November 21st, 2018 by Admin
We care about our clients and are happy to hear from them, we were able to sit down with one of them and hear their story. Let’s get some Monday motivation and meet Kash Patel from Baryia Travel.
Thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview, it is an honor. Since we know you are taking time away from your busy schedule let’s get started. Tell us about yourself and your business.
I founded Baryia Travel in 1991 and have been designing luxury travel packages for individuals to small groups! We specialize in South Pacific (Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, Fiji, Cook Island and Hawaii), Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, and the Indian Ocean Islands), and Luxury Cruises (ocean and River). I am a Premium Aussie, Kiwi, Kenya and Fundi (South Africa) Specialist and certified by respective countries Tourism Commissions! I have also completed certification offered by Silver Seas, Uniworld River Cruises, among the major cruise lines. Our expertise include romance (honeymoons, destination weddings, etc.) adventure, and sports (golf, tennis, etc.) travel.
Thank you so much for sharing. Tell us, has the journey been smooth or have there been some bumps along the way?
The journey has been anything but smooth, but we are still going strong now for about 27 years! Couple years after starting the business, airlines stopped paying commissions to travel agencies, but we survived and since then have learned various lessons as we march forward! Although many bumps in the road, it has been a very pleasant and enjoyable journey!
Please tell us more about Baryia Travel.
Our motto is “Making your dream vacations a reality”. We accomplice this by making sure we understand what they want and design to meet their needs and desire and paying attention to every detail! By working with local tour operators in various countries we make sure they get the best experience!
Wow, that is very interesting, thanks for sharing. What made you decide to open up this business? What are you most passionate about it?
I have been passionate about travel and born and raised in Africa I wanted people to experience this very different continent! One of my first trip after starting my business was Australia and I fell in love with the island continent and since then I have visited South Pacific about 25 times to learn what they have to offer!
Thank you so much for answering all of our questions, before we let you go, is there any tips of advice you would give to other entrepreneurs like yourself?
Listening to customers’ needs and providing superior customer service with attention to details! Provide them off the beaten path experiences!
Share with us how customers can find you.
kash@baryiatravel.com
617-527-4799
We work by appointment only but have flexible hours and can also come to you for a meeting!
It was a wonderful opportunity to meet and talk with Kash Patel, be sure to contact them for your luxury travel needs!
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged with: business, business cards, business travel, entrepreneur, entrepreneur blog, feature, interview, luxury, online travel, travel agency, traveling
August 24th, 2015 by Elma Jane
Mike Marchev has a saying every travel agent should repeat each day: “Your clients are somebody else’s prospects.” With others in the marketplace vying for the attention of your clients, it is important for you to consider exactly how accessible the public perceives your travel business. Accessibility is sum of the characteristics that makes you easy to remember, easy to find, approachable, likable, and worthy of trust. Each of these elements are wrapped up in your approach to the market and should be given fair consideration as you position your company in your community.
The public’s perception of your accessibility is shaped by how often they see your brand and the brand image you project. If the elements of your branding indicate a luxury travel niche, many consumers will be drawn to it and some portion of the market will find it unapproachable. If your branding efforts emphasize family travel, with images of children and families enjoying vacations together, then you will very likely attract that demographic. There is nothing wrong with either approach, but it is vital the brand you intend to project is indeed the brand that is reflected in your marketing efforts.
Your company name, logo, and contact information need to be “front and center” in each marketing effort you undertake. These are the key graphical elements by which your marketplace will identify and reach out to you. Reproduce these elements consistently in each and every point of contact where appropriate. The familiarity you thereby create is an important component to the sense of accessibility people will have of your company – they will feel as though they already know you, who you are, and what you do.
Likewise, your public relations efforts in your community should be geared to creating a fundamental familiarity with your branding and market position. The more “present” you are in your community, the more networking you undertake, the more events you sponsor or for which you volunteer, the better known will be your brand. The friendlier your persona, the more approachable you are and the degree to which you can engage your clients on an emotional level, the more approachable and accessible you will be perceived.
Remind your clients that you are there. How often do you reach out and touch each and every client in a personal way? How about a phone call, a hand written letter, or a lunch? Not to sell anything, but just to say “hello!” Want clients to think of you as accessible? Begin by first approaching them.
People do business with people. They want to engage with people they like, appreciate, and trust. If your company has a flat, dull persona, it is not likely consumers will perceive it as approachable. Clients want to do business with a personality. They want to know the people in charge of their plans, running the company, and protecting their interests. Your marketing should be charged with personality.
The energy required for marketing in this manner is considerable. Being in business requires a dynamic yet focused awareness of the impact of one’s brand on the public. For a travel consultant engaged in very personal one-on-one services, this means a personal investment in time and energy. Because, as a travel agent, you are your own brand.
by Richard Earls in Publishers Corner
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants Tagged with: business travel, travel, travel agency, travel agent, travel industry
March 6th, 2014 by Elma Jane
Informative knowledge on how to manage and apply innovative cost cutting in your business.
Innovative cost cutting that yields results – small business profit margins hit a six-year high in 2013, but maitaining or widening these margins will require creative cost-cutting measures this year. Many B2B businesses are looking for imaginative ways to reduce expenses without sacrificing talent or businesses performance. Here are innovative – and pain-free – ways to trim small business expenses.
Create test run for new hires
A one-hour interview is unlikely to show whether someone will be a good hire for your small business, so consider bringing on new employees under a 60-day contract and using that time as a trial period. This can help you avoid paying for expensive benefits before you know if a staffer will be a good long-term fit.
Cut down on in-person meetings – by reducing business travel and holding more meetings via videoconferencing, you can take a big bite out of your expenses. While it may not be appropriate for every discussion, conducting virtual meetings has become an increasingly accepted practice.
Lead management software can help improve the efficiency of this process by allowing your business to track which prospects are paying attention to your messaging and then score them based on their potential. Ultimately, you want to spend the most time and money on prospects who are more likely to become repeat customers. B2B marketing firm performs regular audits of its prospects lists and segments them according to their potential value and level of responsiveness. Purging non-responders boosts the company’s sales effectiveness by focusing outreach on the smaller but critically important segment of motivated prospects.
Purge non-responders from your prospects list – wasting time targeting unresponsive prospects is a hidden cost that often goes ignored. If your business regularly sends out direct mail but a large number of the targets never respond or are duplicates it could drive down the ROI for your campaign. You could cut mailing costs by eliminating those addresses from your list.
Work Space – Rethink. Since lease costs can be as much as 5% to 8% of sales, thinking creatively about your workspace is one of the most effective ways to cut expenses. Consider sharing extra space at your location with another business. That can mean leasing anything from a seldom-used conference room to an extra desk. Another option is using a co-working site, where businesses rent desks and space on a monthly basis. Worksite networks can be used to find these types of facilities.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Financial Services, Small Business Improvement Tagged with: b2b business, business travel, cost cutting, innovative, lead management, leasing, prospects, reduce expenses, repeat customers, small business, time and money, trim small business expenses, virtual meetings, worksite network
