Second Quarter Tasks

Time flies. It’s hard to believe that the first quarter is just about over, and while you may feel you have the luxury of three more quarters to drive your year-end results, that’s really not the case. To maximize your sales and profits for the year, the next 90 days will be critical!

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So what’s the rush? Once summer is upon us, sales in most parts of the country tend to slow and your ability to achieve your year-end sales goals will be markedly decreased. For example, if the average vacation is booked 90 days ahead of time, then your ability to put business on the books after September is nil. So now’s the time! Here are seven things you can do to positively impact your 2015 sales.

Make a forecast: Where do your sales need to be at this time in order to make your year-end targets? Admittedly, accounting generates the same excitement as watching paint dry, but it’s critical to forecast your annual sales to determine if they will exceed your yearly goal.

You can have a pretty credible sense of your 2015 outcome by dividing 2014 booked sales as of this time last year (whether they had traveled or not) by your 2014 year-end total sales. That math yields a percentage. Now take your 2015 sales to-date (whether or not they’ve actually traveled) and divide that number by the same percentage to generate a year-end forecast.

For example, if I sold $100,000 by Feb. 28 of last year and finished 2014 with $400,000 in sales, then 25 percent of my annual sales were booked by this time. If at this point in 2015, I’ve got $200,000 booked, dividing it by 0.25 will give me a year-end forecast of $800,000.

Obviously, this basic methodology doesn’t consider a change in booking trends, fluctuations in the average sale and so on. That’s okay. You need to know, at least roughly, where you’ll finish 2015 to set your actions in the next few months.

Take immediate action: What can you do now to impact sales in the next 90 days? Select certain products to focus on. Work with your consortium, host agency, targeted supplier, etc., to drive sales. Can you market and communicate better, generate more leads or simply close more sales? Are you focused on selling the more lucrative products — more complex, longer, premium and luxury products for which the consumer really needs your expertise?

Reach out to your customers: Don’t just email consumers, call them! Being in touch on a regular basis is important to building the personal relationship that leads to long-term, consistent sales and loyalty. It’s also a valuable tool, because virtually no lead time is required and it can be done whenever you have a few minutes. It’s also highly effective as well.

Know your target customers: Who is likely to buy certain products or destinations? Use your database and CRM capabilities to find these “needles in the haystack.” Pursuing likely prospects in the short term is more surgical than your “normal,” ongoing marketing and communications.

Create urgency with your customers: Is there a special on a vacation that your customers have wanted to do? Will this year’s stronger booking trends make it more challenging to buy what they want if they don’t act soon? Are you holding an invitation-only reception next month on their favorite product or destination?

Stay with your sales plan: The vast majority of travel professionals give up too soon. Sales is a numbers game. The more people you pursue, the more you’ll sell, even though most of your contacts will not generate immediate sales.

Monitor results and modify future actions: What techniques are working the best? Which haven’t been as effective? The latter ones may actually provide a superior learning experience. Take stock of your successes. Will you achieve your three-month goal? If so, congratulations! If not, what will you do differently?

Even though it’s only March, your 2015 selling year is relatively limited. But that doesn’t mean you can’t achieve your desired growth. Know how you’re doing, what you need to improve, take action using the most effective short-term steps and hold yourself accountable for achieving short-term results.