Expert advice on how to find new romance clientsThe Human Touch
Kim Caudill, a Nexion agent and owner of K&S Travel in Fort Wayne, Ind., uses the personal touch when it comes to honeymoon marketing.
When Caudill first started selling romance travel, she broke the bank and paid $600 to participate in a bridal show, even though she couldn’t really afford it. Despite the fact that she hears some agents complain that they get no return on bridal shows—“all they do is take your brochures”—she believes they were an important source of business for her when she started. The reason? She engages brides in a very personal conversation that has little if anything to do with their honeymoon. That’s because brides are overwhelmed.
“It’s a big overload,” says Caudill. She says many brides are like deer caught in the headlights. Rather than add to the barrage of offers that are paralyzing them, she helps them understand their options. And brides appreciate that, calling her for business because she didn’t hound them and she gave them a friendly ear.
Her approach works so well that not only does she get ongoing repeat and referral business, but she also gets pictures of babies conceived on the honeymoons she booked. So she talks to brides in a way that lets them get to know her as a person. And they call her after the show, often saying that they called her because she didn’t try to get a deposit check or pepper them with follow-up phone calls
“When I worked that bridal show, I did not make one phone call,” she says. “I thought ‘they’re going to like me or not. They either need my help or they don’t.’”
She still works bridal shows, but not as many. Now, when a couple returns from their honeymoon, she sends them a welcome-home card and three of her business cards to hand out. And two or three times a week, she gets a referral from a client.
“Honestly, a referral is pretty much of a shoo-in,” she says. If she did an excellent job for the original client, she doesn’t have to sell the new client on her services. She can just get straight to work on their honeymoon.
And she continues the personal touch, keeping in contact with past clients, even getting photos of their children. “Sometimes I get responsibility for that,” she says, “if it’s a honeymoon baby.”