According to Gogo Worldwide Vacations president Michele Kish, 2011 is shaping up to be a banner year.
“We are working hard to promote the best product and pricing to our travel agents and giving them the tools that are necessary to close the sale,” said Kish. “We offer comprehensive marketing plans and product training for agents, and we have a 24/7 Sales and Support Team, so we’re always available, and direct connectivity to many of our hotel partners to ensure we have the most-up-to-date pricing and availability.”
In the coming year, the wholesaler is working on new ways to reach out to its customers.
“We are focusing on enhancing our current offerings in sales, customer service and technology,” said Kish. “We
restructured our sales team so we can ‘touch’ our customers more and continue to build strong relationships and help agents grow their businesses and receive the support they need. We will continue our heavy focus on education.”
According to Kish, agents will see these progressions as ways to differentiate themselves from the online travel retailer, and they will continue to support agents and their businesses in the future.
“We only work with travel agents,” said Kish. “That is our business model, and we will not be changing it.”
To encourage bookings, Gogo will continue to offer incentives for agents.
“We offer competitive commissions, top-notch sales and customer service support and an unrivaled product range,” said Kish. “We have our ‘Price Beat Promise’ so agents know they will always get the best price from Gogo. We even price beat online retailers and pay commission so our agents don’t lose their consumers to the Internet.”
Gogo’s Price Beat Promise means that the wholesaler will not only ensure that your clients are getting a price match, but also that Gogo’s price will beat any verified quote by $10 per paying adult and $5 per paying child. The company will price beat on any verified package prior to full payment; all agents need to provide are the details of the quote and the competitor’s name. In addition, Gogo consultant’s are empowered to beat the price on the spot, so agents do not have to wait for authorization.
One of the most exciting new elements to Gogo’s business is its new GoBook.
“We will be launching the GoBook — an interactive trip journal for agents to share with their customers and make suggestions for add-ons. Once the trip is completed, the agents can opt to print a keepsake journal for their customers to take with them on vacations, complete with maps, restaurant recommendations and more,” said Kish.
To launch GoBook, Gogo partnered with iZento, a state-of-the-art trip-planning and itinerary service, and will leverage their itinerary-building technology to automatically create and update trip elements booked by the travel agent.
GoBook journals can be shared directly with clients and itineraries can be customized with an agencies logo, branding, a client message, Gogo tour information and dining recommendations. The result is a unique trip journal that includes traveler details, a trip calendar, airline, car, hotel, and transfer reservations, detailed destination guides and city maps. Agents can share the journal via e-mail, post on Facebook and download and print journals directly from the Gogo website. Access to these professional GoBook trip journals will be available later in 2010 to all agents who book through Gogo’s website and call centers.
“Gogo is committed to helping travel professionals be more successful and profitable,” said Kish. “Not only does the agent recommendations feature provide a more personalized travel document, but it also represents the perfect platform to market add-on sales to clients. It’s another way we are showing our support for agents — enabling them to enhance the client’s travel experience while boosting the agent’s income with incremental sales.”
Gogo
201-934-3759
www.gogowwv.com
