Selling Wellness Vacations: 20 Questions to Ask Your Clients
by Anne DimonThis is the first in an occasional column by the publisher and editor-in-chief of Travel to Wellness.
As health and wellness travel and the “wellness vacation” continue to gain momentum, we’ve learned that the term means different things to different people.
Finding the right fit for customers depends on your asking the right questions.
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The answers you get will not only help you come to know your client better, they will help the client define and articulate his or her own needs and wants – inevitably making your job of finding something perfectly suited easier.
Here, in random order, are 20 questions for travel sellers to ask:
1. What’s the goal of the retreat or getaway? Is the goal weight loss, reconnecting with a friend or significant other, “me time,” learning how to cook and eat more healthfully? Or simply to get away from day-to-day stress?
2. What is your budget and preferred length of stay?
3. What type of environment and accommodation is most conducive for you to relax and de-stress? Luxury hotel? Country inn? Cruise? Casual all-inclusive? Other?
4. How important is a beautiful, inspirational setting surrounded by nature? Mountains? Countryside? Oceanfront?
5. Are you looking for a property with natural therapeutic amenities, such as hot springs or thalasso-therapy (marine-based therapeutic treatments)?
6. Are you interested in having onsite medical personal and wellness professionals (i.e. nutritionists, life coaches, chiropractors and other alternative and complementary practitioners) available to you?
7. What is your preferred food choice? (Is the client on a special diet or looking organic or vegan or as raw food choices? Food is the root of wellness.)
8. Do you want to have health and wellness lifestyle classes and lectures available to you?
9. On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is peace and quiet? (The answer may rule out a big, busy all-inclusive; a city location or a hotel/resort close to an airport or highway.)
10. Do you really need a full-service spa or will an available massage therapist be enough? (If the client wants a full-service spa and is travelling with a significant other, how important is the availability of a couples’ suite and couples’ lounge areas?)
11. Are you looking for a place offering daily fitness classes on property?
12. How important is daily yoga and meditation?
13. Are you looking for a place with nearby nature adventures – such as hiking, cycling and kayaking?
14. How important is an environment conducive to sleep? (Sleep is part of the grand wellness lifestyle, so if they answer “very important,” you’ll want to make sure their hotel room is not facing a part of the hotel/resort that might be noisy until late in the evening.)
15. How do you want to spend the evenings? Planned activities or entertainment? Catching up on sleep?
16. Who are you travelling with and does that person have the same goals or are they looking for something different?
17. Do you want to be surrounded by like-minded people? (The response may suggest you want to avoid a honeymoon destination or a corporate resort.)
18. Do you want a scheduled program and itinerary? Or would you prefer being more free-wheeling in how you spend your days?
19. What is the one thing that stresses you most about travel? (For some it may be the airport experience. If that’s the case you may want to look for a day drive getaway or rail options. )
20. What is the one thing your wellness vacation MUST include?
The answers to these questions will not only help you find the right fit for your client but will help build a relationship with the client and encourage him or her to return to you again for travel assistance.
Canada-based journalist Anne Dimon is publisher of the online magazine Travel to Wellness, which caters to wellness-minded travelers and those interested in the expanding spa and wellness travel niche.
