Palace Resorts definitely showed travel agents the love during its first annual Palace Experience Global Conference, which mixed an array of evening parties with educational sessions. A highlight of the conference, held at the Moon Palace Golf & Spa Resort in Cancun Aug. 21 to 24, was a general session whose topics ranged from branding to successfully adopting to change to customer loyalty.
"We are honesty humbled and honored that you're spending the next three days with us," said Frank Corzo, Palace's vice president of field sales, who emceed the event. "It expresses your commitment, your support, your loyalty and we want to thank you for that."
Corzo also emphasized what agents would take away from the event. "We spent countless hours and days making sure that when you walk away from this event you walk away knowing that Palace Resorts and LeBlanc are committed to working with you and growing your business," he said. "We love travel agents. Travel agents helped build this company and your successes are our successes."
The conference, which drew 750 agents from the U.S., Canada and Latin America, is the first of many to come, said Corzo. "We'll be doing this every year from now on."
General session speakers included Jennifer Doncsecz, owner of VIP Vacations, and a specialist in destination weddings and honeymoons; Mark Murphy president and CEO of travAlliancemedia, parent of TravelPulse.com, Agent@Home magazine, Vacation Agent magazine, Travel Academy, Virtual Travel Events and Agent Studio; and Stuart Cohen a 26-year industry veteran who's an author, trainer and motivational speaker.
First up was Doncsecz, who spoke about the importance of branding. "A brand is not a logo. It is not a Web site. It is not a photo. It is not a store and it is not your business card," she said. "Your brand is the view that others have of you. Your brand is what you promise to deliver. And your brand is what the clients expect from you."
When developing a brand, she said, authenticity is key. Agents should sell what they believe in. "If you don't like what working with brides, don't sell weddings. People will know you're a fraud," said Doncsecz. "If you couldn't imagine spending $500 a night or a $1,000 a night at a resort, don't sell luxury."
Once agents have determined what they want to specialize in, they must display their expertise. "If you're an expert in something, put it on your business card, put it on your Web site and put it on the signature of your email," said Doncsecz. "It's what makes you unique."
On average, said Doncsecz, today's consumers have an attention span of 15 to 30 seconds. "Post pictures and testimonials on your Web site and highlight your awards and specialties," she said, adding that a Web site is where consumers will receive their first impression of agents.
Doncsecz noted that marketing is no longer about what you sell. "It's about the stories you tell," she said. "So on your About Us page share your story," she said. "It's the one time you can talk about what you love and what you believe in. Tell your potential clients what you are going to do for them."
Retaining clients, she said, is paramount to success. "It's twice as hard and twice as expensive to find new clients. When you do the right things for your clients, when you're good to your clients they become your brand advocates."
For his part, travAlliancemedia's Murphy talked about the importance of adapting to a world that's ever changing, in large part thanks to technology. He noted, however, that for the travel agency community change began in 1995 when Delta capped commissions. Agents who are still lamenting that fact, he said, need to "get over it."
Murphy, who is the author of Travel Forward, a book about how travel relates to self-discovery, encouraged travel agents to create their own "Travel Forward" moments. "My plunge began with selling my house in Rye, N.Y., and moving 120 miles to a place where I knew nobody. I bet on travel and travel agents and took everything I ever earned in my life and put it into my business. That was a challenge," he said. "But you know what? It wasn't really a difficult bet. Because guess what. You guys were selling $100 billion in travel back then."
Innovation, he noted, is key to success, but only when it is married with the ability to successfully address change. "Innovation in and of itself does not equal success," he said. "But if you innovate and you adapt to change over time, you'll change the landscape."
A case in point, he said, is Amazon.com, which went from selling books to becoming the largest online retailer in the world. "They recognized that it's not simply about one thing," he said. "It's about a 360 experience. Their business is not about selling books - it's about purchasing products online."
"So when you think about having a Web site think about what other products you can bring to bear within your site to create an Amazon experience," he said. "Because technology is only going to move faster and get more exciting, and you're either going to be on the forefront and adopting or you're going to die."
His challenge to agents, he said, was to adopt to change. "Are you ready to 'Travel Forward,'" he asked? "Are you ready to make that change?"
In the end, Murphy said the travel business of the future would merge high tech and high touch. "Can you bring those two together?" he asked agents. "If you can, you'll succeed beyond your wildest dreams."
In other developments, Cohen stressed the importance of what he called "abundant loyalty." "I believe it can be the difference between being somewhat successful and awesomely successful," he said.
He pointed to the law of attraction. "It says what we believe manifests," he said. "So it's simple. If you don't believe in loyalty you're not going to get it."
But, he added, customers get it. "As your customer, when I call you on the phone, I will know quickly if you believe in loyalty or not," he said. "You're either going to treat me like you love me, like I'm family, like you're happy to hear from me, or you're going to treat me like a one-night stand. I'm going to know. I'm going feel it."
Agents must ensure that they provide the client with an experience that doesn't end with the booking, which means they must call clients to find out how the trip went, Cohen said.
"The more you give it the more you get," he said. "The more you love on the clients the more you make them feel special."
In the final analysis, there's no great mystery to incorporating the concept of loyalty into a marketing plan. "Don't make this harder than it is," Cohen said. "Just give loyalty and great service and you can't miss."
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