Introduction
You do not have to be in the travel industry for very long to realise it is a highly competitive place to be. Travel Uni is dedicated to helping you get ahead of the competition and to stay there.
Here we are offering you some tips for booking success in 5 steps.
So far you have analysed your market; completed a SWOT Analysis; made sure you keep abreast of developments in the industry and the business environment around you; and set some SMART goals.
This is the fifth and final step in our series Five steps to booking success. Now it is time to make things happen.
Take action
Let’s take the SMART goal set in Step 4: “My goal is to generate an extra £100,000 in commission payments from my top 50 customers by 31 December this year”.
This is a great outcome goal but of course it is isn’t under your complete control. There are usually many external factors which can affect an outcome: the state of the economy; politics; relationships with suppliers; special offers from competitors; clients moving home instead of buying a holiday; natural disasters. And so the list goes on.
As we saw in Step 3, it is important to be aware of these external factors but what you need to focus on is what you can personally control i.e. your performance.
Thinking about each of your SMART goals what do you believe YOU need to do, and at what standard, in order achieve the outcome? And how are YOU going to do it i.e. what are the skills and behaviours required to deliver.
To maintain progress you will also need to put a deadline on each stage.
In short, in order to achieve your outcome goal WHAT do you need to do, HOW are you going to do it and by WHEN?
Example:
SMART Outcome goal: To generate an extra £100,000 in commission payments from top 50 customers by 31 December this year.
I. What: Increase conversion rate to 30% within the next 2 months.
How: Attend a sales refresher course within the next 10 days.
II. What: Respond to customer enquiries within 6 hours every time by the end of this week.
How: Set up email templates by tomorrow.
III. What: Learn more about supplier X’s range of products by the end of this week.
How: Sign up to a product training course today and complete by end of this week.
You are effectively setting SMART sub-goals for each SMART outcome goal covering the WHAT and the HOW – and all with deadlines.
Complete the ‘What and How’ exercise for each of the SMART goals you set in Step 4. Enter them into a year planner and make them happen. It is important to say here that nothing should be set in stone. If something isn’t working, change it. Just be flexible and follow this path to booking success:
Step 1: Know your market. Focus on your most profitable customers.
Step 2: Know yourself. Complete a SWOT analysis.
Step 3. Know what’s what. Be aware of what is happening in the industry and the world at large.
Step 4. Know your goals. Set some SMART goals.
Step 5. Take action. List what you need to do and how you are going to do it. Create an action plan and follow it.
You are now at the end our series Five steps to booking success but for you it is just the beginning.
Please let us know how you are progressing via our Facebook page.
