Helpful Hints to Help You Sell and Prepare your clients for Group Tours to Europe

1) Make sure to clearly state your reason for calling your client
When calling your client, make sure you have a strong point to touch on during the call to keep their interest. Some examples include informing the client of a special or discount deadline. Be prepared to answer any of their questions!

2) Smile!
This sounds too easy, but simply smiling while on the telephone will put your clients at ease and will make them feel even more comfortable that they picked you for their travel plans.

3) Talking less will produce more sales
Listen to every word your client says and ask questions to engage them in a positive conversation. Never talk over your client. Listening and understanding your client will lead to the sale.

4) Commit to closing the sale
Have you answered all of your clients’ questions and objections? Have you met your clients’ price objectives? If so, it is time to close the sale by reiterating all of the benefits and features to the client and then asking for the sale.

5)Ask for clients’ email addresses to easily contact them about current specials
Email is one of the quickest ways to send a message to a large number of clients and costs very little to produce. With computers and the Internet being available in the majority of all offices, it is vital to utilize these sources of communication with your clients.

6) Keep an updated client list
By keeping an updated client list you give yourself the opportunity to follow up with your clients. By following up with your clients you’re reminding them that you are their travel resource and that they should contact you to set up travel arrangements.

7) Keep your website content up to date
By keeping your content up to date you are telling your visitors that you are their source for travel information and that they should continue to use your site for their travel needs. It also lets them know that you are professional and are there to help them book their trip when they are ready.

8) Use direct mail routinely to follow up with leads and keep your name in front of them
Clients receive attention from many companies besides yours from all different directions. Direct mail is a proven method of marketing because it is tangible. Remember to use your space wisely by being direct and concise with all of your messages.

9) Always build on something of unexpected value in your transactions with your clients
Clients are most interested in what value they are receiving from the money they spend. If you make sure to point out value that they don’t expect, your clients will keep coming back to you. The key is to make sure it is perceived as a value to your clients, not to you.

10) Get on the Internet!
With technology becoming more accessible to travelers, the Internet has become a leading communication tool because it is quick and convenient for most people to use. One of the biggest complaints from group travelers is the amount of personal time they committed to planning. By publishing your brochure electronically on your website or communicating with clients via email, you will be cutting the time and cost of delivery.

11) Blogs are a great tool of communication for your clients
What do I put in a blog? Most of your group participants would love to know how YOU plan for their next trip. Simply write down how you are preparing, just as your participants should. Do one entry per week and you have a blog! Here are some examples: start making pre-departure plans, passport information, notifying the mail carrier, making copies of your documents and scheduling a meeting time for the group on the day of departure.

12)Give yourself plenty of time to plan your group tour
Bringing together a group of 16-40 people on the same tour and date takes time and advanced planning. Start planning your tour 12-18 months before your desired departure date. Put your marketing plan in action a year in advance so that your prospective participants have time to learn about the group opportunity and can make plans to go. The earlier you fill your group, the more advantageous the air schedules and prices will be.

13) Understand your group’s priorities
Recent studies have shown that when choosing tours, the majority of groups are most concerned about destination. Once this has been decided, find our your group’s list of criteria when planning a tour. For example, price, value, convenience and safety are among some of the top factors groups consider when choosing a tour.

14) Find a tour operator that supples you with promotional materials & marketing expertise
If your can find a tour operator that will take a lot of the advertising leg work out of your hands, then you are saving yourself time and money. Tour operators are also very knowledgeable about their product, so the materials will be accurate and appropriate for your clients.

15) Make sure the tour matches the clients
When selecting a tour for your group, make sure the tour fits the group. You don’t want an ‘adventurous’ tour for a group of clients who haven’t wanted an adventure in 30 years. There are a lot of options out there, so use your resources wisely!

16) Have a marketing plan in place
When you are planning to put a group together on a tour, make sure you know how you plan on getting the interest for that group tour. It could be as simple as writing a letter to your past group clients or doing a newspaper or radio ad to draw the interest, but either way, you need to have a plan.

17) Include the cost of travel insurance in your clients’ initial price quote
Experience shows that potential clients tend to grasp the first price they hear. Objections will arise when extras are to be added to the original price quote. When measured against the potential loss or amount of money your client is investing in their trip, the cost of travel protection is minor.

18) Get a list of the travelers in your group
A frequent complaint from group travelers is that everyone was not informed of decisions, changes and deadlines. To combat this, get all of the travelers’ contact information and compile the list into an Excel spreadsheet. When there are any major announcements needing to be communicated to the group, you can simply create one document and utilize Mail Merge to customize it to be sent to each traveler.

19) Provide your group with a list of Frequently Asked Questions
Travelers always have a lot of questions prior to their trip; however with groups you can expect the number of questions to be multiplied because of the large number of people involved. Making a list of FAQ’s will end up saving you time in the long run by avoiding constant and possibly repetitive questions. Your clients will appreciate you going the extra mile for them, which in turn will give you returning clients!

20) Evaluate each group trip and utilize your responses
Have you ever wondered why a client has booked with a competitor after a trip you planned? Make sure to have each group evaluate their trip on every tour. The feedback you receive will prove to be very valuable to help eliminate any problems, fix any mistakes and continue to provide services that were a success.

21) Publish your tours
Write articles (including pictures), detailing your most recent trips, and send them in to local newspapers, magazines and trade publications of regions where your travelers reside. This is a low-cost approach to help promote your services and provide testimonials to future clients.