Last month I invited you to join me in creating your own new beginning. I hope you agree that now is as good a time as any to start a new adventure by reaching a new goal, a life change or an achievement. Sometimes the hardest part of taking this adventure is the decision to take the first step. However, in the words of Zig Ziglar, “You don’t have to be great to start, you have to start to be great!”
To tie in the title of this article, we need to know where to start, or more specifically, how to start. If you know me or have heard me speak, then you know I have a love for musical theatre. My passion is shared by all of my girls (my bride and three daughters) and my oldest daughter just played Maria in “The Sound of Music.” So pull on your lederhosen and I will pull out my guitar and we can “start at the very beginning” because it is “a very good place to start!”

Start at the End
Steven Covey, in his extraordinary book “The Seven Habits,” said, “Start with the end in mind.” That is the answer to where or how to start — at the end. In other words, we need to have a very specific vision of where we want to go or what we want to have or what we want to achieve.
While said in different ways and like anything, can be taken to an extreme, this concept of starting with the end in mind has been used in sports for years. Called visualizing, it simply means that you should see yourself having reached your goal. This may be easier to express in the sports world than the business world. For example, if the “end” is for me to play par golf, I can visualize each shot that I make and see exactly how I need to play. Note that it is not just visualizing the sinking of the last putt on the 18th green with wild celebration. Instead, I need to visualize every shot on every hole and not only that but how I will stand, swing and hit the ball.
In our business lives then, we need to visualize the successful end we desire and every step we need to take to get there. Setting a goal of selling $1 million in vacations in the next 12 months sounds great but it is really the tip of the iceberg. In other words, what else do you need to “see” to get you to that goal? What does your marketing plan look like, how do you ideally interact with each customer and which suppliers love you and your newfound business?
These answers may be described as the strategies and tactics of the larger goal. I will dig into those areas in great detail in future articles. But first, you need to be completely focused on the end, which means that you need to have the answer to the ultimate question in business before you start: “Why should I do business with you?”
Just because you are in travel, or have traveled, or even love travel are not good reasons why customers should buy from you. The answer needs to be specific enough to set you apart from anyone else. This will require some real soul searching and hard work to find your individual passion.
Using the golf analogy for travel, if my putt on the 18th hole is my $1 million in sales, then I know that I have to practice, focus and dedicate months (for golf, in my case it would be years) to this goal. So what will you become to attract enough customers to achieve your goal?
One way is to become an expert at something specific. Not just travel as that makes you the same as thousands of other travel agents. Many in our industry suggest specializing in a destination (Europe, Hawaii, Mexico, etc.) or product type (cruises, tours, all-inclusives, etc.), which can be effective to set you apart. I believe, however, that this approach is passé. Instead I recommend specializing in people! Not just people in general, but people who have a common interest or passion — hopefully, one that you share.

Here are some examples of unique visualizations:
“I am the top travel advisor for avid golfers.”
“I am the expert on travel for historians.”
“I am the travel planner for needle point enthusiasts.”
“I am the best travel agent for people with large, offshore bank accounts.”

While all of these are effective, I did include the last one to make a point: While those people exist, they are probably quite hard to find. So, it is important to know that your audience is findable and that they even want to be found! Also, visualize yourself talking with these customers because if the conversation is very short, then they are not the right customers for you.
When you can answer the “Why” someone should do business with you, you have also created the “Who” you are visualizing in the end. I would love to know what your end visualization is.
Please send it to me at: skoepf@nacta.com. Once you have the end in mind, you can move to the next part of the new beginning, which will be just like Maria as she sings “I Have Confidence...”