Putting it in Words

Amy Seng of 'Destinations by Amy' used to write a one-page Word document to map out her plans and goals for each year. Over time that one page has evolved into a more formal and detailed business plan.

“For that Word doc, I wrote down ideas for the next year and referred back as I went along; that was enough for me,” said Seng, who launched her Arlington Heights, Illinois home-based agency, in 2009.

But Seng, whose background is in advertising sales and marketing, knew the value of a more detailed business plan.

“Putting goals down in writing makes them real, and makes you accountable,” she said. “You can say it, but unless you write it down, you’re just not going to do it.”

MORE Travel Agent

FAM Trip Roundup: Turkey, Bhutan and More

Advocating for Agents

Navigating Through the Pandemic With Playa

Now Seng’s business plan for her agency—which specializes in destination weddings, honeymoons and Disney—outlines her goals in a host of areas, including revenue, targeted suppliers, marketing and travel for Seng and her team.

Hiring that team, in fact, was a key goal in Seng’s 2017 business plan. What Seng calls her “Dream Team” started with Kelly Seng—her business manager who also handles Disney bookings—and agent Kate Rickard, who has done such a great job that Seng said, “I wanted to clone her.”

As Destinations by Amy grew, the three-member team was simply not large enough to handle her expanding business. So last year Seng set out to hire two more agents.

Her business plan detailed the kind of hires she wanted.

“I was looking for people like me,” Seng said. “I’m a stay-at-home mom. I wanted to structure my people so that we all work at home, make our own hours and work when we can. It’s important to have people who are going through the same thing at the same time.”

Seng found her two new agents—Kathy Karavitis and Ki Kellen—not far from her home: One lives down the block from Seng, the other goes to the same church as Rickard.

The new team helped bring another goal to fruition—acquiring awards that boost the agency’s credibility and promote its business.

Kelly Seng worked tirelessly with past brides and grooms to solicit their five-star reviews of the agency for the Wedding Wire, an effort that garnered Wedding Wire’s Couples Choice Award 2017. Kate Rickard became a platinum agent for Hard Rock Hotel’s All-Inclusive Resorts Collection for 2017, while Destinations by Amy achieved Silver Level in Funjet Vacation’s 500 Club Agency Rewards Program for 2018.

READ MORE: Hot Wave Season Deals

The awards will be pushed out in content and posts on social media this year.

“It’s important that we shine,” said Seng. “We have found our niche for the kind of awards that work for us.”

A more structured social media calendar is another 2018 goal. Seng posted on social media during 2017 but plans to do so more strategically this year. Exposure for the awards also will increase via a new travel agency website, which was created in 2017. The new site, which will be more informational and interactive, is slated to roll out this month.

“Our clients’ wedding sites are housed on our website to maximize SEO. We thought we needed a better way to use these websites to make sure visitors can find information as easily as possible,” Seng said. “We’re building templates that are easier for wedding couples and their guests to read and navigate.”

The website project also includes building preferred destination pages to link to resort websites and creating a new, more polished look.

The social media plan and new website are major elements of Seng’s marketing approach: “My marketing [in the past] had just been about my branding and building on that brand, including creating visual pieces that all looked the same."

In addition to social media and the new website, 2018 marketing efforts will include strategic email marketing aimed at creating at least three or more booked trips a month.

Traveling as a team to various destinations to focus on specific brands also figures into the agency’s 2018 business strategy. Additionally, increasing training options for the new team will be a critical component of the agency’s business plan.

“There will be a lot of coaching to give them all the tools they need to be successful,” said Seng. “I’m only successful if they’re successful.”