Latest / Travel Agency in a Year / Day 267: Messaging a Winning Offer in Your Travel Niche
Transcript
- Rachel: Agency in a year podcast. I'm your host, Rachel K, a travel agency owner, helping you all step into your CEO life with a Y, by the way, in case you're wondering how that's spelled in your head. head over to elevatewithrachelk.com if you'd like to learn how I can help you. But if you just want my help for free, you can enjoy this podcast. Today is day 267. How to do like a winning, getting your messaging clear for your travel niche. That's what we're doing today. Ugh. There's so many things. Alright, you can have a really great offer. Don't get me wrong. So many travel advisors I work with have amazing offers. Still struggle to sell it. I'm also currently in this boat myself. Cause I'm like, I don't Like it's fine. It's a process. I'm only in this boat with the Elevate with Rachel K thing. It's fine. I love all of you that I work with. But anyhoodle, if the messaging around your genuinely great offer doesn't actually communicate clearly what it is and why it matters, it's not going to sell. Mm-hmm. So we're gonna talk about what winning messaging looks like. Alright, if you don't know, by the way, if you're like, I suck at sales and marketing, I suck at marketing so badly, it is all psychology. It can be super dark manipulation, it can just be psychology. Sales is psychology, marketing is psychology. If you ride the struggle bus with marketing. Highly consider looking into let's see, Robert Cialdini does pre-suasion suasion would help ugh why can't I talk? I'm looking at the books on my bookshelves. 10X, even though it has to do with real estate investing. by Grant Cardone was a good read. And Expert Secrets, Russell Brunson is phenomenal. I'm trying to think. Anyway. the Forty Eight Laws of Power. That's like a reference book. That basically teaches you how to be a psychopath. And like get anything you want from anyone. I've never read it all the way through. I have it as mere reference because I don't know how to do that. So I'm like, hmm. So there is a well it's a concept in psychology. It's called processing fluency, which is research on how people respond to information. And it has repeatedly found that people trust and prefer information that's easier to mentally process almost regardless of the content itself. A clever, clever, clever sounding tagline that requires a second read to understand will consistently under underperform a plain, immediately clear sentence because the friction of decoding a clever phrase actually reduces trust in the message, even if the person doesn't consciously notice. Why? This is why if you do study marketing and you do study other like big entrepreneurs, which I highly recommend you do, they talk to you like you're eight years old. It's like a general thing. And this is something I learned I think back in elementary school and then again in middle school at a completely different school, and then again in college, and then it's repeated constantly in any content that I personally consume, and it is you have to speak to people like they're eight, because most people, especially in the United States, have a literacy level of about fourth grade, which is eight, third or fourth grade reading level. Not just reading comprehension, but actual critical thinking skills. So they might be able to read a big word and know what the definition of it is. That's not what we're talking about. It's the total comprehension of the message, which is why you need to be clear and concise and speak to everyone as though they're eight. I don't do that. I confuse everyone. It's fine. Anyway, for your offer. This means say plainly who it's for, what it does, before you try to be interesting. Full service honeymoon planning for couples who want every detail handled. Beats a clever, vague phrase every single time because a potential client can understand it in under two seconds. full service honeymoon planning, couples who want every detail handled. That's easy to understand. It's a little bit long. But if you were like the honeymoon concierge. That might be a little, I can't think of a clever vague phrase, I'm sorry. But that might be a little more commute confusing. Like you it's for honeymoons, but what exactly do you do? So there is the customer as a hero framework, the client as the hero framework. A widely used messaging approach in modern marketing, popularized under this customer as a hero framework, makes a simple but important point. Your offers messaging should position the client as the hero and the winner of the story, with you as like the Yoda. Or what is that? Gandalf the Grey. Gandalf the White? Which one are you? Like you are the guide that's helping them to succeed. Not the other way around. Messaging that centers your own credentials, your awards, without clearly connecting them to what the client actually gets tends to underperform messaging that stays focused on the client's specific problem and the transformation they're looking for. You have to make your client the hero of the story. And this is what I have seen. This was years ago and I still see it to this day. In the travel industry, in no shade, like good for you for trying this out. I'm not sure a lot of these agents who did this as their marketing messaging are still in the industry. But I've seen many agents over the years say, I had a destination wedding and I can help you. That's not making you the hero of the story. That's just saying I had a destination wedding. It doesn't connect you to any particular couple's dream destination wedding. You're just saying, Well, I did it, I can help you do it, right? Constantly, and I've seen this on website copy. with travel advisors in recent probably in the last year or so where they're like I'm certified in this I'm a specialist in this and me me me me That's not making your clients the hero of the story it's not centering your clients in the story of their life you are a service-based business owner it is not about you making money it is about you serving You are Gandolf the Grey. You are Yoda. You are Obi Wan. You are I don't remember anyone from Harry Potter. What's her name? What is her name? And you are the fairy godmother. That was who I tapped into when I was like, who am I gonna be to serve my destination wedding couples? When I had my ICA, I was like, how do I fit into the story? I wasn't Cinderella. My wedding couples were Cinderella. I became the fairy godmother. So who are you? Okay. Anyway. So instead of leading with, I've been an advisor for ten years and I specialize in luxury honeymoons and I'm certified with sandals and I'm free to work with Sorry. Sorry if you're listening and that's what you do, and then you're like, how come I'm not getting any business? Try leading with planning your honeymoon shouldn't feel like a second job. You're already planning a wedding and you're living your life. Here's how I take it off your plate entirely. The same underlying expertise, but the second version puts the client's actual experience at the center. Instead of you being like, look at me. So useful structure for your offer messaging. There's the three C's. There's the challenge. the client and the covenant. Think of that. There's the challenge that your hero, the story, your client, is facing. What type of person is your client, aka the hero of the story, and what's the covenant you're willing to make by serving them? So, you need to have your ideal client avatar. You have to be able to name the specific person that this offer is for, name the specific challenge, problem, or desire that they have, and have the specific covenant transformation outcome that your offer is going to provide. For families overwhelmed by planning a multi-generational trip, who want everyone's needs met, without the stress of coordinating it all themselves, my full service planning handles every Single detail so you can just show up and be present instead of fighting with your in-laws. That's specific, clear, and centers the client throughout the process. That's not, you want a multi-generational trip? Well, there's this resort. I did their training and I'm certified with the tourism board for this country. Like, that's not nobody cares. Nobody cares. All right. Sorry, I care. Let's celebrate your wins for all the trainings you've done. Don't get me wrong on that. It does require trainings with tourism boards and brands to actually understand what you are offering. And again, your clients will not care. They're either gonna trust you or they're not. So take your current offer description that you have for the upcoming wave season or the upcoming quarter. Read it as though you are a stranger danger, encountering it for the first time. Can you tell within the first sentence exactly who it's for and what it does? If it takes several sentences to get there, or if it leads with your own credentials before you even address their challenge, their need. Remember, client or sorry, challenge client covenant. That's a strong sign it needs the reframe that you just covered in this episode. So listen to this episode again. And notice, once you understand who the hero is in the story, which is your ICA, not you. Who you are helping them. Are you a fairy godmother? Are you a wizard, Harry? Are you a queen of the I forgot. Queen of the Dragons. Princess Denarius of Estros. Are you Sansa Stark? How do you help them become the hero? And then that is your covenant. Like literally every great story is like this. And this is part of the like storytelling in your marketing as well. But don't be like, don't go full-on nerding out and be like, I'm a wizard. That's gonna make you You can just think it makes your messaging so much easier to create when you know who you're serving, what you're offering, and the covenant you're willing to make with them. All right, quick recap. Clear, plain language over clever phrasing works every time. Clarity builds trust faster than cleverness does. Center your client as the hero of all of the messaging that you have, and heroes aren't just saving the day, right? Heroes go through a transformative process with the help of a sage guide in most stories. You are that sage. And use the who it's for, what they're struggling with, what they get formula to test and tighten your current offer description and all of the messaging in your content. Alright, tomorrow we're gonna go into productivity. Shift in gears. Completely different series. This was a really short series. this was just one part. I tend to cluster topics and episodes, but didn't do that today. Alright, tomorrow we're gonna talk about productivity. Ball ring. Have a great day. I mean, come back and subscribe. Alright, bye.