Frontline Selling- Where the Rubber Really Meets The Road
(A personal journey, of sorts)—Way back in 1964, when I first met
Irwin Robinson, founder, editor, and publisher, of Travel Weekly,
travel agents were not such popular folk with airline and hotel/resort
managements. I think the rallying cry from those sectors was “go
direct” or “cut out the middle man”. Only later did the fancier
“disintermediate” term come along.
In any case,
Ziff-Davis Publishing Company, a rapidly growing special interest
publisher where I hung my hat as legal counsel and sometime publisher,
saw all that as shortsighted economics, and we correctly predicted that
travel agency sales would become the backbone of the travel business.
Through the acquisition of Robbie’s weekly newspaper, and Hotel &
Travel Index, and the launch of the landmark Louis Harris Study on The
Volume and Character of the Travel Agency Market, we parlayed our bet
on frontline agents into a major publishing enterprise. I was
privileged to be Publisher of those travel properties and later
President of a Ziff-Davis Division that to this day, under different
corporate stewardship, proudly serves that critical cohort of agency
marketers.
Today’s Luxury
Market in travel was designed for topline, imaginative travel agents,
whose need is to stay ahead of the game with insights and action and
technology crafted to these dynamic times in global travel.
The frontline seller
cohort is broader now, with mega online agencies ambitious to find the
right formula for luxury sales , and a much enhanced capability of
cruise lines, hotels, resorts and others to have a greater share in
personalized , direct online sales in the luxury sector.
Today the issues in
travel marketing are complex indeed, for agents, suppliers and other
stakeholders. The winners will certainly be those who have the
marketing intelligence to be 360 degrees in exploiting their hard
earned advantages in building bonds with customers. Get, Keep, Grow is
everyone’s customer mandate.
It is our promise at
Luxury Travel 360 to provide every stakeholder the same vital
information in Research, Tracking Trends, and covering critical issues.
But we shall, without fail, be offering relevant special interest
content to the frontline world of marketers.
We take great pride
in the fact that Travel Weekly, with old friend and colleague Arnie
Weissmann at the content helm, will be available as Content
Colleagues and advisors in the travel agency sector in particular.
Melissa Bradley’s On My Mind message in the Sept-Oct issue of Indagare—family focused travel--just happened to be what was on my mind as I reviewed some of the most recent surveys on consumer travel behavior in a struggling economy.
All the evidence—whether you are looking at the Amex-Harrison Group study we reviewed in our last issue, or the Ipsos Mendelsohn Affluence Report completed in September,--shows Family First when it comes to disposable dollars.
For travel in particular, Bradley says, ” More than just being inspired by reading about beautiful places, Indagare’s members have expressed a desire for guidance, especially when it comes to life’s most cherished journeys: those with their families”
“ What’s important on such trips,” she adds, “ is spending uninterrupted quality time with loved ones.”
We believe family focus is going to be front of mind for a long time to come, long after the punishing economic climate has subsided. Provider brands will be hard pressed to provide much more than kiddie or junior, or young adult activities. Smart travel agents will have to rise to higher levels of creativity and performance on the family front to sustain customer loyalty and earn the benefits of word of mouth in the neighborhood.
At the American Express Publishing –HarrisonGroup presentation last month Cara David, co-director of the study and Senior Vice-President, Strategic Insights, Marketing and Sales, American Express Publishing said, ”We will see significant reductions in intended spending for jewelry, fashion, accessories and other personal items.”
At the same time, spending for the family – automobiles, travel, children’s clothing and home décor – are trending up, even over June numbers, according to David.
We’ll be tracking the trend carefully, and we are seeing evidence of some smart marketing in that direction—including Indagare, of course—that will be featured in upcoming hospitality brand interviews Hershel Sarbin
Our lead story in this issue, covering the Latest Quarterly Survey from American Express Publishing/Harrison Group on Affluence and Wealth in America, is a most informative visit to spending in a troubled economy.
One thing that struck us, as we listened to the October 2 presentation, was how the term affluent covered so much territory - There is “ Bedrocks” Affluent, “Upper Middle Class” Affluent, “Pinnacle” Affluent, “Super” Affluent and finally, just plain Wealthy – all together, some 20 million households.
Karen Weiner Escalera, a veteran luxury marketing and public relations executive who heads up KWE Group in Coral Gables, recently took a look at the current economic situation and offered her outlook and advice; here’s a summary:
AVOID DISCOUNTING:
• As former Ritz-Carlton executive Joseph Freni, famously said in a previous downturn, “When times are tough, raise your rates.” Instead, highlight ways to save by traveling smart (off- season and midweek for resorts; weekend and holidays for urban hotels).
• A recent survey of millionaires by the authors of the book, “Middle Class Millionaire” revealed that close to 90% of U.S. millionaires with household incomes of $1 million to $10 million say they would increase their spending if offered a special value add.
UP THE SERVICE ANTE:
• Seek to elicit the “wow factor” among consumers. According to an Accenture study, more than half of consumers reported their expectations for better service increased over the past five years. One third said they were higher than a year ago. Guests require their every desire – expressed or unspoken – be met.
• Gather all the information you can about guests’ likes and dislikes and add to the database – down to packets of gum for the gum chewer and up to a crib from Neiman Marcus to the loyal guest/expectant mother. But beware of overly attentive service, which can become obtrusive or overbearing – a “no-no” for younger travelers in particular.
A new report, The NEXT gen Traveler—co-authored by PhoCusWright and Ypartnership—declares that "next generation" travelers, heavy users of the latest technology, are highly educated, affluent, and are equally likely to be Echo Boomers (18-28) as Baby Boomers (43 to 61), thereby debunking the belief that the usage of new technology is concentrated among younger travelers. They have a zest for travel and spend, on average, over 50% more on travel services annually than their less tech-savvy.
Nat Ives, in Ad Age Online Sept 6, cites new data from Ipsos MMR which assures that well-off readers read print publications just as much now as they did 5 years ago.
Also, survey respondents making more than $100,000 annually said their average hours online had grown to 22.1 each week from 10.7, while the time they said they spent watching TV sunk to 18.6 hours from 23.7 in the 2003 survey. Read the full Ives story at http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=130685. Lux 360 attended the client briefing this week and will provide additional perspective in our Sept. 30 issue, interviewing Ipsos MMR President Bob Shullman.
For Travel Agents
