When I speak with businesses about training their staff, many struggle with the transient nature of staff in the tourism industry, especially in towns like Queenstown, Te Anau and other places where there's a large number of tourism businesses.

Recruiting quality staff is a challenge, and investing in training them can cost a lot. But what is the cost if you don't train them?
It doesn't have to be difficult, though. By having good systems in place where you can train them yourself, your business will provide the quality customer experience that you expect.

But what about your own training and development? How much time do you spend planning the next few years of your business growth, your product development, marketing trends, distribution etc?
I see time and time again that business owners or managers who invest in their own development achieve far greater results than others.

Currently, tourism growth is softening. There are many factors that can be attributed to this, from worldwide political situations to economic slowdown. So the more reason to work ON your business and plan for the next few years.

If you're interested in growing your business, then check out the new courses below. Over the last 22 years, I have worked with hundreds of tourism businesses and am most happy to have a chat to you if you have any questions about the new Tourism Success Programmes.
Registrations are now open (for April/May start)  - click on the link below, or go to www.smartraining.co.nz.

With the huge amount of options people have when buying your type of product or service, it’s so important to make it really clear why they should buy from you, what value do you bring them and what is the experience going to be like?

Every now and then, ask yourself the questions below. It’s also good to involve your team in this exercise to ensure everyone is on the same page.
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Here are 5 questions that will help you clarify why people should book you or buy from you:

1. What do you do? Clearly describe the product/services you offer and the experience your customers will have. When doing this, always think from your customer's perspective - people that may know little about the area or type of product you offer.
2. Who are your customers? The more specific you can identify and describe the needs of your customers, the more likely you are to be able to tailor your product to them. Revise this periodically as your types of customers can be changing and you want to ensure you are still providing them with a product/service that appeals to them.
3. How will you meet the needs of your customers? How can you tailor your product as much as possible to your specific customer groups? Don’t try to be everything to everyone and try to appeal to specific niche markets. These customer groups will then better relate to what you offer and are more likely to book you or buy from you.
4. How are you different from your competition? They say that 50% of sales come from your USP’s (Unique Selling Points). People come to you because you offer something that is better, more unique, cheaper, higher end, award-winning, highly reviewed, personalised, or whatever else makes you stand out from your competition and that appeals to your target markets.
5. How easy is it for people to buy from you? In other words, how 'visible' are you to your target customers? Be as effective as you can in reaching your customers in ways that appeal to them and make it easy for them to book you. In travel, it could be through inbound operators/wholesalers, OTA’s, booking agents, through your website, email marketing, social media etc. Ask your customers what methods they prefer to use and adjust your marketing strategy to make it easier for people to book you.

Ask yourself these questions at least twice a year and you'll come up with ways to improve your marketing.

Till next time, Marijke
Coming soon: the new Agri-tourism Success Programme and the new Tourism Business Success Programme.  Click here for more info!