#074: Andy Buerckner | Platinum Travel Corporation

Andy Buerckner is a Director at Platinum Travel Corporation.

Platinum Travel is a family owned and operated agency with offices in Australia and New Zealand, they won both the Travel Agency of the Year in 2018 and the Corporate Travel Agency of the Year in 2019.

I wanted to talk to Andy for this episode after I watched an interview he did recently for the Sky Business channel where he spoke about the travel industry and how the current coronavirus pandemic has decimated almost the entire sector. Many providers in the travel space including not only travel agents, like Platinum, but airlines, hotels, tour companies, cruise ship operators etc. have all seen their revenue drop to virtual zero overnight.

But it gets worse, and here’s the bit I hadn’t thought about until I watched the Sky Business interview. Not only did their revenue stop, they had to start the process of handing back past profits in the form of refunds as travellers began to ask for their money to be returned due to enforced travel restrictions.

The logistics of how that is done and the mental impact on both employers and employees in the sector are challenges the travel sector has had to face for the very first time.

It’s not all bad news though, and as you’ll hear Andy believes that coronavirus may actually be very good for the travel industry and has started to identify opportunities he believes will emerge as travel returns.

During this chat, we covered:

• working through the impact of coronavirus
• travel trends
• working with family and how to best communicate with team members
• networking
• a couple of stories from wayward corporate travels
• chasing those highly valuable (at least for some) gold and platinum frequent flyer status and membership levels
• the coming opportunities for the travel industry and, as always,
• much more 

To find out more about Andy, you can connect with him on LinkedIn and you’ll find the Platinum Travel Corporation at platinumtravelcorp.com.au.

If you enjoy Trench Talk, please remember to hit the subscribe button inside your chosen podcast player, more episodes can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast.

Enjoy Trench Talk Episode #074 with Andy Buerckner…

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Show notes and links for this episode can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast.

You can find Matt Reynolds on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and on LinkedIn.

Sarah Taylor is both the Chief Operations Officer and Chief Technical Officer at one of Melbourne’s hottest startups and a 21 x World Bodybuilding Champion.

Classified obese at age 40, Sarah lost 25kg without dieting while getting fit to achieve a person goal of climbing a mountain. At that time, she was working a high-profile job, running 3 active blogs, trying to carve out a side hustle as a photographer and running a digital magazine.

Her world crashed around her. She was diagnosed with depression, had many injuries from overtraining and underwent double shoulder surgery. She was completely burnt out emotionally, physical and mentally.

Resolving to fix things herself she returned to the evidence based lifestyle strategies she’d developed to lose weight. She accidentally got into bodybuilding at age 42, and 10 weeks later competing at the state level won her 1st show before going on to clean sweep 11 of 11 amateur world titles by age 45 and another 8 professional world titles (+2 more amateur titles for good measure...!) by age 50.

During this chat, we covered:

• forming good habits
• planning your eating
• the photography term magic hour and how that applies in life
• being productive and why your brain worries about things that don’t get finished
• athletic thinking
• why calm is contagious and, as always,
• much more 

You can find out more about Sarah you can find her on Facebook or on Instagram.

If you enjoy Trench Talk, please remember to hit the subscribe button inside your chosen podcast player, more episodes can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast.

Enjoy Trench Talk Episode #073 with Sarah Taylor…

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Show notes and links for this episode can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast.

You can find Matt Reynolds on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and on LinkedIn.

Gavin Routledge is Chief Back Officer at is practice Active X Backs in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Gavin is an Osteopath with 30 years professional experience in lower back pain and sciatica. Gavin graduated in 1991 from the British School of Osteopathy as a Gold Medallist and is now a Vice Patron at the University College of Osteopathy. He co-authored the book “The Back Book” with Gavin Hastings OBE in 1996; and in 2017 he authored “Active X Backs – a long term solution to lower back pain”. He is a much sought-after public speaker on the topics of pain, health and physical activity.

Gavin is passionate about helping to move people as far from illness and pain as possible and practises what he preaches including cycling, running, swimming, body-weight and free-weight training, practising yoga and meditation.

Gavin leads his team to provide both in clinic care and online consultations to individuals, health and fitness professionals and organisations looking to provide their clients with online care.

During this chat, we covered:

• setting goals and why they play such a big role in health, pain management and recovery
• how to sit to help avoid back pain
• changes in load and activity and how to minimise the risk of injury, particularly during exercise
• the role your attitude towards pain plays
• daily exercises to help protect against body imbalance
• how Gavin has taken his business online and, as always,
• much more 

You can find out more about Gavin's company active-x.co.uk or you can track him down personally on LinkedIn.

If you enjoy Trench Talk, please remember to hit the subscribe button inside your chosen podcast player, more episodes can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast.

Enjoy Trench Talk Episode #072 with Gavin Routledge…

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Show notes and links for this episode can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast.

You can find Matt Reynolds on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and on LinkedIn.

John Vuong the Founder and President of Local SEO Search, an award winning SEO Company out of Toronto, Canada.

John is a seasoned sales professional and Internet marketer with an exceptional track record helping companies grow their clientele and profits. Through 15 years of experience working with CEOs, business owners, and marketing leaders at some of Canada’s most successful corporations, John developed a deep understanding of local marketing dynamics and consumer behaviour. John’s entrepreneurial spirit and experience working with more than 5,000 local business owners inspired him to start his own company, Local SEO Search, in 2013.

A graduate of the University of Western Ontario, John earned his Bachelor of Administrative and Commercial Studies (ACS) in 2003. His career began at Yellow Pages Group, where he was among the top 2% of sales representatives across Canada. Now a proud father, John enjoys coaching and mentoring new entrepreneurs, and runs an annual school supply campaign to help deserving young people in elementary and primary grades. Local SEO Search also provides free education to small business owners through live events and their podcast, Local SEO today.

During this chat, we covered:

• why a solid foundation and sound business is required, before thinking about SEO
• why becoming a thought leader is so important in online marketing
• understanding your ideal clients and why your online competition may well be very low
• how to rank well in Google search
• keywords and how to use them
• the Google My Business product and why it so important for businesses
• website musts that help with online marketing and, as always,
• much more 

You can find out more about John at localseosearch.ca.

If you enjoy Trench Talk, please remember to hit the subscribe button inside your chosen podcast player, more episodes can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast.

Enjoy Trench Talk Episode #071 with John Vuong…

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Show notes and links for this episode can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast.

You can find Matt Reynolds on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and on LinkedIn.

Adam Sand of Roofing Business Partner and Sargeants Roofing joined me on the podcast for this episode to discuss his business and several ideas and strategies he's using to navigate the current COVID-19 pandemic period.

Adam first appeared on Trench Talk for episode #047 which you can find at https://www.xrm.com.au/047-adam-sand-roofing-business-partner/ 

Find out more about Adam at https://www.roofingbusinesspartner.com

If you enjoy Trench Talk, please remember to hit the subscribe button inside your chosen podcast player, more episodes can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast.

Enjoy Trench Talk Episode #070 with Adam Sand…

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Show notes and links for this episode can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast.

You can find Matt Reynolds on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and on LinkedIn.

Judy Celmins is the Marketing Director and Eriks Celmins is the CEO of Engage4Insights, a New Zealand based research and innovation company which helps businesses engage with and to better understand their audiences (including their customers and employees) in order to drive better decisions and outcomes.

Judy is a born marketer who loves building relationships with people and understanding why they buy. She has spent her career experimenting with different techniques to engage with customers, learn more about their unmet needs and how to serve them better. Judy learned the more she could add value, the more engaged they became.

Eriks background is in radio as an on-air host so his job was too grab the audiences attention quickly and to keep them listening for as long as possible. In the radio business, listeners equals ad revenue and Eriks figured out pretty quickly that engaging with your audience is the best way to get to know them better, and the better you know them, the easier it is to keep them entertained.

Together, they have formulated a methodology and system to help businesses collect and collate customer and employee insights to help drive better decision making and to fuel innovation.

Their clients include NZME (New Zealand's premier integrated media company, which trades on the Australian stock exchange), Communications Fiji Limited, and PNG-FM. And have included Austereo, Nova Entertainment, Foxtel, and companies in the UK, Europe and South-East Asia.

During this chat, we covered:

• why relationship marketing is so important, especially in uncertain times when customers are looking to do business with people they trust (like the current coronavirus pandemic we are all currently working through, we recorded this in April of 2020)
• building an Insights Story and what that really means
• using research for better decision-making
• why getting honest, direct feedback is important in some situations and how it can speed up decision making
• the tech product Judy and Eriks have built and, as always,
• much more.

You can find out more about Judy and Eriks at engage4insights.com.

If you enjoy Trench Talk, please remember to hit the subscribe button inside your chosen podcast player, more episodes can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast.

Enjoy Trench Talk Episode #069 with Judy & Eriks…

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Show notes and links for this episode can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast.

You can find Matt Reynolds on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and on LinkedIn.

Irwin Hau is the Founder and Director of Chromatix, a web design and conversion agency that specialises in captivating user experiences that drive results utilising human behaviour psychology blended with web technology.

What does that mean you might ask? Irwin and his team are very good at designing and building websites that convert traffic into enquiries, leads, quoting opportunities, bookings, phone calls or whatever the intended goal for your website is.

Their job is to make your website the hardest working and best performing sales person on your team.

From web design to development, Irwin and his team have created over 50 award-winning designs for their clients which include the likes of Bowens Timber, John Sands, Light FM, Energy Networks Australia and Breadtop.

During this chat, we covered:

• design and functionality aspects that make great websites
• some of the common website mistakes which negatively impact performance
• the differences between website traffic and conversion (both commonly misunderstood) and how each effects your intended website objectives
• why it's important to check you website is working properly regularly and some tips to make that easy
• website budgets including the level of build you can expect to get for your money and, as always,
• much more 

You can find out more about Irwin at chromatix.com.au.

If you enjoy Trench Talk, please remember to hit the subscribe button inside your chosen podcast player, more episodes can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast.

Enjoy Trench Talk Episode #068 with Irwin Hau…

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Show notes and links for this episode can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast.

You can find Matt Reynolds on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and on LinkedIn.

Yoga teacher, healer and actor Ben Sofowora joined me on the podcast for this episode to discuss several ideas and strategies he's using to navigate the current COVID-19 pandemic period, from a health and wellbeing perspective.

Ben first appeared on Trench Talk for episode #007 which you can find at https://www.xrm.com.au/007-ben-sofowora/

Find out more about Ben at https://www.bensofowora.com

If you enjoy Trench Talk, please remember to hit the subscribe button inside your chosen podcast player, more episodes can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast.

Enjoy Trench Talk Episode #067 with Ben Sofowora…

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Show notes and links for this episode can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast.

You can find Matt Reynolds on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and on LinkedIn.

Aqua Blu Plumbing Director Ben Walton-Healey joined me on the podcast for this episode to discuss his business and several ideas and strategies he's using to navigate the current COVID-19 pandemic period.

Ben first appeared on Trench Talk for episode #017 which you can find at https://www.xrm.com.au/017-ben-walton-healey/

Find out more about Ben at https://www.aquablu.plumbing

If you enjoy Trench Talk, please remember to hit the subscribe button inside your chosen podcast player, more episodes can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast.

Enjoy Trench Talk Episode #066 with Ben Walton-Healey…

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Show notes and links for this episode can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast.

You can find Matt Reynolds on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and on LinkedIn.

Tommy Mello is the owner and operator of A1 Garage Door Service. He is also the host of the Home Service Expert podcast, and owner, partner, or investor in 14 other businesses ranging from Christmas lights and real estate to mobile apps.

In 2010, Tommy became the sole owner and operator of a single Phoenix-based garage door service business, which came with $50,000 in debt. Today, A1Garage generates north of $50 million dollars in annual revenue, with over 250 employees in 12 states.

Tommy is a regular contributor to Inc., Entrepreneur, and other business publications on the topic of entrepreneurship and small business as well as a sought after podcast, radio and television guest.

During this chat, we covered:

• Tommy's journey building his company
• company manuals and why they are the foundation of a business
• how Tommy finds A+ players to join his team and the strategy he uses to attract people from outside his industry
• introducing performance-based pay
• finding the right customers and why you need to know your market
• using Technology in home service businesses
• where to start with your marketing
• growing through acquisition
• his goal to create North Americas largest and most trusted Garage Door Company and, as always,
• much more 

You’ll find A1 Garage Doors at a1garage.com. You can find out more about Tommy at homeserviceexpert.com where you’ll also find his podcast. You can get his book at homeservicemillionare.com and is email address is a1leadmanager@gmail.com.

If you enjoy Trench Talk, please remember to hit the subscribe button inside your chosen podcast player, more episodes can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast.

Enjoy Trench Talk Episode #065 with Tommy Mello…

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Show notes and links for this episode can be found at xrm.com.au/podcast.

You can find Matt Reynolds on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and on LinkedIn.