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You may remember the public service announcement that came
across our TV screens several years ago. The spot showed some children out
“doing their own thing” and the question posed by the narrator, to parents
watching TV at home was, “It’s now 10 o clock -- do you know where your kids
are”?
What made this ad so good was that it was rich with implications such as ...
 | Your kids may be out there in danger, doing drugs, or engaging in some
kind of risky behavior and you may not even know it.
|
| You might be shocked if you knew what your kids were doing right now.
|
| Exhortation – parents, you need to be aware of where your kids are and
what they are doing.
|
| If you have been negligent, start taking an interest in what’s going on
with your children.
etc. |
I wonder how many travel agents know where their clients are.
I know one travel agent who doesn’t know where I am. Probably doesn’t care
either. At least that’s the conclusion I draw from the fact I haven’t heard from
her in over a year.
Do you know what’s going on with your clients?
| Are they still clients? What is a client anyway? Is it someone who used
your services 6 months ago? A year ago? Two or more years ago?
|
| Do they want to travel again? When? Where are they in the process of
making plans?
|
| Have they been talking to a competitor?
|
| Have they been ill? What names in your database match the names in the
database at the cemetery? |
Find Out Where Your Clients Are
Set a goal for this year to work toward a better understanding of your
customers and then keep in touch with them regularly. Revive relationships that
may have grown cold with time. And then work to make them stronger.
Clients like to know and be known by professionals who serve
and advise them. That doesn’t mean you need to have some kind of buddy-buddy
relationship. It’s not about some kind of parent-child type of relationship
either.
It’s about having a “connection” and feeling that the person
who complements some part of your life (e.g., travel) cares about you in some
relevant way. How would you feel about a doctor who acted like they didn’t know
you or care about your health? How would you feel about a financial advisor who
invested your money, sold you insurance and then acted like you no longer
existed? Maybe you even know professionals like that. Why are you still with
them?
Clients who feel connected with and cared about by service professionals are
...
| less likely to look for or be attracted to alternative sources of advice
and counsel.
|
| less likely to be annoyed or build up negative feelings toward you if you
make a mistake.
|
| more likely to call for information.
|
| more likely to provide personal information that enables you to approach
them with just the right messages at just the right time.
|
| more likely to return to you when they are thinking of traveling again.
|
Relationships Feed On Communication
(The two-way variety that is)
It’s no different in business than in any other area of life. The reason
parents don’t know where their kids are is because they don’t communicate with
them. They may tell them things, they may broadcast messages but they don’t
communicate. And, as a result, many of those kids are at risk.
In addition to the parents not knowing what’s going on, the kids often feel
like they are not connected with or cared for by their parents either.
Similarly, in a professional services business, customers who don’t feel
connected or cared for will fill the void somewhere else.
Renew Your Relationships
Its hard to revive a cold relationship but it’s worth a try.
Maybe you have to initiate contact with clients in your database “to update
your records”. Whatever you do, don’t say anything that could be taken to
suggest that you’re calling them after all this time only to sell them
something.
If you do reconnect with people, try to find out a little about what’s going
on with them. Of course, use good professional judgment in how you do this.
Tell them you’d like to do a better job of keeping in touch and that you want
to know if they would like to hear from you periodically. Try to find out what
they would be interested in hearing about. Do they prefer phone calls, e-mail,
or what?
Hopefully that gives you enough to run with. Take the ideas and hammer out
something that suits your own style and preferred approach.
The Payoff
This is a project that could pay big dividends. Think of what could happen.
You will ...
| update your records – besides having correct information, you can also
find out which “clients” want you to keep in touch and which ones don’t.
|
| reconnect with people who may have thought you didn’t care.
|
| keep your name in front of people – I can’t tell you how many times, over
my years as a consultant, that I’ve called a client just to keep in touch and
within a week or two, they would call for help on some project (even though
that wasn’t the purpose of my calling). As good as we may be, in the
day-to-day crush of things, people forget us.
|
| you may be the one they call when they want to travel again – especially
if you made sure they knew the door was open and you appreciate their
business. |
Final Thought
The question, “do you know where your kids are?” was directed at the parents
of kids who might be out there doing who knows what.
But, I’ve often wondered if, instead of asking parents, we asked the kids –
“do your parents know where you are”? And, “do you think they care”? What would
their answer be?
Think about how your clients would answer the question if I asked them about
you.
Does your travel agent know where you are? Do you think they care?
From TravelAgentSuccess
The Travel Agent's Marketing Newsletter
© 2004-2006 Carl Bennink. All rights reserved.
Carl Bennink is one of the leading relational marketing experts
within the travel industry. To obtain your FREE subscription,
contact the author, or get more information and resources to
improve your marketing success, visit http://www.TravelAgentSuccess.com
Click on the following link for policies
governing reprints and other uses of this article:
Copyright Terms of Use.
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