| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 08/05/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 4 |
| Copyright: Other |
Educationals: booze ups or business trips?
Is an agent fam trip a valuable sales tool for retailers or just an excuse for a cheap holiday?Jane Archer investigates
TRAVEL agents are up in arms after two articles in Travel Weekly accused them of not taking overseas educationals or UK training workshops seriously.In one, Longwood Holidays managing director Rafi Caplin branded educationals a waste of time after phone calls to the branches of agents who had been on a trip to Sharm El Sheikh highlighted a lack of knowledge and interest in the destination among the staff (Travel Weekly March 13).
In another, it was reported that 11 agents in Sunderland who had accepted invitations to a Cayman Islands Department of Tourism dinner didn’t bother to turn up (Travel Weekly March 27).
This publication has been inundated with letters from agents fiercely defending educationals but critical of the retailers who didn’t even contact their hosts to say they would be unable to attend.
Most operators agree with agents that fam trips are an important way for retailers to learn about the destinations they sell, and they back that up with heavy investment.
Travelscene, for instance, takes 700-800 agents on fam trips each year with budgets of £100 per head, while Travel 2/4 spends about £10,000 a year on educationals, although director of sales David Holland said the true investment, including the transport and accommodation donated by suppliers, is up to four times higher.
“Educationals are important as they offer a chance for agents to touch and feel the product,” Holland said. “Many have not flown long haul so it is an experience for them. We hope also that it shows us in a good light and encourages them to sell our products.”
Andrew Ponton, sales manager at Israel specialist Superstar Holidays, added: “We are aware of a lack of knowledge about Israel but we also know agents can sell it more easily if they have been there.”
Operators advise companies to follow certain guidelines to maximise returns from the trip, including choosing the right person and making the educational interesting and fun. It is also important to monitor results on return.
Kuoni offers a prize, often a free educational, to the agent who makes the most bookings for the destination just visited within 100 days of returning.
Over a longer time span, the operator boasts some impressive results, including a 150% increase in bookings year on year to the Seychelles after an educational for 15 agents last April.
Superstar Holidays keeps in touch with agents after an educational to make sure Israel stays uppermost in their minds. “We contact agents three months after their return to see how sales are going but we do realise it is a long-term investment. They can’t sell Israel if no-one asks for it,” said Ponton.
Bridge Travel Group sales director John Bellenger added: “We try to monitor agents to see if there is an increase in sales to the specific destination and for Bridge as a whole but, in reality, it is difficult to assess whether an increase in sales is a direct response to an educational.”
Kuoni’s Anne-Marie Hansen, who until recently headed the operator’s Long-Haul College, agreed.
“Managers would not let agents go if they thought they were having a holiday,” she said. “We make it hard work but fun. That is spelt out in the itinerary beforehand.”
Having a jolly time?In the year after a Kuoni fam trip to theSeychelles, above, the operator sold 150% holidays. Inset, Superstar knows it can sell more once agents have seen Israel
A learning curve: agents enjoy a fam trip to Israel
Travel Training Company head of sales and marketing Peter Holyoake explains how to make the most out of an educational.
THE main function of any educational must be to help agents sell the hosting tour operator’s product.
Although it is important to have a good time, agents must remember it is not a jolly. There must be some element of training.
From the outset, suppliers should make it clear that they are looking to get a return on their investment in terms of sales, while agents must send the right person – someone who will get something positive from the trip.
That agent needs to look at the product both through the eyes of the customer and through the eyes of a professional sales consultant. Those are two very different things. The customer wants to know the benefits of a resort, the sales consultant needs to look for the features that will help them to sell it.
That requires a balance. There should be hotel visits but not eight a day. However, hotels are not the only component. Agents must be able to sample the resort area for themselves.
The most successful educational I remember is when agents had hotel visits in the morning and were left to do their own thing in the afternoon. Before I joined the Travel Training Company, I was sales director at Ian Allen Travel. We required anyone who had been on an educational to organise some promotional activity on their return, for instance writing an article for the local paper or doing a mailshot for clients. In return, we offered a lot of educationals.
Fam trips
A guide to the hosts:
n Superstar Holidays: takes around 150 agents to Israel each winter. Agents pay an average of £100. Contact 020-7957 4355.
n Longwood Holidays: runs educationals to Israel and Eilat. Operator says there may be a charge levied for the trip. Contact 020 -8551 9988.
n Bridge Travel Group: runs educationals throughout the year. Agents pay £30-£40 average. Contact 01233 214124.
n Cadogan Holidays: sends about 600 agents on educationals a year. No charge but agents must have made five bookings for the operator in past six months. Contact 023 8082 8375.
Multiples
No such thing as a free holiday
AGENTS at multiples have workbooks to complete during their educationals so they have somewhere to record what they are seeing for later reference and to prove they have been working on the trip.
Thomas Cook team manager training administration Louise Scotney said: “Educationals are not a reward but a training tool that should boost the individual’s product and destination knowledge.
“We require a detailed itinerary before the trip so we can be satisfied they will be using the time well to visit hotels and key sites and will not just have free time.”
Each delegate gets a 55-page A4 workbook to complete before, during and after the trip. That also sets out the guidelines for Thomas Cook agents – for instance, they must attend everything on the itinerary unless they are sick. Once complete, the workbook is read and signed off by the branch manager.
Thomas Cook agents, like those at Going Places and Co-op Travelcare, have to give a presentation to colleagues about the destination they have just visited.
It establishes them as an expert in that area as well as passing on information to other agents, said Clair Boyes, who works at Going Places Eastcheap branch in London and has just returned from an educational to Malta.
Going Places allows each agent one educational a year. They also have a workbook to complete, which has to be signed off by the team leader, the branch manager and the training department.
Boyes said she feels she will be capable of selling more holidays to Malta as a result of the trip.
“Customers like it if you can tell them about a destination from first-hand experience,” she said. “Educationals are hard work but as long as you enjoy it, you learn a lot.”
Co-op Travelcare group personnel manager Pam Oliver said the company monitors agents who have been on an educational to see if there is any improvement in sales to the destination visited. “Educationals are seen as an important part of our on-going staff training programme,” she added.
Fam trip memories: agents who have visited a destination are more likely to sell it well afterwards
All work and no play may mean less sales
AGENTS must have some fun on educationals or they will not get enthused enough about a destination to sell it, Travelscene sales director John Harding said.
“City-break educationals are all about getting the agent to experience and feel the city,” he said. “It is important for them to see the highlights so they must have free time to explore for themselves.
“We put in hotel visits, but just three or four – one in each category because customers are not going for the hotel.”
Harding said on every trip, agents have to find one meal on their own, in a restaurant they would be happy to recommend to clients – McDonald’s is not an option.
They must also find shops to recommend, travel on public transport and experience transfers in the same way that customers would. That way, they can relate their experience of Travelscene from one city to another.
“We log the business of agents who have been on an educational with us from January 1 to the date of departure, and then for six months from the date of return,” said Harding.
“In 80% of cases we see an increase in business but invariably it is for city-break business as a whole because if the agent has a good feeling about Travelscene in one city, they can transport that to others.”
Travelscene also follows up with a certificate and a four-page questionnaire asking for comments about the trip. If sales do not increase, Travelscene will also go back to the agent to offer any help.
John Harding’s top tips
n Establish the purpose of the educational – to build knowledge or to encourage new agents to sell your product.
n Make sure the agencies and individuals invited fit the profile.
n Plan the trip to mix sightseeing, local cuisine, hotel visits and free time.
n Get the support of transportation companies, hoteliers, ground handlers and local tourist offices to help stretch the budget.
n Send all participants a questionnaire to help you evaluate all aspects of the visit.
n Check the productivity of agents participating in the trip for the six months before and six months after the trip.
n Send the agency a letter after the six months detailing business achieved and offering ongoing support.
n Put all participating agencies on the special offer fax list for six months after the return.
AGENTS quotes
“First-hand knowledge has always been the best seller and always will be, subject to operators selecting the right person.”
Louise Murtagh, Ash Green Travel, Longfield, Kent
“Personal experience of destinations is invaluable and very much appreciated by clients.”
Sue Booth, Wardle Travel, Stoke on Trent
“Lack of enthusiasm to obtain detailed knowledge of products they sell indicates, among other things, a lack of professionalism.”
Barbara Hicks, Barbara Hicks Air Travel, Cardiff, on the no-shows at the Cayman Islands dinner
“I can only assume the agents involved get offered far too many freebies.”
Gary Edwards, Getaway Travel Group, Manchester, also on the dinner
OPs quotes
“We see educationals as an investment, not a cost.”
David Holland, sales director, Travel 2/4
“The main reason for educationals is to build relationships.”
John Bellenger, sales director, Bridge Travel Group
“The key is to make sure the agents know the destination; we can fill in the details later.”
Andrew Ponton, sales manager, Superstar Holidays
“Educationals wouldn’t exist if they didn’t work.”
Gary David, managing director, Cadogan Holidays