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Quick Tips Time is a bit tight this week after the ARDA convention, so I’m going to get right to the point and give you a couple of tips that you’ll want to explore. I’ve been suggesting that you dive further into the world of long term contact management and CRM (customer relationship management) to lower costs, create stronger referrals, and accelerate volume. You’ll want to look at some of the excellent trade magazines available to professionals in marketing and sales management. If you are in a position where you are doing any of the marketing, direct sales, design, call center management or information processing you can usually subscribe for free. You get them for free because their advertisers have some mid to high priced systems they want you to know about. The pick of the bunch comes from a publishing company called Peppers & Rogers. They publish a series of trades, most notably "1to1 magazine". You can find out more, and subscribe at their web site, www.1to1.com. This magazine has to be great. It’s the only oversized tabloid that sticks around my office. I hate things that don’t easily find a "spot". This one’s so good, I don’t care where it sticks out. "1 to1 magazine" deals with strategies, stories, case studies and products improving customer relationships and experiences. You’ll find a wealth of starting points and in-depth discussions about the philosophies and specific systems of marketing and customer contact in the 21st century. It’s got a ton of case studies and you can’t help but come away with some great ideas to penetrate your existing and new markets. In the latest April 2001 issue, there is an excellent article about one segment of the resort industry. In "A Customer for All Seasons", Peter T. Leach writes about the big three ski operators, Intrawest, Vail Associates and American Ski. They are all using, or planning to use, one on one marketing to track, target and expand their customer base, as well as the share of their customer’s leisure dollar. The article should be an eye opener for others in the industry. It’s a must read. If you think you’re not in competition with these ski operators, think again. All of them are moving toward creating revenue streams year-round. To do this, they are capitalizing on their database efforts, combined with new leisure attractions in non-ski locations, and in non-ski-season activities. Since Intrawest is the granddaddy of direct-to-customer resort property selling (that’s Non-premium based tour flow selling), watch out. They are experts at getting people to line up to buy whole ownership and fractional ski property. They’re a sleeping giant waiting to be awakened to more intelligently market other vacation ownership products. They, and the others, are able to market directly to your potential customers, capturing business before your prospects arrive in your area, or have a chance to take advantage of your mini-vacation programs. From the article, I don’t think that VA and American Ski are too far behind. There are other sources you should look to, if you don’t mind putting yourself in position to receive an endless stream of the latest "marketing technology" recommendations: "Communications Solutions" and "Customer Inter@ction Solutions" from TMC publishers are a bit more "technology" related, but do stay focused on using technology to market and sell. These trades are a must for anyone looking to install a new call center, or those moving into permission based email, or web based lead processing. You’ll find reviews of equipment, software and systems for getting close and staying close to your prospect universe. TMC wants you on their mailing list. They sponsor a variety of trade shows and conferences that happen throughout the year all over the country. These are big trade events that have everything from high-ticket seminars (ka-ching for TMC), to free trade hall exhibits. You will find the top companies in predictive dialing and CRM solutions at their shows. It’s worth the information barrage. Find them at www.tmcnet.com. Check it out. You’ll want to get on the subscription list for "Internet World" (www.iw.com), "Web Techniques" (www.webtechniques.com) and "Imaging & document solutions" (www.imagingmagazine.com). This little trio will keep you up to speed from strategies to specific execution in integrating the internet and web responses into your call center, CRM applications, and customer service operations. You owe it to yourself, your career and your company to get caught up and stay caught up on what’s happening on the "marketing technology" front. If you’re selling, you certainly don’t want to get caught with your pants down when your company decides that feeding tours to the line is only "part of the mix". If you’re marketing, you’ve been reading these (and others) for the past few years. If you haven’t, subscribe and get current. At least, these trade rags will fill you in on the jargon of all the new marketing systems and solutions coming down the line. Sooner or later, I’ll cover some of the specifics you’ll find in these publications, but why should you wait. You do want to understand what these professionals are talking about. Otherwise you might have to live this century by marketing and selling exactly like the land sales teams of the second half of the last century. Us dinosaurs who survive have to turn into birds (lighter weight, smaller, swifter, faster, more responsive, new skills, etc.). By the way, can you name one industry that does things the same as they did in the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s? The response to our new Online Tour Generation programs at ARDA was terrific. So good, it will probably impact my ability to deliver this column to you every week. Making this program work effectively for our clients is our number one goal, but I’ll do my best to get you a story or at least a tip or two. These programs can be set up with a minimum commitment, and are usually per tour arrangements. Feel free to call, or drop an email to msaxe@resortopportunities.com, if you have any questions about what we are doing, and how it works. p.s.: After three consecutive nominations for Top Line Salesperson, you would think that Marshall Upjohn should
have gotten the ARDY Gold, but alas, Avis again. I guess it’ll be same time next year, Ms. Lucchi. |
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More Saxe | Home Marc Saxe is the owner of Resort Opportunities, a sales and marketing services and consulting firm specializing in resort properties, vacation ownership, fractionals and club memberships. Marc has been in the industry since 1979 and has worked with Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, Intrawest and more. Recently Resort Opportunities has provided marketing and sales consulting or services for the start-ups of The Manhattan Club, The Hyatt Mountain Lodge in Beaver Creek (for Integrated Marketing), Intrawest Resort Ownership in Palm Desert, California, The Grand Timber Lodge in Breckenridge, Colorado, and Cimarron Resort in Palm Springs, California. Email: msaxe@resortopportunities.com |
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