Agents Call Educating Clients Best Way to Safeguard Bookings

This is part two of a series of stories on Return Trip Promotions.

While cruise lines do an admirable job of respecting existing agent-client relations when passengers take advantage of return-trip promotions, the resort segment isn’t yet on the same page. (See story, Agents to Resorts: Why Not Mirror Cruise Lines’ Return-Trip Promotions?)

According to agents, the best way to guard against losing out is to deliver great service, cultivate close client relationships, follow up after every trip, and educate clients about the importance of keeping their travel professional in the loop whenever a supplier appeals to them with a direct-booking offer.

“If you’re good at differentiating the client experience, then they’re going to come back to you, even if they’re tempted to do something while they’re on property,” said one agent, who asked not to have his name used.

‘I’m their first resource’
Yolanda Meador, president and founder of You Deserve It Vacations, a TRAVELSAVERS agency in Irving, TX, said, “I train my clients that I’m their first resource, because I am the one that is going to get you from Point A to Point B. You can book online, but you don’t have a support system. I embed that in my clients.”

Mark Hennigan, co-owner of Dreamers Travel, a Vacation.com agency in Hampstead, MD, tells his clients before they leave for a Sandals resort that they may be approached about the chain’s Soon Come Back program.

“I just had a client last week email me: ‘Hey, this is what they’re offering.’ This client did Soon Come Back and then transferred the booking to me. They send me an email, and I take it from there,” Hennigan said.

It’s not always that seamless (see sidebar), but it’s still a good strategy.

Post-trip follow-up
Keeping on top of return trips that clients may have booked themselves is another reason for agents to be sure to follow up after clients return from a vacation, said Lisa Sheldon, CTC, executive director of Destination Wedding & Honeymoon Specialists Association and owner of I Do Island Weddings in Janesville, WI.

“It’s really the agent that has to call the client when they return, ask them how things went and say, ‘Let’s keep in mind your 2016 vacation. When were you thinking of going back? I’ll keep an eye out for promotions.’

Sheldon would rather not ask clients directly if they booked their next vacation while they were on property; she finds it a little awkward. “Hopefully they’ll say, ‘They offered this if we booked,’ and hopefully you can get that booking and take it over.”

Follow-up calls are also a good opportunity to ask clients how their vacation went, whether there were any problems or aspects that were less than satisfactory. If so, let them know you’ll be contacting the property on their behalf, Sheldon advised.

“You’re supposed to be your client’s advocate, not just before and during travel, but afterwards. Follow-up is key. It’s really important to keep building on that relationship,” she said.

Resort relationships
It’s also important for agents to build relationships with staff at resorts that they book frequently, Sheldon said.

Even then, it might be difficult to link a future booking back to the agent, said Sheldon, who was staying at AMResorts’ Secrets the Vine in Cancun when she spoke with Travel Market Report.

“I know the wedding coordinator here because I sell a lot of weddings here, but she doesn’t know if I book through Apple or Funjet or whomever. But it’s important to build the relationship with staff because then there is the connection between the agent and the resort.”