Guidelines & Best Practices of Keeping your Tour Agents for Years
Our experts share with you practical guidelines & best practices for keeping your tour agents professional for years. Trade business is one of the biggest sources our any tour operator’s business, they control and manage source markets. It is very important for a tour operator to forge the strongest partnership in day-to-day dealings and business networking.
Get time and explore these guidelines & best practices for keeping your tour agents for years, they include:-
1. Manifesting Honesty.
This is one of the most practical guidelines & best practices for keeping your tour agents. This builds credibility & total trust. Honesty can be exhibited in many things from financial discipline to communication. Agents want to associate with trustworthy partners that provided value-for-money services to their customers than those that manifest dishonesty.
2. Know your agent’s requirements.
Many tour operators in Uganda do not know what exactly tour Agents what! All agents across the entire world would like to learn how to promote and sell your products without contacting you. Therefore when planning an agent interface, unless they are a high volume agent, consider their needs, supply them with all options available and create ease to feel your products just like a consumer coming to a product for the first time.
3. Keeping contracts assigned.
In this case, the biggest contract that tour operators hold with agents is the safari or tour itinerary. Considering the inclusions & exclusions of the itinerary are paramount in tour operation dealings, any alternations in the safari program must be communicated well in advance and be passed on well to the final consumers in time for consent ad approval. We can also look at the Memorandum of Understanding signed every calendar year, these must be kept confidential and it is advised to seek legal readdress before signing any agreement with any tour agent
4. Timely response.
It is all about now with agents. Urgency is very key in replies to agents; remember they have to wait to read from you (ground handler) so that they can communicate effectively with the source market with relevant information like prices and safari programs. Clients never wait but instead choose to write to others and it is believed fast response is positively related to high conversions. Avoid fast responses that have inappropriate answers call them half-baked suggestions
5. Being Knowledgeable about the products.
Being in a position to provide accurate advice & avail options. Agents find such partners the best to work with, such persons have got detailed information about the destination they represent and have all options for clients when contacted even at the last minute.
Ability to answer questions. This gives agents confidence and assurance that their partner has the capacity to handle their business regardless of size. Relevant answers for a given subject enable agents to not only prove confidence but also out stands from the competition.
6. Best deals/Good prices for safari products.
Best offers without compromising on quality. This is key in selling vacations, agents prefer quality services but at an affordable offer, and they tend to add the commission that keeps them in the market. High prices will distort agents dealing with the fact it will be hard to attract booking with them. Ensure your prices are friendly enough to attract a large market share
7. Regular updates.
Keeping open communication with the agents all day every day. They need to know the current trends in the destination and keep them informed on their bookings, and safari departures i.e. before, during, and after the safari. Always share with them feedback forms where necessary
8. New product developments or trends in the industry.
Always keep your agents on new product development. For example, recently we had the introduction of balloon safari in Murchison Falls and Queen Elizabeth, ensure you got enough information on the product before communicating this to your agent.
Company achievements i.e. Travel accolade attained due to excellence, a positive review on trip advisors, new vehicle fleet acquired. This will not only earn you dignity but improve s your company brand.
9. Product Knowledge & Training.
FAM Trips. These are intended to enrich your agent’s knowledge of the product they intend to promote. They have to come to a destination and feel the products and taste the entire experience before their clients, including taking part in tour activities and sampling the accommodation facilities among other safari ingredients.
10. Keep them in the know of your challenges.
Ground handlers go through a lot of challenges while on the ground and these should be shared with your agents for example allocation of gorilla permits is one of the challenges that Uganda Tour operators face among others like cold food at various hotels.
