This weekend I’ll be tackling some tasks I have put off for too long.
As I write this, my city is covered in snow and ice. Most of the activities on my family’s calendar for this weekend have already been cancelled. So, I’m planning to make the most of the situation by tackling some overdue projects at home.
Household tasks aren’t the only ones that get delayed, of course. If you’re like me, you probably have some items on your to-do list at work that always seem to get shuffled to the next day, week or month. When you’re busy planning and leading trips, getting to those projects can seem impossible.
That might make winter the ideal time to make some long-overdue upgrades to your travel business. Here are five areas of your operations you should think about tuning up before things get busy again.
1. Your Website
Overhauling a website is a huge job, but freshening it up doesn’t have to be. Does your site still feature photos from five years ago? Do you have long-gone team members still listed on your About Us page or new team members who aren’t listed there? Are there itineraries for old trips or descriptions of defunct services still on the site? Updating these small things will breathe new life into your site, likely in just a few hours.
2. Your Accounting
Slow seasons make a great time to get current on your accounts — both payables and receivables. Make sure you’re up to date with all your vendors and encourage clients with open balances to make final payments. You can also use this time to solidify your 2025 budget, start gathering the information necessary to file your tax returns, and consider any changes you might want to make to your corporate structure or business paperwork.
3. Your Database
Data management is the work that nobody wants to do, but it’s really important for any business. Your database, CRM or mail list likely has a bunch of outdated information, and it’s probably missing some contacts who should be getting your communications. Use winter downtime to delete contacts who are no longer relevant, update your information for those who still are and make sure your best potential customers aren’t missing your outreach.
4. Your Email Signature
Most people set up their email signatures once and never update them. That’s a shame, because email signatures are great branding tools. If you only have a few minutes to spare, look through your existing signature to see what info you should take out (like your fax number or street address) and what you should insert instead (perhaps a social media handle). If you have more time, consider using a third-party service to create an HTML signature to elevate the impression your emails make.
5. Your Video Background
One of the long-lasting effects of the pandemic was that people became comfortable with video conferencing. Many travel professionals today make use of Zoom and similar tools to talk with customers and suppliers. But if your video background is messy, poorly lit or otherwise distracting, it can be a turnoff. While things are slow this winter, invest some creativity and spare cash into upgrading your video background to make yourself look great on camera.
