TravelMole Guest Comment: To rack or not to rack?
Having been trading successfully for 16 years in 2005, we thought it was about time Haslemere Travel had a change; we wanted to shake things up a bit. After all, don’t they say a change is as good as a holiday?
A dynamic re-brand of the business was embarked upon, resulting in a host of suggestions for improvements – ranging from relocating from retail to office premises to weird and wonderful potential new brand names, including Mangel-wurzel. Well, if a successful travel business could be
named Black Tomato, then why couldn’t we be named after a small beetroot-like root vegetable?! Not my idea, I hasten to add.
One rather interesting suggestion was to remove the brochure racks from the shop. Rows and rows of colourful glossy brochures have been the backbone of the retail travel industry since the dawn of time. We all know that clients love to dash in, scoop up armfuls of brochures and flee, never to be seen again, so we wondered how this would change the dynamic of our business and, first and foremost, if it would work. Well, seven successful years later, the answer is a resounding ‘yes’ –
it did work! Did it change the way we operate? Absolutely – but for the better.
As a specialist AITO Agent, our aim is to provide impartial advice to each and every client and to find the holiday that suits their tastes perfectly. Not having a brochure to hide behind means that great
emphasis is placed on our experienced travel advisers consulting with the client and using their in-depth knowledge and personal experience. To say that we are a ‘travel consultancy’ is not just paying lip service – it’s actually how we operate.
We still have a brochure room and, of course, should clients wish to take brochures home, we will happily provide them. However, the result of removing the racks was that we were left with a beautiful, clutter-free office to adorn with treasures from our travels. We now have a delightful lounge area where clients can enjoy freshly-ground coffee and peruse the stylish books brought back from our travels, or watch a DVD of their hotel or destination of choice. We want our office
to be a place that clients want to spend time in, to regale us with their travel tales and to grow ever more enthusiastic about their next adventure.
Some say the high street is in decline and that the retail agent is becoming redundant. I invite them to visit our shop any day of the week and they’ll find it buzzing!
Gemma Antrobus, managing director of AITO agent, Haslemere Travel
Diane
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