Tour Operator Tip: Automated Lead Followup

Someone visits your website, requests an itinerary, a brochure or a guide to your area. You’ve generated a lead. Now what? Statistics show that nearly 50% of companies never follow-up with a prospect. They also show that over 80% of sales are made after the fifth contact. What are you doing to followup?

Resmark Systems provides tour operators a way to trigger emails based on certain events such as a new lead, a reservation, or a trip departure. Triggering emails automatically from within the tour booking system makes for consistent customer service and incredible return on investment.

Many of our clients often ask for email ideas. Here are a few to get you started on the road to greater sales conversion.

FOLLOWING UP WITH A LEAD – EMAIL IDEAS

• Send a short personal email ending with a question about dates and trips.
• List the top 10 things to do in your area. Be helpful. These might include your trips, but also other activities and places to visit.
• Feature a specific trip that would be of interest to the potential guest (based on their location and trip type interests). Perhaps include an offer to book the tour online.
• Share a personal experience that relates to the interest of your guest (using the dynamic content rules in Resmark).
• Share guest stories (preferably told by the guest) that relate to the travel party type specified by the lead. For example, if someone has an interest in "corporate team building," send a story from another guest that had a wonderful experience with their business group. These could be links out to a blog where your stories are collected.
• Information about events and festivals. You can customize this content based on the dates of interest and location interest gathered during lead generation.
• Inside tips and information about a destination of interest. The more people are educated about an area, they more likely their interest will be stronger.
• Link to a facebook page that reveals a secret code when someone likes your company page. This allows you to continue building your relationship in other ways.
• Discuss reasons why someone should choose your trip over another experience. Have fun with it and be creative. Realize that your competition is often not the tour operator down the road. Perhaps you also compete with Disneyland, a cruise or a beach vacation.
• What common concerns do you hear constantly while making a reservation on the phone? Address these in advance with an email. Perhaps include a guest testimonial that addresses the concern.

Certainly, your followup emails will vary based on what you sell, but hopefully this short list helps get the ball rolling.

All too often, we don’t follow-up enough with potential clients. Some interesting statistics from JMJ Direct show that over 80% of sales are made after the 5th contact. If we have only 2 or 3 follow-ups in place, we’re missing a huge opportunity. Remember that not every email is opened so it often takes several contacts and perhaps even some phone followup to close a sale.

Statistics will vary per industry, but one thing is certainly true. Automating a portion of our follow-up through tour operator software like Resmark makes all the difference in ensuring consistency.

What followup emails are working well for you?