- Providing outstanding customer service, both on trips and at the home
office.
- Actively educating guests/clients about other opportunities the
company offers.
- Inviting guests to return and to make referrals.
- Participating in trade shows.
- Negotiating phone sales, particularly during off-season.
- And maintaining high standards for training staff and enrolling
students.
Customer service
Many people regard
marketing as "taking what you have and shoving it down buyers' throats." We
might take that to mean placing more ads, attending more trade shows,
increasing the number of presentations made, and so on. Yet according to Harry
Beckwith, author of Selling The Invisible (1997, Warner Books), "that focus on
getting the word outside distracts companies from the inside, and from the
first rule of service marketing: The core of service marketing is the service
itself."
Most of us in the outdoor education and adventure travel industry are
in the service industry. We deliver an intangible service: an experience, a
memory, a feeling. It's not like buying a car, where a customer can kick the
tires or breathe in that unmistakable new-car smell. What our clients take away
from their time with us are memories and new skills and, perhaps, broadened
self-knowledge. These feelings, both positive and negative, are a direct
reflection of their experience with your company and staff.
If a client has had a good experience of your product or service,
they will be more inclined to send you repeat business. George Wendt, president
of OARS, a California-based outdoor adventure company specializing in river
adventures, encourages great customer service and enduring client memories by
providing incentives for the staff to encourage repeat business. "Each guide
will be remembered and rewarded for exceptional service that resulted in a
return guest or referral for us," says Wendt. "Our guides know that if they
deliver excellent service to OARS guests, they will be remembered by the
clients, and if on any return trip, a client mentions their last guide's name,
that guide will earn a bonus per booking."
Jacki Klancher, recruitment coordinator at The National Outdoor
Leadership School (NOLS) in Lander, Wyoming, describes her school's philosophy
on providing customer service, delivering course quality, and attracting return
students: "My feeling is that the way instructors promote courses IN THE FIELD
is by offering the best program we can. No sales pitch brings people back to
the school more readily than a fantastic course."
Promoting additional programs and getting referrals Many of you
reading this article have a variety of different programs or courses which you
offer. If your field staff are trained to promote other opportunities offered
by your company, and invite current guests and/or clients to return, the guests
will be more inclined to do just that. NOLS, for instance, attracts students
back to the school through a series of instructor training courses. "There is
no question that a student who expresses an interest in taking a second course
with the school, can receive extensive guidance while in the field," says
Klancher. "For example, a student who seems particularly fond of rock climbing,
and does well during a one-month wilderness backpacking course, might be
encouraged to take a three-week backcountry rock course."
Consider sales as nothing more than "a transfer of enthusiasm." Let
your clients know that your business, like most, relies on happy customers and
referrals. Having your field staff and guides regularly communicate this to
your guests will increase sales.
Training staff
For most field
staff and managers, getting them to encourage and invite repeat business and
referrals takes training. Role play with your staff. Be sure that they
understand that the quality they provide when guiding trips plays an important
role in influencing your guests. Everyone, especially the field staff, needs to
be clear that without customers, there are no jobs. Your managers need to hire
and train staff to yield the results you are looking for. While you're at it,
don't forget to train anyone who comes in contact with a prospective guest.
It's amazing how many companies project a poor image when an unexcited or
unknowledgable staff member or volunteer interacts with the public.
"Facilitation of a quality experience demands that we adhere to
strict enrollment standards for our Instructor's Course, and that we continue
to abide by those standards when hiring field instructors," says Klancher. NOLS
instructors are required to evaluate each other, and they are in turn evaluated
by their students. "In seeking quality in our programs, our platform is that
honest feedback from fellow instructors and the student body, as well as course
de-briefers, help instructors and the institution to continue to grow and
develop."
Nancy Terry, director of Research and Development for Project
Adventure, also understands the importance of staff training and its influence
on sales: "As we've become larger, we have instituted more systematized
training. We are now in the process of developing customer response training
which is designed to help all staff better understand all of our products and
to learn which questions lead to the customer getting the best possible
service." Project Adventure's mission is "to be the leading organization in
helping others use adventure education as a catalyst for personal and
professional change and growth." "Having an educated staff that is able to help
others become educated consumers is of great importance to us," adds
Terry.
Trade Shows
There are many
other areas where you can effectively use field staff in the marketing and
sales process. Trade shows and public presentations are great opportunities for
knowledgeable field staff to enthusiastically communicate face to face with
prospective clients.
"We have real answers to customers' questions based on our own
experiences. I personally have a 'sweat' investment in the product," says Mary
Bevington, an outreach coordinator who doubles as a field instructor with the
Colorado Outward Bound School (COBS) in Denver. Mary feels it both wise and
appropriate to have field staff working the COBS exhibit booth at consumer
shows. "We intimately understand what COBS has to offer. We have lived Outward
Bound experiences for weeks on end in a variety of environments, and have real
answers to consumers' questions based on our own experiences," says
Bevington.
However, as Jacki Klancher reminds us, "Not all field staff excel in
the realm of trade and travel shows." Not everyone is comfortable in that
environment nor have they had the proper training. Managers and owners need to
be sure that they are matching, training, and assisting staff to maximize the
potential of trade shows.
Phone Sales
Phone sales
present another opportunity to engage your staff effectively. Field staff know
your product better then anyone, but not all staff are suited for phone sales.
The approach that NOLS uses is a good one. In addition to using almost all
field instructors on the phones, each new admissions officer undergoes
extensive training in course offerings, logistics, telephone presentations,
student screening, and the managing of difficult conversations.
Finding qualified people for phone work, sales, and admission
positions can be challenging. COBS feels that field staff or former students
can be important resources and would like to employ more of these people in
those positions, but few seem to apply for those jobs. They are usually on
courses, traveling, or have off-season jobs. Nonetheless, don't cut corners
here on training, commitment, or compensation. The voice a prospective client
hears fully represents your company and can make the difference between signing
up a new client or mailing another piece of expensive literature.
In summary, your staff, regardless of whether they work in the field,
are one of your most important assets. Make the investment of time to select
the best candidates for the job, provide ongoing training and reviews, and
create incentive programs to compensate your staff for their guide work, as
well as for their ability to encourage returning clients and obtain new
referrals. Outstanding customer service, combined with unique programs and
trips, and enthusiastic, motivated staff, will assure you continued and
increasing business success.
Tim Warren and Adventure Business Consultants, has helped dozen's of
adventure travel business just like you with customer service training and
staff motivation.
