Sponsored – Win the Sale by Taking Control From the BEGINNING

You can Increase your Sales by not Letting it Slip Through the Cracks

Written By: Jenn Lee, VP Industry Engagement and Support – Travel Planners International

When a potential client walks in the door of your business…they are looking for YOU to guide them. Yes, even if your business is remote – there is a door that they are walking through albeit in the form of an email, text, FB message or phone call.

Curating a travel experience no matter how large or small is an “assisted sale” experience.

In other words, they are looking for YOU to take control and guide them through a process. Otherwise, they would have booked online.

If you think about it, there isn’t any organization, either online or with a physical presence that doesn’t have a CLEAR path for you to follow to buy or experience their product.

In the service industry you may hear it referred to as the “onboarding process”. This is the act of bringing a client on board to your organization for the purpose of serving them.

I see many advisors and agency owners let some generic “intake form” serve as their main source of onboarding. Many of these forms even have a line for “budget” YIKES! Intake forms should happen AFTER your intake conversation – that’s when you determine the type and cost of an experience.

The emotional onboarding is where you take control and determines whether or not they will do what you tell them…and THAT is where you win or lose the sale. It’s always in the beginning.

Here is a typical “set-up” you can use that will establish control from the beginning

After you have determined who they are, how they found you, niceties, etc.

“Thank you (client) for reaching out, I know that together, we will design an experience that will exceed your expectations! In order to do this, there is a process that I and my clients have found to work best. My job is to walk you step by step through the process from curation to returning home!”

“The first part of our process is centered around identifying and locking in your most ideal experience for this trip.”

“First, we’ll spend a few minutes getting to understand the needs of your trip. OPTION: Insert if you have a fee structure in place; what it is and how it works. I will then send over three options for you based on this and it’s important that you and (insert other party) review just as soon as you can.”

“We’ll have a quick follow-up call to answer any questions or make tweaks at that time. You will need to have a credit card handy when I follow-up so that we can lock in the experience at the price and availability quoted.” 

“Once you have decided, I will send to you a finalized quote, credit card authorization form and my Terms and Conditions.” 

“From there, I get to work ensuring we hit every deadline of deposits and you have the proper tools and documentation needed to ensure your trip goes without a “hitch” that we have control over. Your job is to revel in the anticipation of it all and maybe start a little shopping!

“Ok, unless you have any questions, let’s get started…What’s motivating you to take this trip?”

Control.

You must wield control from the beginning…and trust me, they really WANT you to!