Some suppliers report having customers who return to their hotel or cruise line over the years, but each time they come they’ve booked with a different travel agent. OUCH!
Has this ever happened to you?
There could be many reasons why your clients switched to someone else. Maybe they lost your business card or your rude secretary turned them off when they called with a quick question. Either way, you can always learn something from understanding exactly what went wrong.
We’ve compiled a short list of the most common reasons your customers may have jumped ship along with some easy solutions to get them back or keep your current (and future) clients on board for the long haul!
Solution: Stay in their face with emails, phone calls and promotions selected especially for them. Make it simple to reach you--and hard to forget you. Social media makes it easy to find them! Once they see your travel-related posts, special offers and amazing pictures, they will remember you, and they will want your expertise for their next trip!
Solution: Call your clients as they arrive at the hotel to pre-empt any potential pitfalls. Quiz them gently to be sure that everything is okay and fix any problem right away.
Solution: Even if it’s time consuming for you, get in touch with your customers immediately upon their return. Ask them if they’d change anything at all after their experience. Inquire if they’d started discussing their next vacation yet, and if so, promise to follow up with them with suggestions in the next week or so. Do not wait for them to settle back in before you reach out to them. You’re their advisor, and they need your counsel.
Solution: Examine every interface a potential client has with you, including social media! Follow up fast – even if it’s a simple “I got your message but I am busy right now." Or maybe you're traveling too and can't respond at the moment. Whatever the reason may be, keep it honest and personal. Let your clients know you will get back to them as soon as you can. Don't forget! Use your phone calendar and set a simple reminder for yourself to email them or call them back. And if you have a rude receptionist, get rid of them or relegate them to the back office…or send them to charm school. Just fix the problem now. Don't let it fester.
Solution: Don’t give up. If they received excellent service from you, there’s a good chance they won’t receive it from the next agent. So keep at them, stay in touch and above all, don’t lose faith in yourself. Humans are a fickle bunch, but they do learn from their mistakes. Make yourself fully accessible to your wandering clients without being too aggressive, and they may come back another day to book with you when they realize how good you really are.