How to Look for New Business During COVID-19
For many of us, our businesses took major hits due to COVID-19. A lot of our former relationships are no longer in business, or their priorities are elsewhere. During this time, it’s important to check in with our existing relationships, and look to build new ones.
What’s even more daunting is where do we start? While we’ve established some core guidelines for how to communicate, we also wanted to share how we are thinking about approaching new business within the travel trade during this time.
Tap Into Your Network & Go Virtual
The best way — and cheapest — to seek out new business, as many of us know, is by referral. Rely on relationships you trust to bring in business; let them know you are actively seeking out new clientele, perhaps ping them with a special offer they can send along to those they know. You always want to be sensitive in how you ask, but relying on the network you’ve built up has the added bonus of giving you a baked-in level of trust with your future client. If you’re new to the trade and don’t have the network yet, try attending a virtual conference to meet new potential partners. Because in-person conferences have been largely suspended through the season, many more are accessible to you and provide great opportunities for networking or getting to know the industry more. Another strategy is to check in with current clients in the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events) space to see if they need help planning and executing a virtual conference in place of their standard in person conferences. Use all of these opportunities to your full advantage, by either getting to know your fellow players in the trade or helping your existing clients dive into the digital events space.
Strategically Target New Suppliers
Ultimately your strategic partnerships with suppliers will help you win more new business during this difficult time. Consumers want to visit restaurants, attractions, hotels that have clear updated health policies and have communicated their COVID-19 plan of action. According to a recent TripAdvisor study, “Nearly nine in ten (86%) consumers say cleanliness will be very important when selecting an accommodation after COVID-19, with the provision of hand sanitizers and sealed amenities, the frequency with which rooms are disinfected, and the use of temperature checks for employees and guests all now cited as top considerations.” As a travel professional you will want to promote your suppliers that can allow for social distancing, that advertise and promote cleanliness, and that offer small group and private options. Take some time to comb through your database to understand which of your suppliers meet this criteria and do some outbound calls and emails to form additional partnerships in this bucket, these are the kind of suppliers that will be appealing to clients right now. To view some of NYC’s top restaurants, attractions, bars reopening plans & COVID-19 procedures, check out RebuildNY.org.
Analyze Your Past Performance
A great way to figure out the best source of new business is to take a look at how your business performed last year (notably, before the COVID-19 outbreak). Did you see success with a particular type of client? Did you try out a type of marketing effort that was largely successful? Look at what really worked for you and think about ways you can garner more business. If, for instance, you saw that leisure travelers from a certain area of the country made up a big portion of your business, you may want to consider reaching out to groups that represent more leisure travelers. By analyzing what really worked for you, you’ll do less work in trying to find new business, and you have great proof points for your outreach. In addition to this, I would recommend focusing on domestic efforts first, data suggests that domestic travel will be the first return. Focus on promoting areas with wide open spaces, early studies show that travelers are more open to go on a trip involving nature and beach destinations for their first trip.
Invest in a Tool to Help You
Using your time wisely is great advice during this tough time, especially if you are operating with reduced staff. The best way to do that is by putting some time into organizing your business. A great way to do that is with Reposite, an all-in-one workspace that was designed for and with the travel trade. Among its many features are a database of supplier and client information, management and tracking of payments, an easy-to-use search functionality, tracking and renewals of key documents and proposals, pipeline management, automated workflows and task management, dashboards and reporting, and bulk emailing and templates. Basically everything you need to run your business successfully. Even better, Reposite is free for the year for the first group to sign up. To find out more, visit www.reposite.io.
