Allison Sodha

Dear Tripologists,

I wanted to share an article with you published this week by Travel Research Online written by Tripology India-focused travel specialist, Allison Sodha, on specialization and the importance of developing your own niche: http://bit.ly/eLiQB5

Cheers,

Veronique

It’s January. People are tired from a long, painful 2010. They’re unsure about the economy. Blah blah. Yes, this is all true.  But you know what else? People have now skipped a couple of vacations for fear of the economy. Americans don’t like to skip vacations.  Our lead count in the first ten days of January has proven to be quite impressive at Tripology, matching 2009 numbers.  People are requesting trips and you should get in on your share of the action. Do you want to start 2011 off right? Here are some key things you need to do:

1.       Sell to someone who knows you: Go back to your database and pull up all the names of all the people that booked a vacation for travel in the spring of 2010, 2009 and 2008. Call them. Email them. Contact them somehow with a few vacation specials for spring 2011; something like one Greek Island yacht cruise, one Caribbean resort stay and one family friendly Florida or California trip.  Have a few “close to home” long weekend road trip ideas handy as well.  We have plenty at RandMcNally.com.  Of course, make sure the trips are relevant to their preferences.  These are just examples. You get the idea.  I can’t imagine there’s a single American who doesn’t need a vacation. All things aside, this is a perfect time to market travel.  This covers your existing customer base.
2.       Get Moving: Get back in the swing of things of finding new customers. If you’re already a Tripologist, log in to Tripology, update your profile and start taking advantage of the lead activity.  “Fish where the fish are” as they say.  If you haven’t updated your profile in a while, you should. We’re happy to help if you need us.  Simply contact one of our Relationship Managers. 
3.       The New York Times Travel Show is the place to be: If you’re in NYC or can travel there, register NOW for the New York Times Travel Show, taking place Feb 25-27 but especially the 25^thwhich is exclusively open to travel professionals.  On that day I’m Chairing the “Focus on Specialization” series of panels and presentations. Topics include everything from “Opportunities for Growth,” “Finding Customers in a Down Economy,” and “How Social Media can help you become a specialist.”  After the presentations, the trade show floor will be open just for travel professionals. This is your time to meet with all the suppliers. You should meet a sales manager from every one of your favorite tour operators and cruise lines. These are the “connections” every consumer expects you to have and these are the folks that will get you out of jam if needed.  For more details on the NY Times Travel Show, visit http://bit.ly/NYTts
4.       Blog, Post, Tweet, Rinse and Re-tweet: Start blogging about the most amazing vacations you’ve taken or sold. If it’s cold where you live, talk about warm destinations. If you live in a warm climate, talk about ski vacations. If you’re land-locked, talk about cruises. Get it? People want to get away. Include pictures; people love pictures! Feature some of your clients and have them send you photos of their vacation. Heck, tell them to send you photos from their vacation. Then, tell everyone you know about your blog.  If you can’t commit to blogging regularly, for heaven’s sake, make sure you are talking up vacations and travel advice on facebook.  If the whole social media thing is still foreign to you (please PLEASE tell me it isn’t), get some help from your kids or grandchildren. Just don’t expect them to friend you on facebook.
5.       Seriously. Get a new phone: Buy a new smartphone. Yea, yeah, I know… your phone works just fine…and has for the past five years. If you’re carrying around a mobile phone that is more than two years old, it is time to upgrade and I mean really upgrade. You’re phone should be doing a lot more for you than ringing. Your phone should allow you to get online, research, post to social media platforms, get email, take pictures and videos and yes, buy leads from Tripology while you’re out and about. Seriously, a smartphone can make it so you’re never “out of the office.” Your goal for 2011; be open for as many hours a day as you can and be as productive as you can in those hours. 
6.       Be Unique: Here’s an idea, carry around a smartphone with dozens of pictures of beach, sand and ocean.  When you meet with a potential client, show them the pictures and say “I can get your toes in this sand in a week.”   Silly, but fun, right? 
7.       Smile, would you? If you’re calling people, be chipper and be positive. Don’t go overboard, but you’d be amazed at how important a good attitude is.
8.       Be Persistent: Half the battle of getting a new customer is being at the right place at the right time. People are time-starved and you may need to push a bit to get a new client. Don’t be rude, but don’t be shy either. Most times, you won’t get the business unless you ask for it. You’re not an order taker, you’re a Pit Bull, I mean travel specialist!
9.       You’re Fired! Fire your time-wasting clients. I know this one is scary, but it’s time to get serious.  You have three months to get the start of the year under your belt and do so profitably. You won’t have time for time wasters.  If you find someone is taking up too much time without yielding results, cut them.  Let them waste someone else’s time.
10.   “Gimme an E!” Finally, do you need some enthusiasm? We can help. Follow us on twitter (@tripology), facebook (www.facebook.com/tripology).  We give advice on how to find customers. We share sales ideas from successful Tripologists. We’ll even try and make you laugh every once in a while.  Life is too short not to laugh regularly.  Plus, we’re on all the social media platforms to hear what *you* have to say. Want to tell us something? We’re listening.  Make sure you check out all the Rand McNally Social Media accounts as well.

I hope you find these tips helpful. Do you have any more? If so, let me know. Post them on our Facebook page or send us a tweet. Now go get busy and happy selling!

John

10 Tips for Traveling with Kids

A travel industry friend just called and asked me about a post I wrote a while ago about traveling with kids.  He’s taking a trip with the family next week and asked me to send it to him.  It’s been over a year since I wrote it, so I thought a quick re-post would be fine. Enjoy! - JOHN

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 they’re 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.” 

Kudos to Travel Specialist Jami on the super feedback she received from a happy Tripology client she booked to Hawaii:
“Jami was awesome, she did everything I asked for and very quickly…I will always use her from now on for all my travel needs :)”

Need help getting these type of comments and sales? Tripology can help! Contact us at 800-924-0722.

Cheers,

Veronique