Get Obsolete Proof

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If you don’t know by now that my 2015 mission is to help keep your travel agency obsolete proof, please say this aloud and with conviction: “Stuart Cohen wants to make sure my business is around for the next 10 years.”

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Unless you are already generating higher profit margins than last year, now is the time to be concerned. Leisure travel is up but your business is down. Why? Someone else is eating your cheese. I know this is aggravating to hear because you love what you do — and probably do it better than others.

Dissolve or Evolve
You may think that consumers, suppliers and the Internet are conspiring to render travel agents obsolete The fact is they are not conspiring, but they are aspiring. Dissolve or evolve: that is the challenge facing big and small businesses alike. Consumers, suppliers and the Internet are concerned with their own viability so they move their own cheese — and so should you!

For nearly 30 years I have been the biggest advocate for travel agents. I firmly believe there is an important place for you today and tomorrow. But consumers don’t need yesterday’s travel agent. I encourage you to evolve — or you will dissolve.

One way to redefine yourself is to master the group business model. Most agents I meet are doing some group business and generating lackluster results. They want a higher quantity and quality of group business. That is precisely why I created the industry’s first-ever online group boot camp.

Is it time for you to take action? If you have dreamed of building a high-margin group business and have the basic skills, perhaps you should be in my group boot camp. Come join the group revolution!

Today I present you with a few highlights from my recent keynote address delivered at the MAST Travel network conference in Seattle. The presentation was entitled “How to Source New Customers (and Keep Them Coming Back for More).”

May these new choices inspire you to start making your business obsolete proof. I will be delivering a full-scale webinar on this topic shortly, so if you’d like to receive notification, please email me at stuart@stuartlloydcohen.com.

I almost always begin speeches with a series of don’ts versus dos. I do believe that in order to successfully adopt new behaviors and choices we must first put an end to what we have been doing for years — that is how we evolve.

Don’t blame the customers: It is not the customers’ fault that they don’t know your value. You have not told them. You have not yet demonstrated through words and actions that you are capable of doing more than yesterday’s travel agent. Back in the day they knew why they needed you, but now they don’t. Your job is to convince them that you transform lives.

Don’t blame the supplier: They set their own goals and must achieve them. They don’t steal your customers, you “gift” your customers to them by not doing remarkably great work. They cannot provide your level of loyalty-grade service and cannot deliver groups as spectacularly as you can. Suppliers pay you a gratuity (a commission) as compensation for getting them business.

Don’t blame the Internet: It is friend, not foe. Don’t be paranoid — encourage clients to do research, acknowledge their hard work and offer to be the “truth-detector.” The Internet cannot possibly do what you do, so don’t try to compete with it or to convert the converted. Don’t sell what the Internet sells or how it sells it. Use it as a means to your end or it will end your means.

Why Consumers Need Agents
I believe travel agents do three things: 1) add value and convenience; 2) reduce stress and risk; and 3) transform lives by creating a much better experience than customers knew could be possible.

Do you know why a customer needs you? Do you know your purpose? If you don’t, the customer won’t. What is your gift? Be prepared to declare your purpose in your elevator speech so people know exactly how you will transform their lives. I call this “inside-out” branding. Communicate exactly what you do — as clearly as a garage door opener!

There is no global conspiracy to put agents out of business. The world just does not understand your purpose. Quit the blame game and start creating an obsolete proof business model. Are you inspired now? Please email me at stuart@stuartlloydcohen.com for more highlights of my keynote address.