The Internet has revolutionized the travel industry, and more and more travelers are going online these days to plan their next trip. If you're a travel professional, there's a good chance that you'll receive an e-mail message from a potential client in another state who discovered your Web site and would like to ask you a few questions.

Although a face-to-face meeting is unlikely in this situation, you can still make a strong impression on long-distance clients by using technologies that are already at your disposal. A good place to start is to begin a dialogue with your client by using e-mail, instant messaging, or the telephone. You can also fax your clients a travel request form and have them fill out the details.

You can then take this information and transfer it to an easy-to-use itinerary or budget template, and share the results with your client.

Your Web site is also an important marketing tool — think of it as your virtual business card. By creating and maintaining a dynamic, data-driven site, you can keep your clients up to date on the latest travel news and information.

Make it a priority to learn as much as possible about your clients' travel requirements and preferences. The more you know, the smoother your clients' trips will be.

Check out the following links for useful information and tools to help you collaborate more effectively with your clients.

• Travel request form (Template)
  Send this handy Word 2003 template to your clients, and get the information that you need to get their trip off the ground.
• Business trip itinerary (Template)
  Use this OneNote 2003 template to help schedule your client's upcoming business trip or family vacation.
• Business travel plan (Template)
  Use this Visio template to illustrate critical information for business travel, including flights, hotels, and car rentals.
• Business trip budget (Template)
  Help your client estimate or track business trip expenses by using this Excel 2003 workbook.
• About creating data-driven Web sites (Article)
  Learn how to keep the content on your Web site up to date when you use FrontPage 2003.
• How to publish Web sites with FTP (Training)
  Get the lowdown on File Transfer Protocol, and learn how to copy your Web site files from one computer to another.