Why the Onboarding Meeting Matters
Today we’re here to give you a unique insight and tips on how you can best prepare for your new tourism website onboarding call with TourismTiger’s web team! The onboarding meeting, typically held via a Zoom call or Google Meet, is a crucial first step in our collaborative process. It’s the perfect opportunity for you to meet our team, share your vision, and start building a relationship based on clear communication and mutual understanding.
The goal of the onboarding process is for us to get to know more about your tourism business, as well as understand what your specific goals are, which as we know, goes way beyond just having a visually attractive tourism website.
Here’s how to prepare effectively for this important meeting:
1. Know Your Goals
Before the meeting, take some time to clearly define what you want to achieve with your website. Remember, you would have already discussed some important points during the sales process, so you can easily refer back to your notes. Consider the following questions:
- What are your main objectives for the website (e.g., attracting more visitors, increasing bookings, providing information)?
- Who is your target audience?
- What key features and functionalities do you envision (e.g., online booking, online chat widget, interactive maps, blog section, clear presentation of trip itineraries, activity descriptions and inclusions)?
In addition to the above, some key information that our team will be expecting to hear from you is related to insights into your business’s history (unless you’re just starting out of course), unique selling points, and future aspirations. This helps our web team create a site that aligns with your long-term goals.
In case you have not yet considered all these points, you can still get on top of some of these things prior to your onboarding meeting. Take a look at our Essential Preparations for New Businesses(opens in a new tab) blog to discover some key logistics that you should establish as you begin your new tourism business venture.
2. Gather Inspiration
Look at other tourism websites that you admire and note down what you like about them. This could be anything from the layout and color scheme to specific features and content. Sharing these examples with our projects team will help them understand your taste and preferences.
Beyond this, whether you are a new or existing business, knowing who your key competitors are is crucial in creating a standout website. Before the meeting, take some time to identify your key competitors and analyze what they do well and where they fall short. This insight will be invaluable for our projects team, as it helps ensure your website stands out in the market. By knowing what works and what doesn’t in your industry, we can craft a website that not only highlights your strengths but also addresses gaps that your competitors may have missed.
3. Prepare Your Content
While the projects team will assist with content creation, it’s helpful to start thinking about the core content for your website. This includes:
- High-quality images of your destinations, services and/or activities
- Engaging descriptions of your offerings
- Testimonials from satisfied customers, and awards or partnership logos, if relevant
- Any promotional videos or virtual tours
One of the initial stages of the website build process is for the web coordinator assigned to your project to gather information about your business and products (tours or other activities) on a “Pre-content document”. In case you have an existing website they’ll collect as much relevant information from there and fill in this document, but if you have a brand new business and we are building your first ever website for your business, then you will be expected to contribute the majority of the information. Overall, this is the step that requires the most of your input throughout the project.
4. Be Ready to Discuss Your Brand
Your website should reflect your brand’s identity and values. Be prepared to discuss your brand’s story, mission, and unique selling points. If you have existing branding materials like logos, color schemes, and fonts, have them ready to share.
If you are someone for whom the concept of branding is completely new, then check out our blog Getting Started with Branding for Tour Operators(opens in a new tab), to gain an understanding of the importance of branding in establishing your distinct identity, to set you apart from competitors, to build trust with your customers, and communicate your unique value proposition.
Here’s a little treasure chest for you: we’re offering a free branding package with new website purchases, only valid for the month of August (2024), so if you haven’t signed up yet – now is the time! Take a look at our Digital Branding Design page to see everything included in your branding package.
5. Ask Questions
Don’t hesitate to ask questions during the meeting. Clarify any doubts you have about the process, timelines, or the roles and responsibilities of each team member. The more informed you are, the smoother the collaboration will be.
6. Stay Open to Expert Advice
While it’s important to convey your vision, remember that the projects team brings technical expertise and industry knowledge to the table. Be open to their suggestions on website layout, structure, and content strategies. Their goal is to create a website that not only looks great but also performs well in attracting and converting visitors.
The onboarding meeting is just the beginning of a collaborative journey to bring your tourism website to life. By preparing thoughtfully and engaging openly with your projects team, you’ll set the stage for a successful partnership. Together, you’ll create a website that not only captures the essence of your brand but also drives sales and growth for your business. So, take a deep breath, get ready, and look forward to an exciting and productive meeting!
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