Again this week I'm working with Prakash Bang, from marketing idea 13 of 101  which includes:

“Own a category …..or build a better product or offering a better service. It's quite likely that you will have limited local success ….if you expand geographically…a larger canvas means more competitors…“if you have the will, you will find a way”, can come true ONLY if you have resources to match your competitors.”

For Travel Agents, there is no better example than a successful travel agency developing a site to sell direct to the public.

At roomsXML we visit thousands of agents per year; we know the ingredients for a good travel agency. It is  rare that people running these agencies have the resources to take their successful shop front business and sell direct online.

A successful retail shop front is all things that a website is not …..walking into the store,  the smiling face, a comfortable chair, the brochures , attentive and experienced consultants who build your dreams. The website? Pictures, prices, terms and conditions, credit cards limits and excellent online marketing.

As roomsXML gained traction in Australia I was very keen to grow by broadening our offering. I had an excellent booking engine with lots of hotels, great supporters around me, and experience with business process and online systems.   

But I'm not a travel agent, I did not have the resources to offer more product. Diversifying our offering would have taken a away from what we do well; hotels.

We now offer 80,000 of them. Our technology platform approach is very different as we don’t need to go direct to public; the roomsXML online system is just a tool for booking hotels. Our offering, our focus, is to be a great  customer service operation supporting travel agents. Our growth indicates Prakash’s advice was correct.

We've successfully grown our business by and focusing on what we do well and not pretending to be something we are not. “A bullfrog remains a frog. It can't become a bull merely by puffing up his chest.”

If I see a downfall in travel agents, it's seldom they aren't good at what they do, but that they need to stand up and be a louder frog!