Prepare in advance for your clients

Are you sure that everything has been prepared before you meet your clients and start guiding?

As a tour guide, you may have visited your site for thousands of times, and know all the details of your guiding spot. However, for a visitor, this is somewhere they had never been or scarcely know anything about. They expect the tour to be fantastic and memorable. So as a professional tour guide, you shall check everything before any tour for your clients.

Itinerary Preparation

Be familiar with the timetable and schedule. Tour guide is critical for both group travelers and individual clients. Make sure every detail is confirmed, what time, where to go and what to do. Confirm the site opening and closure, as they may change with summer/winter time, peak/low seasons, or holidays. Check if the activity is available, for they may cancel due to weather conditions.

Questions

1. In what way can a tour guide get prepared before a tour?

2. What pre-arrangements should be confirmed before the tour?

Material Preparation

   Travel is a way of consumption. The payments can be done by the tour guide or travelers according to your agreement. If a tour guide is required to pay for meals, accommodation, transportation, entertainment etc., do bring enough cash/money. Prepare for the vehicle if applicable. Confirm the vehicle condition and driver contacts. Also do not forget your guiding tools like tour guide certificate, microphone, and pick-up signs.

Knowledge Preparation

  Your knowledge of the guided area, on-the-way sceneries, anecdotes… is basic. Tour guides, of course, are not encyclopedia. But the more you know, the better experience you clients would receive. Tour guide belongs to the kind of career, requiring ongoing study and self-fulfillment. No matter you are a fresh guide, or a guide with 10-year-experience, you have to catch on with the new developments.

Psychological Preparation

Are you confident that you could satisfy your clients? They may have higher education, perhaps expert in certain industry, or with religion background … Do you have the confidence that clients of various types would be happy with your service? Well, do not panic. As mentioned before, tour guide are not encyclopedia. You don’t have to be more knowledge in all areas. Respect their knowledge or belief, and meanwhile, do your best to share the place you live and work. One way to help with your psychological preparation is to know about your clients beforehand - where they come from, what age they are, if any special needs on religion or foods, etc.

Questions

1. What material preparation should be done by a tour guide?

2. What knowledge is basic for a tour guide?

3. What is psychological preparation like?

Do not lecture

  Travelers are not students. All tour guides understand it. However, many guides tend to lecturing rather than guiding with their clients. You may be very knowledgeable of the place or scenic spot, so you work hard to speak out on every bit of information.

Wait a minute, can your clients receive all this information, or just half of it. Pay attention to the client’s reply, either emotional or verbal. Do not lecture to them.

Guide books, promotional booklets, or guiding machines can do the lecture much better, standard and accurate. The value of a personal tour guide is to lead align with the scenery and emotions. Moreover, excellent tour guide communicate with their clients actively. They reply to questions that clients ask, expand knowledge when clients show interest, and appreciate when clients express exclamation.

Questions

1. Why lecturing is not advisable in tour guiding?

2. How do good tour guides communicate with their clients?

Speak about tour guiding.

Read and translate the texts.

Perfect timing

Being a tour guide, the content of your sightseeing tour introduction is a kind of art. Is it accurate, vivid, humourous, easy to understand? That’s all important for the travelers with your group. There’s also one more critical thing – the time you deliver the words of wisdom to your clients. Timing can be positive as well as negative to what you say. Manage the art of timing marks your success on your sightseeing tours.

The basic rule is to comment when all clients can see you so you engage them in the conversation. Of course, a brief mention is necessary at the itinerary introduction. You may also do a pre-intro to arouse the interest of traveler. We suggest you save the best for on-the-spot commentary during the actual sightseeing tours. When people see in their own eyes, they will have a more vivid memory of what you said.

There are often sceneries or interesting things on the road if you are travelling with the client group. In this case, be prepared for it in advance and proactively point out the event before passing. Travelers may easily miss the scene as they are new in the location. By introducing it in advance, a tour guide has actually shown his knowledge of the place and familiarity with the route. However, don’t point out if you have already passed the site. Never say “we just passed … and it is …”, as you won’t turn around and the client will feel they missed something nice in your sightseeing tours.

Another timing management tip is the time on the coach, car, or any other vehicle. Know how long it takes from one stop to the next and prepare your length of talking in accordance. Avoid talking of the last item when you arrived at the next new destination. Also avoid long silence on the way but do give the clients a break from all your information and knowledge.