A friend asked me this week how my holiday was. Holiday? What holiday I thought, it feels like it was decades ago. I’m sure I’m not the only one who finds the holiday high evaporates far too quickly.
Just like the people who book with us, we invest so much time planning our own holidays that when we step back into the daily routine of work and family it feels like a distant memory very quickly.
The feelgood factor
I remember reading an article by TV life coach Pete Cohen about how to recapture the holiday feelgood factor.
He suggested keeping holiday snaps somewhere visible – and looking at them regularly. Listen to music that reminds you of places you love. Surround your room with scents that take you back to a happy holiday.
Do things that you associate with a holiday at least once a week – swimming, yoga or tennis. Make yourself a cocktail. And here’s the killer one on the list – book another holiday so you’ve got something to look forward to.
None of that is rocket science, of course, but it’s useful to be reminded about the good things in life and how we can gain year-round value from our trips.
So much of Pete’s advice was to do with the senses: sounds, smells and sight. We should be doing much more than we are to talk to customers at the end of the summer season after they get home and just as the clocks are about to turn back when the nights turn dark and the days turn cold.
We need to do all we can in this tough economy to remind the public how good a holiday makes them feel, whether it’s a weekend break, winter sun or ski. And using emotion within our sales and marketing is crucial.
Stir the senses
In a store it’s relatively easy to stir the senses of shoppers.
A few years ago when Thomson was busy creating its concept stores, it latched on to the sensory experience and started pumping smells of lemon groves and coconut into its shops.
Lighting, odours, sounds and colours can combine to make customers think of the beach and a sunny day, or a place they visited on holiday. But how do we use the senses and recreate that shopping experience online?
Until our laptops come with an aroma-box, the words and pictures we use in emails and web copy need to be razor-sharp and immediately stimulate emotion.
We’re heading into a tough season. We need to pull out all the stops to grab sales. Let’s remind customers that a holiday is an investment in their wellbeing, and that their mood doesn’t need to fall off a cliff the minute their suitcase is unpacked.