The reassurance of being there when things go wrong cannot always be replicated by online platforms, says Digital Drums’ Steve Dunne
In marketing, they say there are only two ways to make money. The first is to find out what the consumer wants, and then work out how to sell it to your target audience profitably. This approach is by far the most popular one for businesses and therefore, naturally, the most competitive.
The second is to know what you have that is unique about your product or service, and to work out a way to get the consumer to really want it. This approach is usually the more profitable route – and less competitive.
Most of the travel trade pursues the first approach, finding out what consumers want and supplying it, hopefully at a profit.
And generally, what consumers say they want is sun, sea, surf, adventure, relaxation, great prices and all the usual words and phrases that tumble out of brochures – and these all duly feature in holiday advertisements, or are prominent on travel websites and in agents’ shop windows. Desire is a big motivating driver of purchasing and the industry caters well for it.
But there is a far greater driver for the products that agents and operators supply that they seem coy about, almost to a degree that is negating perhaps their biggest unique selling proposition – safety.
Expertise on show
When did agents and travel organisers really come into their own in terms of value and doing something others couldn’t do? Was it arranging travel plans for consumers? Was it getting great deals? Was it providing expert information on resorts or destinations? I would say not.
Access to global websites means almost anyone can organise flights, hotel accommodation, tours and excursions, car rental and travel insurance. If you have the time to surf the web, you can often find great travel and holiday deals – it’s one of the benefits of fluid pricing.
But when things go wrong, when one of the many moving parts doesn’t work or when the unpredictable happens – be it weather-related, industrial action, computer issues or political unrest – who do you call?
The recent Microsoft meltdown crisis, which grounded aircraft around the globe, brought trains to a standstill and corrupted reservation systems, brought the value of having a professional travel organiser behind you into sharp relief for travellers.
Perception gap
We live in a turbulent world where one decision by an overseas government, an action by a disgruntled group or a weather-related incident can suddenly change your carefree holiday into something that will one day feature on a ‘holiday from hell’ TV show.
And when you experience a hiccup in your travel plans or a breakdown in service, websites that seem to hide a customer service phone number, have a chatbot that seems unable to deal with even the simplest of questions or has a clause in its travel insurance policy that allows them to duck out of an issue, the allure of getting the great deal or ‘doing it yourself’ quickly fades.
To me, there is a gap in the market’s awareness of what a professional travel organiser does. When I ask family and friends for their take I get the same answer: they sell travel and provide good deals. I never hear that they have your back when one or more of the moving parts of a travel itinerary fails; or how their expertise can remove the stress and strains that often come with travel.
And this element of what the agent does – the reassurance of being there when things go wrong – cannot always be replicated by search engines, websites or call centres.
To clearly differentiate your proposition, you need to market it. And the industry isn’t getting its message across to the consumer strongly enough.
It’s an agent’s unique selling proposition – and it’s time to promote it extensively. When it comes to travel, let’s hear the sector say loudly that the agent has your back.