Comment by Adrian Caruso

Being successful in business is tough....always. However, when the economy slumps and stays down for a period of time, many business owners’ thoughts turn from being successful to merely surviving. The successful
owners do more than just think about it...they act!

Many travel and tourism industry business leaders are predicting 'doom and gloom' for the industry in coming months. However I am predicting the opposite with many travel businesses recording record sales in July and excellent forward bookings and profit forecasts for the next 12 months. Factors contributing to this include unemployment is still at a record low, there is a continuing booming resources sector, more and more low-cost airlines are entering the market and Aussie's are still wanting to take a holiday more than ever....probably to 'de-stress'.

When you analyse the success of these businesses, it seems due to nothing particularly outstanding. In fact, the only outstanding aspect of their operations is the sheer number of small things that they do well.

If you feel you are not expecting a great 12 months:

1. Look in the Mirror - you’re running this show, so are you:

• Giving a strong lead to your team, morally, ethically, commercially?
• Demonstrating the type of behaviour and attitude you want to see in them?
• Physically fit and able to support the mental toughness you’ll need?
• Positive in your outlook?
• Positive in your look out for opportunities?
• Avoiding collections of “the depressed” (e.g. low-end networking groups)?
• Seeking the company of positive people you can lift and be lifted by?
• On a strong mental diet of positive business reading?
• Talking to experts who can push the limits of your thinking?
• Investing time thinking deeply about alternatives, options and opportunities?

Become the change you want to see in your business.

2. Top-grade Your Hands - you’re only as good as your weakest link, so are you:

• Right-sizing your team for the current or emerging environment?
• Setting challenging team & individual goals then measuring performance and providing feedback?
• Culling your low performers?
• Promoting and developing your top performers?
• Seeking the best of those who may now have been released into the market?
• Investing in training to raise morale, increase productivity, and attract better people?
• Raising and maintaining morale and a strong esprit de corps?
• Investing in guidance for yourself from business experts?

3. Lighten the Load of Badly-structured Debt - Debt can be a great lubricant for business, but it comes at a price and when business slows it’s time to lighten the load of non-essential debt. You can say, “How can I do that when sales are down?” but I’ll simply respond, “There are ways, and if you don’t apply those now, tomorrow someone else may be making those decisions without you!”. Are you:

• Shedding your lowest performing team members? (You’ll be surprised at how much better the remaining good ones can operate without them.)
• Selling off any asset that is not paying its way? (That may include some of the trophies the business has bought you: car, boat, plane, weekender, office trappings.)
• Analysing equipment for cost effectiveness? (It may be time to upgrade old equipment whose running costs are greater than the combined finance and running costs of newer models.)
• Comparing the cost of credit cards, overdraft and other high-cost finance facilities against a debt-consolidation facility such as a long-term loan, or better, a call on shareholder’s funds at favourable rates?
• Moving your team towards performance-based rewards? (The extra productivity can wipe out debt surprisingly quickly.)
• Setting your team a goal to find savings that can be applied against debt? (Lee Iacocca’s team found $1bn pa in cost savings 4 years in a row at Chrysler.)

You sell yourself into debt, but think your way out of it!

4. Upgrade Your Systems - “Systems” are ways of repeatedly producing desirable outcomes for the lowest possible investment of time, people and resources. So are you:

• Starting with the 80/20 Rule? 80% of your profits come from 20% of the things you do – are you working out what you no longer need to do (or, at least, in the current climate)?
• Reviewing, upgrading and understanding your financial systems better so that you can sail closer to the wind in tough times, with greater safety?
• Reviewing your production systems; looking to tweak them for output, cost, quality, efficiency?
• Looking for ways of making existing systems last longer through better maintenance, upgrading, modification?
• Streamlining administration with a view to doing less with less? Leave out any step in the process that does not add value.
• Assessing your marketing systems? (More in the next item.)
• Upgrading your customer relationship development systems? (In tight times, you’re probably five times more likely to gain a sale from an existing customer than from a new prospect.)

Without systems, you pay people to re-invent the wheel every day!

5. Market Smarter - Accept the maxim that “half of our marketing is wasted”, set out to identify the half that is, then stop doing it - and put half of the saved resources into what works! That will give you a 25% reduction in costs for a 100% increase in results. So are you:

• Brainstorming with your team to enable the above marketing strategy?
• Brainstorming with Customers to find out what else they want?
• Brainstorming with Suppliers to find out what they can provide to boost your efforts?
• Entering trade/industry/business awards both as a morale builder and focus device around which to build service levels and other performance? (And, ‘yes’, you gain exposure as well.)
• Using your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems to communicate meaningfully (to them) with all of your Customers?
• Fixing your CRM? If it’s a shambles because you’ve never had the time or resources to fix it, isn’t this your chance to create an asset with huge current relevance and future potential?
• Exploring high-impact, low-cost guerrilla marketing options?
• Clarifying and measuring the results you expect from every marketing exercise?
• Value-adding to your products when everyone else is cutting their offerings?
• Seeking referrals to new prospective Customers from old, at every opportunity?
• Cross-marketing with Suppliers, Customers – even suitable competitors?
• Watching for competitors who fold and leave a gap that you could fill? Clients whom you could adopt?
• Meeting the market with products and services that are relevant in tightened circumstances?
• Investing in guidance to upgrade your own command of marketing to bring it in-house?

Marketing is the promise you make to your marketplace.
Your product is the keeping of that promise.

Let us do it for you.

TA Fastrack) is pleased to announce the opening of a new division within the group. Announcing 'fastrack marketing' - your complete travel agency + tourism marketing solutions provider. With over 56 years of combined travel agency and tourism industry knowledge, the team at fastrack marketing knows how to make your marketing get results.....fast.

FREE Marketing and Website Audit (including a SEO Ranking Report)!

Our industry is so different to any other: so are the marketing strategies required to be successful in it. At fastrack marketing our in-depth knowledge of the industry guarantees your marketing will instantly fastrack your profits and bring your customers back again and again.

From simple ideas that won't cost much to implement, to complete local marketing campaigns, our team use proven 'best practice strategies' that the most successful travel agents and tourism businesses in the world use. They work, are right for your business, your target audience and most importantly your budget. It is exactly what you NEED without all the fluff you normally receive from non-travel and tourism specialised marketing firms.

fastrack marketing can provide you with:

• Complete local marketing campaigns
• We-do-it-for you newsletters and eNewsletters
• Flyers, brochures, posters
• Printing, graphic design and copy writing that works
• Direct mail campaigns
• Referral programs
• Websites, SEO and complete online marketing campaings

To discuss your marketing needs, call our FREE marketing help line 07 3630 1298

Click HERE for a FREE Marketing and Website Audit - including a FREE Search Engine Ranking Report/

Some of our recent client's who have used 'fastrack marketing' include:

Job advertising on e-Travel Blackboard begins at $110 plus GST and all job ads are now listed for a total of 30 days. Advertise with us to reach a scope of over 26 000 Travel, Tourism and Hospitality employees each day. We also offer discounts for pre-paying multiple inserts: Book 3-5 inserts to receive 5% discount, 6-9 inserts to receive 10% discount or prepay 10 or more inserts to receive 20% off brochure rates. Inserts must be used within 12 months.

Single Job Position - Text Only Ad. The rate is AUD $110 plus GST per insert for a single job ad. This includes up to 100 words of text, contact details.

Single Job Position - Text with logo ad. The rate is AUD $140 plus GST per insert for a single job ad, text and logo. This includes your company logo, text up to 300 words, full HTML colour artwork and any hyperlinks/ email addresses/ application details and is approximately A4 size.

All job advertisements are listed within the employment category on the homepage and newsletter for one day, it then moves to our employment sub page for a further 29 days. To proceed, simply forward your job advertisement and contact details to anthony@etravelblackboard.com

TA Fastrack is Australasia's leading travel and tourism business coaching, management consulting, marketing, training and web marketing solutions provider. Under the guidance of the industry's most experienced people based in Australia, New Zealand and now in Singapore, TA Fastrack has pioneered many of today's 'best practices' for travel agents, tourism businesses and tourist government boards world-wide.