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The Group Travel Leader Small Market Meetings Going on Faith

Marketing your loyalty program: Lesson learned

Approach every trip as if it was your first Marra and James admitted that the experiences they wish they would have handled differently were due partly to their lack of experience during their first years on the job. However, Sandy Green, director of the Pineapple Gold Club with Franklin Synergy Bank in Franklin, Tennessee, said that her having many miles on the road behind her can sometimes be the problem. “There are so many things to remind people before a trip,” Green said. “And sometimes, especially when I’ve been to a destination before, I presume too much about my travelers.” Green gave the example of a recent Alaska tour, a place she has visited three times. “You’d think that people would automatically know to bring a rain jacket — it seems like common sense to me,” she said. “But, I have to remind myself that I’ve been there before, and it is just second nature as to the essentials I put in my suitcase. “I forget that first-timers are so excited, they are not aware of weather conditions in Alaska, or they just haven’t been reminded. It is definitely my fault that on a few occasions, I haven’t prepared my travelers for every scenario,” she said. Understanding her travelers’ mindsets became especially clear on a recent trip to Kenya, an exotic and faraway place Green had never visited. “First, in my own excitement and being unfamiliar with the conditions there, I packed entirely too much,” Green admitted. “I was prepared for the hotter weather, but I had no idea how cool it can get, and I didn’t have the right clothing. I realized I went through the same thing as my travelers often do.” “I need to remind myself to stay fresh,” she added. “No matter how many times I’ve been to a destination, I need to remember that many onboard with me are experiencing it all for the first time and to inform them with the knowledge they need.”