THE PACE of change is at
an all-time high, upending
traditional business
models, and agents that
cannot keep up with it will
become irrelevant.
Marco Ciocchetti, ceo of
XL Travel Group, shared this
message with management in
the XL Travel Group ahead of
the group’s conference.
On-demand products like
Uber and Netflix had created
an expectation of immediate
gratification, Marco said,
adding that travel was not safe
from this.
Today’s consumer also
expects a high level of
personalisation. Marco said
while this is something
agents offered in the past
when servicing a select group
of loyal customers, today’s
agencies need to offer this at
scale. Big data and artificial
intelligence are the tools to
help agencies achieve this,
he said.
Marco said companies
like Amazon and Netflix
are using big data to take
personalisation even further
– predicting what consumers
want. He said Amazon was
piloting “anticipatory shipping”,
where it had started boxing
goods before consumers had
placed an order, based on
purchases they were likely to
make. Netflix is working on an
algorithm to make suggestions
to viewers based on their
mood.
Speaking to agents across
the group on Sunday, Marco
said agents need to break
free from their comfort zones
and actively seek out new
opportunities if they want
to succeed in the current
challenging economic climate.
The overriding theme of the
conference was that a change
of mind-set is essential in a
changing world.
In his keynote address,
Marco emphasised that
the technical recession is
an ideal environment for
sparking innovation. “The
recession is forcing us out
of the environment we are
used to and challenging us
to create new opportunities.
This is a good thing. People
lose the momentum to chase
their vision when they accept
the comfort zone they find
themselves in.”
He said that while change
can be financially, emotionally
and physically painful, it is
important to embrace it if
you want to stay relevant.
“Use this pain as a driver to
become an expert in what
you want to achieve going
forward,” he said.
Motivational speaker Gavin
Sharples agreed, adding that
instead of focusing on market
saturation, agents should
look for any opportunity to
personalise the travel they
offer to clients and so, stand
out. “Don’t tell me there are
only so many destinations and
ways to package them. There
are only eight musical notes
and yet the music industry
is thriving. Tell me what you
know about your customer
and how you’re using that to
up your value proposition,”
said Gavin.
Millennials will make or break your business
AGENTS should aim their
products at millennials or be
left behind, said entrepreneur
and business coach Mummy
Mthembu-Fawkes.
“Anyone between the ages
of 22 and 36 is a millennial.
Older generations are also
influenced by millennial family
members when buying travel.
Do you still think millennials
aren’t your biggest customer
group?”
Mummy emphasised
the importance of
understanding the
millennial requirement for
convenience and instant
feedback. “I conducted
an experiment where
I phoned an agent to
book flights for my trip
and my assistant began an
online booking process at
the same time. By the time I
received an email with three
quotes for my first flight (30
minutes later) my assistant
had booked seven flights and
checked me into my first one.”
She suggested agents be
active on all social media
platforms. “Advertise your
packages in creative ways
and when people comment,
or post queries, answer them
immediately. They will feel
like they are receiving instant
feedback.”
She warned that agents
resistant to using social
media would lose out to
competitors who already drive
business on these platforms.
Marco added that
millennials are still interested
in purchasing agent services.
“Millennials are willing to
give you the data you need to
personalise the experiences
you sell them. Ensure that you
are proactively collecting this
data as it is key to taking your
business to the next level.
