Through grit, determination and savvy business strategies, these four travel advisors not only weathered the pandemic but, at least to some extent, triumphed over it.
"Having lived through other unforeseen events over the past 25 years, I was fortunate to have saved money for a rainy day, said VIP Vacations President Jennifer Doncsecz. "This savings allowed VIP to retain its staff, which I think is one of the key factors in how we were able to stay afloat."
"We worked tirelessly in changing reservations for our clients and spent a great deal of time speaking with them about changing their reservations instead of canceling completely," she said.
VIP Vacations also "went back to what we believe sets us apart from consumers booking online themselves, and that is the one-on-one connection we have to our clients," she said,
The agency arranged zoom calls with destination wedding couples as opposed emails or texts. "We empathized with the stress and heartache that went into moving their entire wedding to a different date and I really think that we got closer to our wedding couples than we had in years," Doncsecz said.
"This paid off in spades because couples referred new wedding couples to VIP in a greater rate than we typically see before weddings even travel."
On the marketing front, VIP Vacations invested in a campaign in the fall of 2020, the theme of which was "The Caribbean Is Open and So Are We."
The agency paid for two huge billboards stressing its message, and the same on social media and holiday mailings.
"We wanted consumers to know that VIP Vacations was open for business so that when they did decide to travel, they would turn to us," Doncsecz said.
Time for Travel President Sarah Kline stepped her social media efforts and looked forward.
"I focused on the future and getting groups and weddings on the books for 2022-23," she said. "Our 2022 is shaping up to be the best year ever by a lot."
Time for Travel now puts a high premium on working by appointment, she noted. "We are requiring a meeting via zoom for all new groups and weddings before providing any quotes or details."
Richard Turen, managing director of Churchill & Turen, strengthened his ties with clients by speaking the unadulterated truth.
"You can only deal with a crisis of this kind by doubling down on honest communication with your clients," he said.
"By honestly urging our clients not to travel for a year or two we solidified our position as trusted confidants. It was important for our clients to know that we had no interest in 'boosting our business.'"
Churchill & Turen also waived all fees for its services and assured its clients "that we would be here for them day and night as we try to navigate this constantly changing travel landscape," Turen said.
"We've sent out ad-free, hype-free 50-page updates to our guests twice each month since March of last year. We call our clients on a regular basis just to see how they are. Selling has no place in this environment, which is why we do not employ commission-based sales agents."
During the pandemic Claire Schoeder, an independent contractor with Elevations Travel, embarked on a series of domestic trips and shared her experiences with her clients.
"When I returned from those trips I shared trip diaries with select clients who I thought would be interested in similar experiences," she said. "For instance, I took a self-drive trip through national parks in Colorado and Utah before ending in Las Vegas. I shared photos as well as highlights and a couple of low lights with clients.
"I mentioned which parks were least crowded, what time to go to more crowded parks and suggested skipping one altogether as there was no way to maintain social distancing in the most popular area of the park.
"I also shared posts from domestic resorts and got clients thinking about driving trips. I've booked more of these in the past year than I ever have."
Communication also played a big role in helping Schoeder cement her relationships with clients.
"The best action I took was staying in touch with my clients via cards, emails and phone calls," she said. "I sent birthday and anniversary greetings, and simply asked what they were doing and how they were handling the isolation - and mentioned at all times that I was ready to help them when they were, once again, ready to travel."
While these communications did not have an immediate effect, they have since paid off. "My clients knew I was in the same boat and that I would be there when it was time to travel once again," Schoeder said. "Sometimes it is the simplest and easiest things that will have the best results."
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