Why Selling Travel During the Pandemic Is About Your Client … and Not You
It’s an old travel principle that you never sell out of your own pocket. For decades upon decades, that advice has been steadily addressed at industry conferences and seminars. Yet, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, this tried-and-true motto can seem daunting to even the most seasoned advisors. So what do you do when personal fears and hesitations threaten your business?
The most important thing is to remember that essential truth: your needs are not your clients’ needs. Whether you’re feeling fearful, fearless or somewhere in between with regard to travel during the pandemic, you should never assume a customer is on the same wavelength. If you’re an advisor more comfortable staying home, keep in mind that you will have clients who are ready to hit the road—clients who, now more than ever, are going to look to your expertise to help them do it.
Travel Market Report recently spoke with a number of travel advisors who are booking once again … and traveling themselves, as well. They’ve offered up their best advice to their peers on why they feel travel is safe; how to stay relevant and ever-present to your clients regardless of their stance (or yours) on traveling; as well as tips on how to resume selling once the time is right.
Follow the rules and minimize risk
Chad Shields, owner of Engage Vacations, a Nexion Travel Group agency based outside Austin, Texas, said he’s comfortable traveling and selling travel because he believes in the science and the recommendations of social distancing and masks. Shields, who has traveled to Mexico three times since mid-June, said he doesn’t tell his clients there is no risk because the truth is each person has their own risk tolerance. However, he adds, “If we are supposed to believe masks and social distancing work, that shouldn’t exclude travel. You can travel with masks all the way to a hotel and you can social distance very well, and where you can’t, you can put your mask on. For me, you’re not increasing your risk traveling any more than if you are going out to eat in your hometown.”
Like many of his fellow advisors, Shields has taken to social media to market vacations once more, giving his own testimonials about what it’s like to travel during a pandemic and what precautions destinations and individual resorts are taking to minimize risk. Most hotels and tourism boards provide their requirements and safety protocols on their websites—a go-to resource for travel advisors these days.
What about for advisors who aren’t traveling? He recommends sticking to that favorite industry standby and avoiding “making risk determinations for [your] clients. I’m choosing to help my clients [by giving them information] and letting them decide.”
One advisor from Rubicon, Wisconsin, just returned from Cancun—her second visit in a month and a half. She had six clients in the same destination last week, and while she concedes that the unknown can be scary, she pointed out that traveling herself was exactly what alleviated her stress … because what she witnessed was encouraging. “You have to wear a mask in Mexico and when you land you have to go through a body temperature scanner. Once we got to our resort, they took our temperature, gave us sanitizer and cleaned our shoes too. They were constantly sanitizing and cleaning the rooms. I actually felt safer down there than at home!” said Hollie Schmitt, owner of Memory Making Travel, a KHM host agency.
Her tip to fellow advisors is that traveling yourself could be all you need to feel confident again about selling, since “[…] advising a client about traveling during COVID is like trying to sell a property that you’ve never been to. There is a difference and your clients can tell.”
Testimonials are key
Schmitt, like Shields and many other advisors, is relying on video to change the playing field—and clients seem to be eating it up.
“I did a lot of Facebook Live on my phone, took a lot of pics and made posts about procedures and practices. I think once people saw the protocols, they felt more comfortable,” said Schmitt.
One advisor from Houston says she is selling every chance she gets, with her main channel being social media outlets like YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram, as well as blogging. In fact, one of her videos on YouTube that she posted just last month already has over 1,000 views and 166 subscribers.
“That’s what’s giving us a leg up now. We understand that this is happening, but at the same time, this isn’t going to happen forever,” said Shayla Northcutt, owner of Northcutt Travel. “Travel will open again.”
Northcutt said she has tried to use humor to lighten the mood online by posting funny travel videos and making up songs with her team that she then posts. She said she hasn’t received any negative feedback from her followers or her clients. “People that know me know my spirit and know I’m not going to stop. I’ve worked too hard to build my business and I’m also not not going to live my life because there is something scary out there.”
Marketing tips
While some advisors are taking a wait-and-see stance on selling again, others feel it’s not the best approach.
“Advisors still need to remain relevant. Even if they’re not comfortable, they still need to let people know that they’re there when they need them,” said Jeff Leach, owner of Dream Vacations in Omaha, Nebraska. For Leach, that means doing face-to-face marketing with business groups like his local chamber of commerce or sponsoring Hole-in-One events at the local golf course, where he awards prizes and in return is given an opportunity to speak to people at the tee box.
“We are not marketing via email or text right now, where the tone might be mistaken. We understand that 50 percent of our clients are on one side and the rest are on the other and we don’t want to alienate anyone. We are using terms like ‘With respect to all levels of comfort.’” Leach said his agency’s common theme is “When you’re ready, we’re ready.” But he also pointed out that advisors need to continue their normal correspondence with clients, such as sending that usual birthday card you always sent before.
On the flip side, Krista Hull, owner of My Best Friend Went Travel, based in Loveland, Colorado, said she has seen travel advisors online who are “anti-travel” and it’s upsetting to her.
“There are agents who think it’s irresponsible to travel right now but I think it’s irresponsible not to support the industry. I don’t feel like I’m the travel police. My job is not to decide whether it’s safe or not. If people want to travel, I am here to facilitate that. It doesn’t mean I want to send people into harm’s way. It’s not my decision to make; it’s theirs.”
Hull agrees with Leach that it’s a mistake to “hide out” until fear of the pandemic is over. “I think it’s important to be visible and optimistic and that’s the message of our marketing right now. For us to show people we are traveling … what’s more meaningful than that?”
Agnieszka “Aga” Jones is the owner of Maryland-based Aga Travel, a TPI affiliate. Jones is not currently traveling out of respect for her family members who are fearful, but at the same time, she has no problem selling travel.
“Clients have been coming to me for short-term travel before school starts and I will be reaching out to clients now for 2021. I have been doing newsletters and Facebook posts about travel in general, such as letting them know that passports can be processed again and that certain islands are opening up. In other words, I’m saying, ‘Yes, you can travel if you wish!’”
Other advisors also mentioned that they are prepping their clients for travel by having them fill out questionnaires. The idea is to be completely upfront about the consequences and help them fully understand the big picture of traveling during a pandemic. For example, some questions being asked are:
- Is your employer aware you are traveling now? And if so, are they okay with your quarantining for 14 days if you should contract COVID-19 while traveling?
- If you were to get sick in a foreign country or on an island, are you comfortable with quarantining there for 14 days before you can travel home? Are you also comfortable with using their healthcare system should the need arise?
In the end, most advisors agree that sticking to the facts and not assuming you know your clients’ comfort level is what will propel advisors forward, and not back, in the current world of COVID-19. At the end of the day, as the term “advisor” implies, remember that your role is to guide and provide knowledge. Ultimately, the decision to travel is theirs.
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