Nine Ways to Find New Clients Without Breaking the Bank

Old clients are golden. Treat ’em right, and they’ll keep coming back for more. But bringing new clients into the pipeline is essential for future growth.

Here are some inexpensive ways that travel agents attract new clients.

1. Capitalize on the power of referrals
“We rely on repeats and referrals,” said Scott Kertes of Hartford Holidays, an Ensemble agency in Garden City, N.Y. “There’s no cheaper way to get new business than to ask a past client for a referral.”

Consider incentivizing clients with small gifts. Kertes often rewards clients for referrals with Starbucks gift cards.

Ellen Paderson of Smiles and Miles Travel in Easton, Mass., a NEST agency, said she usually rewards helpful clients with $50 Visa debit cards. “I might give steady clients an additional $50 shipboard credit on a cruise, or free transfers,” she added.

2. Join groups for new business leads
Networking groups can provide leads to new clients.

“I joined a local lead referral club, Business Associates of West Broward, that networks twice a month over breakfast,” said Lori Kenner of Boca Express Travel, an American Express agency in Boca Raton, Fla.

“There are only 30 to 40 members, and there’s only one person in each field. I’m the only travel agent so all the travel-related leads come to me.” Kenner’s membership costs $300 a year.

About 40% of the members use Kenner as their regular travel agent, and she has also organized trips for the group.

Kertes also advised agents to “join and participate actively in the local Chamber of Commerce. I go to all their networking events on Long Island. It costs about $100 a year.”

3. Take advantage of consortia tools
Most consortia offer agents client leads and other tools to help generate new business.

“My consortium gives me 100 postcards a year to send to new clients,” said Paderson whose home-based agency is affiliated with TRAVELSAVERS.

4. Place inexpensive online and print ads
“Facebook ads are pennies on the dollar,” said Kertes whose agency has a page on the social-networking site.

“Facebook and Pinterest have really become big,” agreed Paderson. “People like looking at visuals, especially the younger generation in their 20s, 30s and 40s.”

Print ads in local newspapers are also inexpensive, and, “It’s pretty reasonable to put ads in church and temple bulletins,” said Paderson.

5. Distribute regular press releases
Use press releases – one- or two-page written pieces announcing agency news like new tours, awards and promotions — to generate articles for local and nationwide newspapers and magazines as well as web publications.

“A woman writes press releases for me for $25 apiece,” said Kertes of Hartford Holidays.

Kertes uses a press release distribution service which sends releases to 7,800 magazines, newspapers, trade journals and online publications.

“My publicist puts out press releases about me and my agency in local papers like the Easton Journal or Easton Patch,” said Paderson of Smiles and Miles Travel. “Clients like to deal with people who are in the news.”

6. Write your own travel column
If you write well, pen your own press releases, or even your own travel column. “For about 11 years, I’ve written a travel column for Parkland/Coral Springs Life magazine,” said Kenner of Boca Express Travel.

Kenner’s Travelwise column appears with a paid ad her agency buys in the magazine. But many local newspapers, small magazines and websites will accept travel columns without a paid ad. And some may offer the writer a fee.

7. Rent U.S. Postal Service mailing lists to mine new clients
Marketing companies throughout the country sell or rent prospect lists to businesses. Some are expensive, but at least one isn’t.

“A good bang for the buck is the U.S. Postal Service,” said Kertes.

“You can rent a list of prospective clients for 10 cents on the dollar. Special programs allow you to choose prospects from various neighborhood or zip codes” and target demographic groups by age or income.

8. Work with charities and organizations to develop special events and tours
“Most charities are hungry to partner with companies,” said Kertes of Hartford Holidays. “They promote my agency to their list of clients and donors, and it doesn’t cost me a cent.”

Kertes and the charities share proceeds from group tours, so it’s a win-win situation.

To attract new clients, Kertes and charities share the cost of special events. “We’re doing a special event with the American Autism Association in Manhattan,” said Kertes. “Wine and hors d’oeuvres; it doesn’t have to be dinner.”

9. Participate with vendors in trade shows and special events
“We’ve done small shows as co-ops with vendors and agency trade shows,” said Kenner of Boca Express Travel.

Paderson of Smiles and Miles Travel sets up booths at wedding shows to pick up new clients. Promoters often offer discount prices, but Paderson negotiates to drive prices even lower.

“One wedding show promoter wanted a certain amount for a booth, but I said ‘no,’ so they cut the fee in half.”

“We do Cruise Nights, and the cruise line pays all the costs, or I negotiate with them,” said Kertes. “If you spend time formulating a plan, you’ll be surprised at how many cruise lines are interested in stepping up to the plate.

“Sometimes it’s on a ship docked in harbor, but we’ve also done it in a restaurant. We had a wine and cheese party with about 60 people for about $30 a head.