BY BILL FAETH
I know it sucks to turn down more trips in a day than you’re completing right now, but don’t forget your problems could be worse. A lot worse. Like 12 months ago worse.
Now, leisure travel is peaking during the summer. All of the pent-up demand is being released across the country as many of you are coming off the best revenue-generating months you’ve had in well over a year. Some reported their best May and June ever.
Just like the pandemic wouldn’t last forever, neither is the high tide we are experiencing right now. Is it going to get stronger? I believe it will. The third and fourth quarters are going to be absolutely insanely busy, and hopefully, you will have chauffeurs back and be at 100 percent by mid-fall to accommodate the demand.
BUT ...
You will most likely still not be able to keep up for the next six to 10 months—maybe even a little longer, as large groups, business travel, and large-scale concerts and sporting events get back to full capacity. Even though you might be making more money today than you ever have, always remember that it won’t last and things are not sustainable at this level. At some point, the business will normalize, and new competition will enter the market to replace the ones we lost during the pandemic.
“You need to raise your prices, then raise them again and again AND most importantly, you need to be doing something with all of the trips you are turning down today.”With all of that said, I believe that the survivors will flourish and the demand will be higher than pre-pandemic, and the supply will be lower, which means two things: 1) You need to raise your prices, then raise them again and again AND 2) most importantly, you need to be doing something with all of the trips you are turning down today.
WHY THIS MATTERS ...
Let’s address #1 first. I know it may sound crazy to raise your prices, and I bet the lumber yards thought the same things three months ago, so did the appliance companies and the oil companies. Almost every product and service we purchase, from milk to hotel rooms, have increased their pricing, and the most important part is it is accepted because it’s happening everywhere.
As for #2, I stated earlier that the gravy train will not last forever, and most of us still need to pay back EIDL loans and make up for the income we lost in 2020. This means you need to be taking full advantage of all the trips you’re turning down now.
To start, you need to be acquiring each trip’s contact information so you can add it to your CRM or a spreadsheet to email them down the road and even create a Custom Audience inside Facebook to advertise to them strategically. (If you’re unfamiliar with Facebook’s Custom Audience option, here’s more information.) You need to document the first and last name, email address, and phone number for each quote or booking. This should always be the case, but most get lazy when you are throwing back fat stacks Pinkman style (a Breaking Bad reference for those of you who didn’t watch).
You can easily add this contact information to your email lists and set up a sales funnel or just email monthly, but you need to stay in contact with them. Just because they are going to have to use someone else doesn’t mean you won’t have an opportunity to win them over when you’re ready and can handle their trips.
I would recommend a short email that provides value to the prospect every two weeks. No images. No videos. Just straight up value in text. That’s it.
Now take that contact list you have, and create a Custom Audience in Facebook to deliver targeted ads just to these people. These ads will perform much better than just directing your ads at cold traffic, and they will be more cost-efficient. Plus you can also have Facebook create a look-a-like audience that matches your existing list. This where the real value comes is as Facebook does all the work for you to find you highly qualified prospects based on the interested prospects allowing you to segment your ads.
Please don’t let all of these leads go to waste. It would be senseless to be running Google Ads when you have the leads generated for you for free right now. [CD0721]
Bill Faeth is the founder of Limo University. He can be reached at bill@limogrowth.com.