A new year finds us collectively in uncharted waters and with many questions about the future. While 2009 presented a few challenges, it also gave many of us the motivation to look over the way we operate our business and improve the service to our customers.

The year 2010 will give each of us great opportunity to build our group business and solidify relationships that will result in years of future group bookings.

In short, this is the "Tipping Point" year. The year where our actions move us to success and you become a "Hero" to your customer.            

The number one rule to solving their problems will be to listen and than be flexible with your company policies in regards to group sales and bookings.     

I don't mean you have to rewrite your deposit or cancellation policies, but you will have to understand that in order to succeed this year, your policies are not written in stone. This is where you become the "Hero" to your client.

An example might be a group booked that only materialized with 18 passengers but still wants to make the trip. You might have a group cutoff of 20 paid for the group to qualify for the 21st at no charge. There is a decision to be made here, one based on a set of rules made long ago and one based on the realities of today's economic times. This is where you set yourself up as the "Hero" and are rewarded with a booking and a relationship with a customer for life. 

Remember, that group has tried its best to fill the bus, they want to operate the tour and will see your assistance as a great act of generosity.

I have given each and every staff member of our companies the power to solve any customer problem that they deem fit. A longtime client called this week and was going to back off of her group sales effort due to a cash flow problem. Reducing sales efforts in a sales downturn will only result in less sales and therefore exasperate the problem. We waived all up front deposits for our longtime client allowing her to continue a sales effort in tough economic times. She appreciated our gesture and maybe we kept a customer. One thing is certain, the old deposit policy would have resulted in less business for both of us.       

If you have the power to create these kinds of changes in your company, do so. If you have to champion the cause, do so. Do so to create an atmosphere of "Heroism".