Luxury Specialist to Agents: Remember, Suppliers Need You
by Robin Amster /Forging strong relationships “changes the way we sell,” according to luxury travel agent Anne Scully.
And it’s as important for agents to cultivate new supplier partnerships as it is to nurture relationships with current suppliers and clients, said Scully, president of McLean, Va.-based McCabe World Travel and one of Travel & Leisure’s Super Agents.
Scully spoke about the “art of selling” at the recent Virtuoso Travel Week conference in Las Vegas. Among her other tips for luxury specialists – create a business plan for each client and sell your value.
Keep in mind that suppliers need you.
Agents need to remember that suppliers need them – a key thought to keep in mind when developing relationships with suppliers, Scully said.
“You can upsell, and you have the type of clients they [suppliers] can’t get directly,” Scully said.
“They also don’t have this – the client’s trust. The supplier doesn’t know that client; he or she is just a piece of paper to them.”
Scully suggested that agents keep in mind the value they bring to suppliers and “think of your supplier as a client.”
Of course, suppliers are partners too, and “your partners are your board of advisors,” she said.
Take time to develop new supplier partnerships.
“You focus on what you sell; you should focus on what you don’t sell,” said Scully. Cultivating new supplier relationships is critical both to meeting the needs of clients and growing business, she said.
All agents have their “go-tos” – suppliers they’ve worked with before who are the obvious and easy choice to work with again, she said.
“But easy isn’t always the best way to do business. Clients are different and so are our partners.”
If an agent were sending 20 couples to Italy, for example, should they all be booked on the same trip through the same supplier?, Scully asked.
The wide range of suppliers today means that “what you can offer a client is huge,” she said.
Create a business plan for every client.
Scully recommended that agents formulate “a business plan” for each client.
The plan can include regularly checking in with clients and keeping track of significant events in their lives, like birthdays, anniversaries and other milestones.
“Look at the past, present and future as a financial planner would do,” she said.
Learn about hotel brands, not just individual properties.
Often agents know a particular hotel but not enough about a hotel brand, Scully said. Most agents do a better job of knowing the cruise lines, she added.
By learning about hotel brands – not just individual properties – agents can more easily find a good fit for a client.
“You can’t always sell the best of the best,” Scully explained.
Clients, for example, may not be able to afford the Georges V in Paris but by knowing the hotel companies, an agent could instead book them into a high-end but more affordable property such as the Westin Paris.
Provide the extras.
Agents must “sell their value,” said Scully.
That can take many forms, but one of them is surely by providing extras, the big and small touches that make a trip – and the job an agent does – memorable.
“You want your clients to feel your presence on arrival,” Scully said.
One good way to do that is for clients to find a personal note from their agent in their room on arrival.
Another example: Arrange to have breakfast waiting for clients in their room on arrival, especially after long-haul flights.
Insuring that rooms are ready on arrival is one of the most important ways agents can deliver that value message, she said.