Teeing off at Spear Travels’ premier golf day
Spear Travels Group held its first ever Golf Day at Skipton Golf Club last week. Joan Jones, head of business development, tells Abigail Healy about its success.
We’ve never done anything like this before,” says Joan Jones, Spear Travels’ head of business development.
It’s the day after the agency, which has 13 branches, held its first ever Golf Day and despite a busy couple of weeks, there’s not a note of weariness in her voice. Instead, Jones excitedly relates the events of the previous day, which saw the agency plan a day of golf and socialising at Skipton Golf Club.
“We relied heavily on the club technically as there aren’t many golfers among us,” Jones explains.
“We started out by inviting tour operators and the uptake there was really good. Many of them said they never get invited to something without being asked for money, but we were doing it as a thank you. As agent, we are often calling them and asking for things.”
Next the agency printed invitations and sent them out to their top 50 clients and followed up with phone calls.
“It was a great reason to touch base with our top spenders,” Jones says, adding: “There’s so much competition these days and this is our way of saying thanks. The feedback we had from clients was that they were really thrilled to be invited and I think it helps us build a closer relationship with them.”
Finally, Jones explains that Spear Travels won best local retailer for customer service at the Skipton Business Awards, so they contacted all the other winners and invited them along too.
“We find immersing ourselves in the community is the best way to find new clients. By inviting other local business owners, we hope they will tell their clients about us too. One guy even said: ‘I walk past your store every day – I’ll make sure I pop in and say hello next time,’” says Jones.
Refreshing change
The day itself kicked off with Spear Travels staff welcoming guests with bacon butties and chatting before the golfers teed off in their teams, each of which was named after a Caribbean island.
“The teams were made up of two tour operators and two clients so they could talk on the way round,” Jones says.
At the 12th hole, the branch manager was there to meet them with refreshments and then back at the clubhouse everyone enjoyed a meal and Spear Travels held a raffle, raising £150 for the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s Hurricane Relief Fund.
A total of 35 people attended the Golf Day. Jones says feedback so far has been extremely positive.
“The branch manager told me she walked away with three or four enquiries. We didn’t talk to the golfers about anything specifically, but everyone was so relaxed and chatty and it was an informal and fun day,” Jones asserts.
She adds that back in the branch feedback has been good as well.
“We’ve had clients and local business people popping in to express their thanks and promising to spread the word about Spear Travels, which is great news.”
Looking ahead to next year, Jones says she thinks it’s likely the agency will run another Golf Day.
“We might look to do something slightly larger and we’ll plan further ahead too. As a travel agent, you have to think outside the box these days.”
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