Vacation days aren’t always easy to come by, so most people want to make sure their time away from work is well-spent. As a travel agent or agency, you help your busy clients plan something personal that they may have dreamed about for months or even years. They want their vacation days in the hands of an experienced and talented agent – one with the ability to get the best rates, deals on activities and trip insurance.
With the existence of free vacation-planning websites, like Kayak and Travelocity, as well as large corporations with their own planning services, like Disney, you need to prove that your services add value. As an agent, you provide a personal touch to the vacation that these companies don’t. Many people use a travel agency based on feedback from others, which is why reviews are the most convenient way for these people to verify that you are a stellar agent.
Here are our top three suggestions on how to get more clients reviewing your service:
- Ask for a review just after they’ve booked their trip.
When all your work and planning is done, all your clients have to do is anxiously await their vacation. Your expert customer service and planning is still fresh in their minds, and they’re able to give a fair and unbiased review.
- Ask once they’ve returned from their trip.
Your clients enjoyed a wonderful, memorable vacation. While they’re still glowing with that post-vacay bliss is a great time to remind them who helped make it all possible. Check in and ask how they enjoyed their vacation, reminding them to review your service.
- Offer referrals and discounts.
Offer discounts for clients who refer their friends to your services. Tons of businesses do this, and it’s a great way to organically grow your customer base. You can also create a hashtag and encourage clients to share photos from their trip with you on social media, tagging your company or using the hashtag to raise more awareness.
Getting potential clients to trust you with a service like vacation planning is a tricky business – you’re dealing with the consumer’s special limited resource (vacation days), and you face competition from free websites and other corporate vacation planning services. Having plenty of positive reviews is critical in persuading a prospect that your service is necessary and superior.
Using a site like ReviewMaxer ensures you get more great reviews by making it easier for your satisfied customers to let others know what a great job you did. Schedule a 10-15 minute demo and see how ReviewMaxer can help your travel agency grow online.
Photo credit: Pablo
Written by: Macey Wilson
