Documents to EDocs: The airlines started issuing electronic documents and everyone freaked out, but then realized how much more convenient they actually could be. But when our other suppliers did the same thing, you would have thought the world had ended. Before you start sending me hate mail, let me explain my position. Do I like telling my clients they have to print their own documents? No, but most clients are used to completing online registration forms and print the confirmation page anyway. In most cases, this is all they will need in order to travel, and a lot of people are happy not to have to keep up with a whole booklet of documents that could be lost.
Brochures to EBrochures: Our suppliers have made changes in this area over the past several years as well. Many of them are making electronic documents available through their websites that we can customize with our agency name and client information and then send out via email. This is a great option especially since many of us have clients out of our immediate geographic area.
Webinars and Virtual Tradeshows: Continuing education is important to all of us and attending seminars or tradeshows is a great way to get this instruction. However, with the rising costs of these types of events, more suppliers are now hosting webinars and participating in the virtual tradeshows that are being held via the Web.
I’ll be back to the usual format of questions and answers about technology in my October column.