Getting Ready for the Travel Show!
Even a casual event like this takes a lot of work, and I've spent the whole week thinking "I should have done this," or "If I had thought of it in time I could have..." Good grief, you'd think it was the National Restaurant Show or something!
Basically, my idea is that it's a simple neighborhood event where people can come and go at their convenience -- pick up a couple of brochures, get some questions answered, maybe have a cookie and a cup of coffee, and just get to know who Cruise Planners is.
We know we don't have to sell people on travel (everybody wants to go somewhere!), we have to sell them on US. Who are we? What are we going to do for them?
For one thing, just being in the neighborhood is a big plus. I read a lot of those "travel troubleshooter" columns in the paper and on MSNBC online, and I'm amazed at how much trouble people have with online-only agencies like Expedia and Travelocity. Sometimes the problem comes from a company that I never even heard of! Now, why would anyone risk their precious vacation time (and money) on some outfit they don't know? At least with a neighbor you have somebody to go to for help if something does happen, but we care more about making sure nothing goes wrong in the first place.
Then, I think having the resources of American Express makes a huge difference. They have such tremendous "buying power" that we can find, match, or beat about anything that's out there. All that stuff in the Sunday paper -- we've got it.
I love the "little extras" that we can give, too. Just this week were able to offer gifts like wine, shipboard credit, and travel accessories -- stuff you can't get on the internet.
Anyway, we've got the brochures loaded into my car, and tonight I'm printing off all the last-minute specials, then I'll stop off for the cookies in the morning before we set up. Should go pretty smoothly. Hope to see all my local friends there! PS -- where do you want to go?
