One thing guaranteed to kill your travel agency business or, at least, result in an extended struggle for survival, is a failure to set yourself apart from your competitors in a way that is important to clients and prospects.

This is called “differentiation” and I was reminded of its importance again recently with the closing of a really good restaurant in our community. Their case is a great object lesson for travel agencies of any size (or any business for that matter).

The restaurant opened about three years ago in a rapidly growing community here in Florida. They were located on a main highway in a very good market for restaurants. The owners were experienced restauranteurs, they had a good menu, the food was good and, at first, they had a steady flow of business.

Over time, however, business dropped off dramatically. I remember going one Saturday night when half the place was empty. It was clear that they needed more Customers – and fast – or they were going to die.

Well, they passed away shortly thereafter.

What Happened Here?

You may think from what I’ve said so far that the answer is that they failed of differentiate themselves from the competition. However that’s not the case. They did differentiate themselves – deliberately and clearly.

In my opinion, they even communicated their difference quite effectively through free publicity (a good strategy for small business), and in local community newspaper ads (also a good strategy if done well).

So far, so good. High quality product, good market, a differentiation strategy, and pretty good marketing communication.

But there’s one more little thing they did not do and it was fatal.

The actual differentiation that they promoted was: a) The fact that they were privately owned (i.e., not a chain) and b) that they made their own sauces from scratch.

Now, that might be exciting to a professional restauranteur but it’s a real yawner to most of us. I mean, if you want to compete with Outback and Carrabba’s in this consumer’s mind, you're gonna have to do better than that.

Apparently, people wanted more than good food – they can get that at any of the places where people pack the lobbies and hang out the door waiting for tables.

Apparently, people didn’t care if the place was privately-owned or where the sauces came from. Personally, I go by taste.

The only other thing that set them apart from the competition was that you never had to wait for a table (a convenience that, thankfully, they did not promote). Not a differentiation strategy I’d recommend to most restaurants.

You see, the fatal mistake was that they hung their differentiation hat on something that they thought was important but not on things that were important to Customers!

How Does This Apply To You?

Who is your competition and what sets you apart from them?

Better service you say? What does that mean exactly and how important is that to your clients and prospects?

More experience? How does that translate into specific benefits to prospects and clients?

Lower prices? Are they really? Who does that appeal to and are those the clients you want to attract?

There are many different ways to set yourself apart from the competition and draw the kind of prospects and clients you want into your agency.

Maybe you have never been deliberate about defining and communicating how you are different from your competitors in a way that’s important to clients and prospects.

If your travel agency business is not differentiated from the competition, you will 1) struggle to survive, 2) never reach your full potential, or 3) ultimately, go out of business.

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

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