Home-Based? Sell Yourself First
by Andrew Sheivachman /For home-based agents, spreading the word about your agency and offering a winning value-proposition to clients can be a major challenge at first.
At this week’s Home-Based Travel Agent Forum in Orlando, Scott Koepf, vice president of sales for Avoya Travel, and Anita Pagliasso, president and founder of the host agency Ticket to Travel, fielded questions from the audience on a variety of topics important to the new home-based agent.
Here are highlights from the lively discussion.
Q: How do you notify clients that you are going to start charging a fee? Should I only charge fees to new clients, or to existing clients as well?
Pagliasso: It depends on why you’re charging a fee. When taking a credit card, indicate how much work and planning you’re going to do; let them know how many hours you plan to spend on them to make it happen. First you sell yourself, then sell travel and take care of your client.
You need to find what charging fees will mean for you. If I have a good client that gives me tons of referrals, I will never charge a fee.
Koepf: Why are you charging a fee? The problem is in most cases it’s because you’re not making enough money. Why are you so spectacular at what you do that you should be paid for it? If you can answer that in a spectacular and professional manner, then charge a fee.
If you’re going to charge a fee, you need to make it so attractive that even other agents would be willing to pull out their credit card and pay.
Q: I sell honeymoons and my challenge is getting repeat clients. I send newsletters and make phone calls. I’m looking for suggestions to attract them back.
Pagliasso: You can try to get them to reply using many tools. If you use Facebook, define your niche. It’s working well for me.
You could start a travel club on Facebook as well. We have 1,400 members, but it was a really slow build.
Koepf: All businesses start on the marketing side: How do you get known and considered?
In your case, you have to go to bridal shows and other places to find clients. You’ve got to test things on different people until something works. Be creative!
Q: How can I compete against groups that provide incentives and discounts, places like Vacations to Go that give onboard credits with every booking?
Pagliasso: You’re in sales; you always have competition. Sell yourself, not the product, so well from the very beginning that your client is not going to worry about the 5% difference.
Show him what you do differently. You’ve got to focus on what you do over and above the average travel seller.
Koepf: Even though you can say you’re the greatest agent in the world, clients are still going to look for value. You need to figure out which products to focus on to offer the most expertise and value in your segment of the market.
You should know today right now what the top 10 retailers in your area are doing. You never want to be blindsided by American Express or anyone else; you need to know before your client does.
Figure out what your differentiator is, because if it’s price you will eventually go out of business.
Q: If I plan a trip, but then my client goes off and does all the bookings himself, am I legally liable for him?
Koepf: I’m not an attorney, but it is very important in all of your paperwork to explain that you are a consultant providing advice and do not work for any of the suppliers. The key to that is on your marketing materials and invoice, make your relationship and position extremely clear.
Q: Right now I have to use probably 20 different [online] services to book with all my suppliers. Money is literally flying out of my wallet with these things. Is there one source that compares what we get for our money as far as booking engine capability?
Koepf: There is nothing that has everything, and there are a few of us retailers who try to deliver it in a seamless manner.
It is as confusing to you as it is to the consumer. It’s something that drives us all nuts. But on the other hand, confusion is one of the best things we have in this industry: that’s why clients need you. Consumers are tired of making the wrong decisions, so they are coming back to you.