Trends from the Trenches

Voluntourism, the power of the Apple iPod Touch, a lack of green desires, the return of the incentive business and all eyes on Australia and South Africa — just some of the topics that were on the mind of Marilyn Froggatt, the vice president of sales for JNR Incorporated, when TMR caught up with her recently.

JNR is currently celebrating its 30th year providing meetings and incentives as well as other recognition-type programs to corporate clients. The Irvine CA-based company, which operates more than 100 programs annually, currently employs a staff of 55, some with tenure in excess of twenty years. Here’s what Froggatt had to say about her company’s success as well as some of the trends she’s seeing from the trenches:

On Surviving the recession: “The recession was a horrible blow to incentives but having a diversified client base helped. We have accounts from many different industries, including automotive, insurance, biotechnology, high tech and telecommunications. As bad as the recession was, several industries weren’t as affected, such as biotech and insurance. In fact, we have one automotive company that continued to do well. In addition, we offer non-travel incentives like rewards programs with rechargeable debit cards that reward our clients’ salespeople for selling certain products. We were able to provide fulfillment this way when travel was down.

The return of incentive travel: “We’re seeing positive signs. I’m personally speaking to three major corporations who are planning to do their dealer meetings and dealer incentives for 2011. The consensus of every client I’ve spoken to is they’re playing it safe for 2010, but they’re starting to accrue funds for upcoming years. They know you can’t stop [running incentives] forever, you have to get back in the game.”

Up and coming destinations: “Over the past five years, we’ve seen demand for South Africa, Costa Rica and Tahiti. South Africa has probably elicited the strongest reactions from attendees. It’s not a place people other than the wealthiest and most well traveled would go to on their own, so they’re not sure of what to expect. What wins them over is a combination of the high levels of service and the unique quality of what they’re seeing, such as big game safaris in reserves like Sabi Sabi.”

“Over the next five years, you’re going to see a lot of activity in China and Vietnam. And Australia, which was hot about 15 years ago, is now starting to make a resurgence. People are intrigued by the idea of Australia, which like Hawaii, never seems to grow old. South America will also be big, and cruises there let you enjoy events like Carnival without worrying about hotel space. Unfortunately at 14 days, South American cruises are too long. Incentives rarely run longer than seven nights.”

Corporate Social Responsibility: “Surprisingly, not a lot of clients are asking for green meetings — I personally have never seen it in an RFP. Meanwhile every hotel is claiming to be LEED-certified, boasting about reductions of waste like how they’re replacing bottled water with pitchers on the table. But do participants demand it or ask for it? No! I guess they’re just assuming we’re following best practices. I wouldn’t win or lose a proposal based on it.”

“The huge trend right now is voluntourism, which has spilled over into the incentive market. Everyone is looking for a philanthropic component to their programs, whether it’s spending time with Habitat for Humanity or cleaning up a school or playground. They donate a day of their time and often, it’s the most memorable part of the trip. Every DMC (destination management company) and hotel has their volunteer programs now because they know they’re going to be asked for them.”

On soliciting clients: “While 90% of our business comes from word of mouth, cold-calling is a necessary part of my day. It’s best not to fight it, you’ve got to make it part of your daily routine and be consistent. There’s such tremendous turnover in the corporate world right now, If you walk away from it for three months, you’re going to come back and find that half of your list has gone. I still take sales classes and listen to motivational tapes and the company brings in some internal seminars. Combining it with LinkedIn helps — it lets me find the contacts of my contacts. I find that prospects have a hard time relating to someone they know nothing about so if you can give them a name you have in common, it lets me get a foot in the door. My call ratio is about 100 cold calls to every sold piece of business.”

Biggest challenge for planners today: “Staying on top of constantly changing technology. For example, everyone now expects to get an iPod Touch upon arrival at a hotel — it replaces all the paper documentation and lets attendees communicate during events. You always have to have the latest version of the computer or phone. Sometimes you’re judged as much by your technical savvy as you are by your creativity and expertise. It’s part of our world and you can’t ignore it — if you don’t provide it, someone else will.”