Many of you are busy working on your budgets for 2020. That can be a painful process, or it can just be a cut and paste from 2019. But please know this- your budget is not the same as your sales and marketing plan.
My first budget project
At one of my first tourism jobs, I was the Director of Sales for a seasonal paddlewheel steamboat. I had never worked on a budget before and I was asked to come up with a new one for the following year. ( Sound familiar to anyone out there?) I was told to add in any new projects or initiatives I wanted, but to be prepared to take things out as well.
I had managed my family’s personal budget very well for years at that point so I thought- this shouldn’t be too hard. Well, it is a different beast for sure. You have to be able to justify all your spending, and rightly so. Here are some lessons I learned the hard way.
Write down your goals for 2020 first.
Have you been given financial goals? Attendance goals? Membership numbers, event ROI, anything that would show success? Start there when creating your budget.
How about non-financial goals? Frontline training for your staff? Management development? Software or hardware investments?
I skipped this important step when I built my first budget so I was working without specific goals. It was like heading out on a hike without a specific destination in mind. How would you know if you are heading in the right direction?
What should you repeat next year?
In another tourism job I held, we were told to just update our current budget and add 2-4% for price changes. That certainly didn’t encourage creativity. It was the same programming year after year. Any new ideas or opportunities could not be acted on since it wasn’t in the budget. In the fast-changing world of tourism, that is the path to trouble, for sure.
But some trade shows or sales activities are consistently productive for you. Keep those in. Could you add in a sponsorship or an advertisement in the brochure or catalog to increase your success even more?
Is there a new market you want to pursue? This would be the place for me to tell you that I can help you develop a plan for getting more Chinese visitors through your doors. After all, this group of inbound visitors will be the largest to the U.S. in the next few years. I can help you develop and implement a strategic action plan. (The plans start at $3500, and a monthly fee for help with implementation. Since I specialize in helping small to medium size tourism businesses, I can help you in this market. Just hit reply to this email and I will follow up.)
Working to get visitors from a new market takes at least a year or more, so make sure you can keep the funding for this in your budget until you start seeing some success.
Markets change – your budget must change too.
Perhaps there is a sales mission you have done for years. The last few years weren’t too productive, but you kept it in the budget. It might be time to take a year off from that activity. Or an ad you placed just isn’t converting to phone calls like you hoped. Time to allocate the money elsewhere. Just because something used to work – or the person before you always did it- is no reason to keep spending money.
Leverage your budget.
No client has ever told me that they have too much money. So one of the ways I often recommend maximizing their efforts is to find strategic partners. Think of other businesses that serve the same customers or that would bring in a new customer. When you are looking for partners for new initiatives, its best to start before the budget season, so you can work out the program and the cost in advance.
No worries if you haven’t done that this year. Think of one new partner and start small. Maybe a combined booth at a tradeshow? Perhaps you could split the cost of an ad in a publication? Maybe you split the costs of hosting a FAM tour. These are all things I have done to spread my budget a bit further.
Education and training are important for tourism pros like you. Add it into your budget.
Tourism used to be a fairly static industry – slow growth and not a lot of competition. But destinations the world over have realized how powerful the economic impact of tourism is to their communities. So as a tourism pro, you need to be responsible for your own growth, and that of your team. You need to make sure your organization stays competitive, but also that you continually grow so you don’t fall behind
I can help here as well. If you are a destination, I can provide Tourism training for your partners. Are you looking for a cost-effective way to provide webinars on the Group tour market, the China visitor market, or Tourism 101 topics for your members? I can do that on a monthly or quarterly basis. Technology is our friend and I conduct these trainings virtually so your partners can learn at their desks. You are providing a valuable benefit to them, which in turn makes a happier and more loyal member. Set up a call now and we can talk through some ways I can help you be more valuable to your partners.
If you work at an attraction, consider adding my China Mission Sales Program into your budget. I host 2 a year and you will learn everything you need to know to be successful in this market. Including sales calls to top operators based in NYC! The next one starts in Fall 2019, and then Spring 2020.
Or hire me to be your secret weapon- I can help you develop your Strategic Action Plan for next year. Let’s use my 20+ years of experience to help you take your business to the next level.
With some planning and strategic thinking during your budget season, you will be able to create your framework for 2020 success. And I am here to help you!