No Lack of Challenges for Agents

Internet bookings, charging fees, attracting millennials – these were among the topics travel agents discussed at a recent summit on the challenges they face selling travel.

Comments made by American Express Travel Insider agents shed light on both the secrets of success and issues of concern to agents during a round table held at the recent American Express Retail Travel Network Learning Forum and National Summit held in Orlando, Fla. last month.

Nine agents, selected from roughly 200 top performing agents in the network, agreed that sales this year was better than last year but highlighted major challenges in their business.

Staying ‘in front’ of clients
When asked what they are doing differently now than in the past to stay in front of customers, Carol Haugen of ALTOUR International in Las Vegas, said her clients do most of their research online. Instead of fighting that, she welcomes it. Haugen specializes in scuba diving vacations.

“You can’t keep people away from the Internet so the best bet is to use it in your favor,” she said. “They do the research and then we come in with the value we can add – transportation, meals, whatever we can put in.

“Also we know that experience trumps budget so we search for that ‘one-time thing’ we can put in front of them.”

Curtis Kowalski, who specializes in Caribbean cruises through an American Express Travel franchise in Boston, agreed that creating memories for his clients is what keeps them coming back. “It may not be new but it is what works.”

Rena Harris who specializes in travel to Alaska at Azumano Travel in Bend, Ore.,   added that clients on a tight budget will often trade off for a once in a lifetime experience.

“If they want to take that air tour to see the bears crossing the river they will go with a lower priced hotel room to take that tour,” she said.

Others, like Ena Langford of The Travel Authority in Las Vegas, believes going over budget is okay for many clients and an agent should always see if there is a “splurge” they can sell that clients just won’t be able to refuse. Langford specializes in Australia and New Zealand.

“You have to paint a picture for them,” said Langford. “If a client will be in Sydney for New Year’s Eve put them in a yacht in the harbor under the bridge with fireworks exploding at midnight.”

Working with millennials
When asked how they are managing the expectations of younger clients, the Insiders had mixed responses.

“I see younger clients go to the Internet first and then they call me and tell me they have just spent six hours researching and are now angry they did not call me first,” said Kowalski.
 
“I guess I’m lucky because they do come to me first,” said Mary Ellen McDaniel of The Travel Authority, in the Cincinatti area. McDaniel specializes in Florida.

“They tell me to handle it because they are just too busy. But then I get emails like ‘what can you tell me about Disney?’”

Free or fee?
Charing fees continue to be an issue for agents and AmEx’s Insiders are no exception.

Agents provided story after story of arranging complex vacations and even large wedding receptions in exotic destinations only to be left hanging with their hard work unpaid.

“We tend to get enthusiastic and then give too much,” admitted Jennifer Boaz who specializes in selling New Zealand for Azumano Travel in Vancouver, Wash.

“The $100 to $150 planning fee remains a bit of a gray area but it needs to become more black and white as some people do not understand the reasoning while others give us their card up front,” she said.

“We tell them — you are a busy person and you do what you do and we do what we do. We’re just trying to give them what they need and we are their last best hope.”

Dawn Perry, with Avenue Travel in Blairstown, N.J., was surprised to see that fees were not automatically charged in these kinds of transactions. Perry had a career as a financial consultant before joining Avenue Trave.

“Coming into travel from the business sector I was very surprised to see that travel fees were not applied or [they were not] the prime model. But I was coming from an industry where there are consulting fees,” Perry added.

Know the client
Perhaps more important than anything else in selling travel is knowing your clienty, said the Insiders.

“We used to give them information and send them on their way. But now it is all about listening,” said Kowalski.

“Your agent should be like your hair dresser,” said Harris.

“If you can break the client/friend barrier and make them into friends you have a friend – and a client – for life,” added Perry.