Echo for network weavers

Human contact is valuable for effective relationships, since it provides us with important relationship cues, far more tangible than the written or the spoken word.
Today's relationship and networked economy requires us to evoke much of the same principles in our virtual networks. Responsiveness and trustworthiness have adopted new and more organic forms to enhance human contact in most unexpected and wonderful ways. Support your relationships, weave your digital network. Ed/

Charting for sustainable

While taking part in WTM’s World Responsible Tourism Day, we clearly shared the message about what it takes to making a difference. This does not necessarily mean undertaking a massive or complicated initiative, involving millions of people or thousands of kilometers of beautiful coastline – It’s for anyone that can contribute to and be involved following the
principles that define responsible Tourism. It is a start to cultivate our awareness and our our decision making to create initiatives that can be sustainable economically for all.

The common sense starting requirements are these:

• Minimises negative economic, environmental and social impacts
• Generates benefits and access to the industry for local people
• Involves local people in decisions-making that affect their lives
• Contributes to the conservation of natural and cultural heritage
• Enriches experiences and understanding for more meaningful local connections
• Provides access for physically challenged people
• Is culturally sensitive, encourages respect between tourists and hosts, and builds local pride and confidence

...and there will be more to follow as we take it upon ourselves to take upon this issue beyond the buzz. Elmp/

Travel decisions and the environmentally conscious

We are currently experiencing a rebirth of environmentally conscious decision making, at least lots of entities are willing to compromise themselves with a clear agenda on the issue. As we are attending Philoxenia this year, we wanted to take the temperature on this issue within the context of Meeting & events in Southeastern Europe and the Mediterranean. So we invited Theodore Koumelis, co-organiser and responsible of hosted buyers program along with Helexpo, to express his opinion on the matter.....

Who is your client?

Today I reconciled myself with how an ordinary client feels, just as a client of any company happy to remind me of how good it is and how fast they can respond to any need that ‘I’ may have. Their personalized solutions are based on the knowledge they have about me; my company’s name, my position, an e-mail address and most of all their vast experience and unmatched service, adjusted prices and high quality.
Which company are we talking about? You name it.
The hard thing is to discover companies with arguments and messaging driven towards relationships - to know, to exchange, in other words, to demonstrate a true client orientation, beyond a mere commercial communication void of any personal expectations and how we can contribute as clients to their competitiveness.
Todays client is wise and seasoned, so much that he has the capacity to ignore any messages not intended for ‘him’ which is not based on honesty, sincerity and empathy. Client’s criteria are driven by values and this requires a change in strategy, messaging and relationship. The new objective is anticipation and learning about needs through open exchanges. In other words, it means that the new model is based on listening, converting ourselves in receptors and not transmitters in order to reach an understanding of the client’s singular reality.
Listening is becoming valuable, an indispensable virtue which some will be possess to offer anticipated propositions to ‘its clients’, which are fast and personalized, not only adapted to the moment but attractive without being opportunistic.
This model requires managing the core, the form and the tempo suggested by the client, when we listen carefully. Only then will information arrive, which we will transform to knowledge and finally to perceived value and preference.

Are potential users willing to try your services?

If so, can you adapt them for more genuine customer experiences?

Your competitiveness may well depend on it - watching leading consumer companies seeking out their next potential customer or wanting to keep their actual customer base. Dazzled by dynamism of the actual marketplace and influence of social media, engaging seasoned customers is currently a problem for which there is no quick fix. It’s more a more demonstrated that increasing the hype, can just be the wrong tactics and no effective remedy for the uncomfortable lack of predictability and control. As we become confronted with commodization and market fragmentation on a global scale, listening to the customer is a virtue that some will possess, and adaptive anticipation another – but of true worthiness, is being able to influence positively on the perceived value of our service for the customer.
Hype-inflated products and services simply do not provide the necessary basis for meeting the customer needs with a transparent and trusted dialogue. It’s very visible the change of what customers value but much less is how to meet their potential needs. Shouldn’t you want to be considered the valued one?

Time meets accuracy

How diagramming helps focus on key planning issues

Preparation and organization is elemental for any successful client management process, however facing reality in the service industry is quite distinct. Client satisfaction is too often a direct measure of how well we adapt to unplanned situations, where time saving technologies today are of the essence. Nothing can be more valuable in the planning stages for an event than tools that allows us to tackle clients' needs without doubts on precision of our diagrammed set-ups or our estimations. This capacity converted into flexibility makes overcoming last-minute requests a true bonus for mutually rewarding relationships.