Hi everyone!
Welcome to the latest edition of Friday Update, my life as a Travel Agent.
2018 G Adventures Brand Ambassador
On the last Friday Update, I shared that I would be going on an upcoming trip with G Adventures. The 7 country options are Sri Lanka, Nepal, Colombia, Peru, Spain, Belize and Tanzania. I still haven’t heard back on which trip I would be placed on. My next G Adventures “huddle” is February 27th. I believe they are going to announce it then. I’m so excited and will be sure to report back and let you know where I’m heading!
Colombia Trip
On March 10th (less than a month now!), I will be heading to Cartagena and Medellin Colombia. It’ll be my first time on the South America continent and cannot wait. I’m even more excited because I’m bringing photogapher and videographer James Loving on the trip to capture the tourism elements of this country. Stoked! I may or may not be participating in a Narcos history/educational tour in Medellin…
Happy Clients
As a travel agent, we have to really show our value to clients. If there is no added value in working with us, what’s the point of working with us? One of the things I pride myself on is my quick replies to clients. As long as I am awake, my clients do no have to wait long to get a reply back. There’s no automated message saying that your email will be responded to within 48-72 hours.
So of course I have to share how happy I am to get an email from a client acknowledging how quick I am to reply! It really does make all the difference in the world. For those looking to get into this industry, being less robotic and more human go a long way.
Referrals!
Another email that bring me joy is the referral email. “So and so referred you…” Like music to my ears! Getting a referral is the biggest compliment someone can give. It tells me they trust me. They trust me enough to not only book their trip but also a loved one/friend’s trip as well. So for those of you pulling for me and giving me referrals I truly do appreciate you and your kindness doesn’t go unnoticed. Believe me.
A large portion of my business now is referrals and I couldn’t be more pleased. Just makes me want to work THAT much harder, respond THAT much quicker, perform THAT much more research for clients.
For anyone starting out in this industry, it can be very hard to build up your clientele base from scratch. I heavily relied on my Meetup group to get my foot in the door, since I already had built up credibility in my neighborhood for booking people on vacations, most of which I traveled with. The best advice I can give is when you are starting out treat EVERY SINGLE client as if they were spending tens of thousands of dollars with you. So many agents will turn their nose up to certain trips if they won’t be making a certain amount of commission from it. Not me. I’ll treat the same Las Vegas $600 client the same as I would the Bora Bora $10,000 client. Because here’s the thing… you don’t know how well connected that Las Vegas client is to someone. Treat EVERY SINGLE client with kindness and respect and watch the referrals pour in. Be patient, as it takes time.
Well, until next time…
