Episode 2 – Smart tech at ATE, CRMs & Trade page

Untangling Tourism Tech Episode 2, with Fabienne Wintle and Liz Ward. Times match the video. We removed filler words and fixed mis-heard names.

[00:00] Welcome to episode two of Untangling Tourism Tech. Where are we, Fab? Tell them where we are. We are at ATE, Australian Tourism Exchange. What is ATE, Liz? ATE is Australia’s biggest tourism trade show where hundreds of buyers like wholesalers and specialist retailers, online travel agencies from all around the world, all of Australia’s tourism markets come in and meet with hundreds, like 800 plus tourism operators who’ve got a stand here that’s really nicely branded, and they’re in their state collections and regional collections. So lots of tour operators like amazing bespoke cycle tours and incredible tailored Northern Territory adventure tours and resorts and dive boat operators from Queensland and wineries, you name it, they’re all here. And they do really short, sharp meetings with these trade buyers, because what they’re looking for is beautiful products and experience so that they can sell them in their market.

[01:07] So sometimes these businesses, these tourism operators, are already distributing to international and it could be an update meeting they’re having, or they’re here for the first time and this is really their really exciting milestone of being able to aim to enter the international market through trade distributors, so not just selling directly to consumers. So, and it’s a really fun, high-energy environment from about 8.30 in the morning till 5.45 at night, 15-minute meetings with a three-minute break to run to your next appointment. So, and then it starts all again with a bit of alcohol at five o’clock at night, and people just, you know, relax, mingle and do all the ever so important networking events as well. So operators love coming.

[01:55] They do, they do. It’s about four days and it’s, you know, it’s an investment. You know, they pay to be here, the sellers do, the operators, and like us, to be here, we’re in what you call the Solutions Hub. So we’re accompanied by reservation systems and smart technology providers like chat, the online chat providers, those sorts of things. And we pay to be here and you’ve got a big investment in time.

[02:25] So one of the things that’s really important as we’ve been meeting with people is understanding what they do in terms of follow-up after these really valuable meetings, because you can see a lot of them are still taking manual notes. A few… I’ve seen quite a bit of change actually. There’s quite a few of them that have moved on to CRM, so they can automatically take notes and follow up with a pre-written templated email with links to web page. But if you don’t have that system in place, it’ll really take you a lot of time to do that ATE follow-up. Like, talk to any old school operator after ATE: they’re exhausted, but then they’ve got another one week of ever so important follow-up to do. So how can we use tech to help operators improve that? CRM, we’ve seen.

[03:12] Yeah, so that database, that customer relationship management system. If you’re thinking, you know, when you get enquiries from potential collaborators or, you know, different kind of niche collection travel agencies that are wanting to distribute your product… [Venue announcement: “…will commence in five minutes. All sellers, please move to your booths. All buyers, please be prepared to move to your first appointment.”] We’re not lying, we are at ATE. There you go. So you get those announcements all the time to keep you moving. So if you’re getting enquiries from potential travel agents who could sell you, it’s really important, this is your sort of first stage of having a balanced distribution strategy, is to do that. So really, so having a CRM and having the tools ready to go to be able to respond.

[04:08] So having a trade page, you were saying, that’s another really important thing. We’ve been working with operators that know that this follow-up is going to be so important, but they feel like, you know, every 15 minutes they’re repeating the same thing, and in their follow-up they would have to send a description, photos, etc. So they’re like, “Fab, Liz, what do we do?” I’m like, “We create a trade page.” So you create a page on your website that’s hidden, so not indexed in search engine, but it’s got all the information that is trade facing. So you’ve got the right logos for them to download, the right images in the right size, so you don’t have to rely on them putting a massive image in the newsletter that takes a long time to download. What did I say? Logo, brochure. Really, really good one in your trade page as well is to do a brochure.

[04:51] So it’s very simple to do a trade page, but you’ve got to get that ready before ATE, and then you use your CRM to automate the follow-up to that trade page. Or what I’ve seen as well, a few clever operators that actually have a QR code right there on their stand where it takes people straight to the trade page. So yeah, be a bit clever with technology just to save yourself double data entry, I guess.

[05:16] Yeah, yeah, that’s good. And it’s about efficiency too, and really efficient, quick follow-up when that interest is there. The worst thing you should do is make an investment like coming to ATE and then be slow with your follow-ups. There’s a perfect timing. It’s not on the day that you’ve met them, it’s like on the Monday or Tuesday next week, when people are starting to… they’ve finished their post-ATE tours that they’re doing, they’re heading home, they’re at the airport, they’re catching up on their emails. So there’s sort of a sweet point. And if you didn’t have a CRM to be able to generate those segmented emails about what people were interested in that you’re following up on, so “you were really interested in our brand new sustainability tour”, for example, that’s segmented, then you’re sending them that precise information ready to go.

[06:11] Absolutely. And the other thing, the other good tip I’ve seen people do, and we’ve certainly been doing that, is taking a photo of you and the person at your booth, so that you can use that photo to email them back and say, “Remember, that was us,” you know, with a nice background or the beach or whatever you get. So it immediately goes, “Oh yeah, you know, this one’s gone above and beyond. They’ve got a photo. That’s the one I’m going to call back.” And then you can also create automation. So instead of just sending your one-to-one email, with your CRM you can actually call it… dump it in an ATE automation, and that automatically tasks you to follow up again if they haven’t responded to you at a certain time. So use high tech to be high touch. This is what we’re all about.

[06:55] Hopefully that’s a few good tips to get you started. And if you haven’t been to ATE before, contact your tourism organisation. There might be ways for you to go on their stall, for example, for a day, just dip your toes for next year. That’s a great idea. All right, see you everybody. Catch you soon. Bye bye.