make it easy to get started and immediately have your site full of special offers from travel suppliers.  PassportOnline does a good job in this category. If you want a unique site, built with SEO (Search Engine Optimization is key to being found on the internet), 2GoMedia does well with this. While they use templates, they’ll customize yours so that you don’t look like you used a cookie-cutter. 

2. No pop-ups.  There are ads everywhere on the internet. Your visitors to your site should be able to experience a commercial-free zone. I know you might make a few extra bucks with Google ads, but I believe your website should be free of commercial messages (unless they’re yours), especially pop-ups.
3. Content is king! You’ve heard of “Location, location, location” in real estate, well online, its “Content, content, content.”  Your site should contain plenty of real, relevant information. And, don’t forget the video, graphics, photos, maps and whatever else will keep your visitors engaged.  If you can get them to laugh, you’re way ahead of the game.
4. Who are you? Really, a travel site without the “About us” page screams “Scam!”  Be proud of who you are, even if you’re a home-based professional.  Looking like a pro doesn’t mean you have to have a monster office.  Rather, talk about your network, your consortium or your host. Talk about all the years you’ve taken to refine your craft.  Most of all, talk about all your travel experience. The key is talk!
5. Blog this!  This is a must. At the very least, you should be posting weekly about your travel experiences, your customers travel experiences, your qualifications (like having received your CTC designation from the Travel Institute - http://bit.ly/D62Jk ), interesting travel news and anything that shows you eat, sleep and dream travel.  Be sure to make the information interesting and fun to read and make sure it is relevant for your readers.
6. Contact us.  This section of your website should clearly list a phone number and email at the least.  A street address, while not mandatory, is a bonus.  Either way, this information should be easy to find for your visitors.
7. Braggart! You should include testimonials from clients.  Using full names is ideal, though you’ll first need to check with your customer to see if they mind you listing them.  At the very least, if you list first name and last name initial, you should be able to produce your client testimonials, with full details, if someone asks for them.
8. Misspellers of the world, Untie! Misspelled words, typos and improper punctuation have no place on your website. Ever. 
9. Be social. Make sure you provide links and give visitors every opportunity to join your social networks like Facebook and Twitter.  As mentioned, you should be blogging at least weekly, but you should be all over Facebook and Twitter daily.
10. For your eyes only.  Be sure to have a privacy policy that clearly tells your visitors their information is safe and that you won’t spam them.

So, I’ve seen a lot of travel agent websites. Some of them are really wonderful, professional and full of unique, interesting content.  Some are, well, not.  If you feel like you’re falling short on the above checklist, it is never too late to update or re-build. Having a professional website is one of the best investments you’ll make.

Finally, here are some very important links.

1. Want to look like a real travel pro? Be one. Earn your CTC (Certified Travel Counselor) or CTA (Certified Travel Agent) designation from the Travel Institute. This is one of the best investments you will make in your professional development. Click here: http://bit.ly/D62Jk
2. If you are a front-line travel professional, one association I think you should join is the US Travel Association. US Travel is offering a trial membership and I think it is a great value.  Plus, you’ll be able to use their logo on your business cards. Click here: http://bit.ly/q2RnF
3. If you are a senior travel marketer, I think you should be a member of ATME – the Association of Travel Marketing Executives.  As a member of ATME, you will expand your network with some of the finest people in the business. If you want to be at the right place at the right time, starting with ATME functions is a smart move. Click here: http://bit.ly/Dys0G
4. The best investment you’ll make in professional development is taking courses from the Travel Institute. Earn your CTA or CTC (Certified Travel Agent / Counselor) or take one of their many Destination Specialist courses and earn your DS. Want to look like a seasoned pro? Learn more to earn more! Click here: http://bit.ly/D62Jk
5. Have you seen the new Tripology travel expert blog?  You could be earning free Tripology credits AND you could be getting published on one of the coolest travel blogs around. http://ow.ly/lgY6

Have you seen all the articles about people, fed up with online booking engines, moving away from OTA – online travel agencies – and headed back to their traditional travel agent?  See the end of the post for a link to CNN and New York Times articles.

Since the launch of Tripology, just about two years ago, we’ve processed over 100,000 detailed trip requests from high-intent online travelers.  This doesn’t include all the people we turn away who are really better off with an OTA. 

I make sure I speak to as many consumers as I can each week and what I hear, over and over again, is “there’s too much information out there and I’d like to speak with a human being that knows what they’re talking about.”  See? There’s the rub, as we say, “someone who knows what they’re talking about.”

People want to speak with an expert, a real, live human being who knows the answers. This, in our opinion, is a travel specialist. Not your typical travel agent who is a master gatherer of information.  Not some call center person who has, at their disposal, the very same online booking engine and information that didn’t help the consumer in the first place.  They want a travel professional that specializes in the exact trip they’re looking to take.

By the way, adding to consumer frustration is the plethora of deals (half of which are underwhelming) being offered by every supplier on the planet right now.

Consumers are frazzled and they want someone to make it simple for them. Some will do fine with an OTA and some will not. The folks that won’t do well with an OTA are realizing they’re likely better off with a travel specialist.  Many believe this is because there hasn’t been much innovation coming out of the OTAs. One thing for sure; this is not because OTAs don’t offer good deals.  They do, for commodity trips. It is, in my opinion, because some people simply need human interaction and they likely shouldn’t have been searching on an OTA to begin with.  These are the folks who ask questions at Home Depot of the person in the orange apron about their preference in doorknob.  These are the people who call DELL to order a computer instead of simply ordering online without asking a single question. These are the people who want someone to thank if all goes well and someone to blame if it doesn’t. I can be somewhat obnoxious and critical about those people because that’s the type of person I am.  I like to make informed decisions. I have questions.  It might be about doorknobs with electronic keypads or about the performance of a particular computer operating system, but I will have questions.  By the way, I’m happy to order online…once my questions are answered.  

Do the OTAs need more innovation? Yes.  But they deserve some credit too.  They’ve made the world a smaller place and we all owe them a bit of gratitude for the millions they spend promoting travel.

As for me and as it pertains to travel, I like www.Tripology.com, but hey, I’m biased.

So, my dear partners in travel, at Tripology, we’ve been saying this all along; Travel Specialists will thrive. Hang in there!

Happy selling,

John

 ————————  Articles  ——————————————————

“Are travel agents making a comeback?” CNN article – see: http://bit.ly/28Klc1

“Worst Part of a Trip May Be Booking It on the Web”  New York Times article – see

http://bit.ly/26PPwz