Choosing the Right Vendors is All-Important
by Tammy Levent |
Following is the latest in a series of columns by travel agent, entrepreneur and business strategist Tammy Levent
Working with travel vendors is like a good marriage. You court for a while, decide you like what each of you has to offer the other and then you commit to one another with the common goal of harmony and success.
Whether you are a seasoned travel agent or just starting out, you probably have already realized there are several vendors in the industry vying for your business.
The question is how to decide which ones you want to work with and which ones to avoid.
A good relationship requires both of you
First, you should both be available to each other.
Most vendors assign a business development manager (BDM) to work directly with you as your point of contact and nothing is worse than not knowing who that person is.
A good BDM will reach out and see if there is anything you need and/or help you obtain any marketing materials you may need to promote their inventory. Your job is to be available to them as well to answer questions about your needs and to speak up—not only when things are going well, but also when they’re not.
Another important job as an agent involves vendor’s products. You or someone on your team should know what vendors offer. A visit to their locations or reading up on everything they have on their websites may even be necessary.
You have to show an eagerness to learn so they will know that when a client comes to you, someone on your staff is knowledgeable enough to answer questions about services and products.
You should be able to call for help
A good vendor will have some kind of 24/7 hotline to reach them in the event something goes wrong.
If your client didn’t get the accommodations they booked you should be able to call on your vendor to help you rectify the situation. Or if your client is unhappy with their accommodations you need to be able to call them to fix that too.
Some issues are more serious though such as a medical emergency.
Your vendor partner should definitely be available to assist with these kinds of things. For example, one of my clients had a nasty fall on a cruise ship and that particular cruise vendor didn’t have the ability to give him the care he needed, leaving me and my staff to have to take over the situation.
This case could have gone really bad, but luckily we were able to get the client to a proper medical facility for treatment.
They should be willing to negotiate on commissions
When selling travel packages each vendor will want a slice of your pie of travel dollars.
The bigger the slice the more they are willing to pay and the higher your buying power becomes.
Let’s say you can guarantee them a million dollars in traveled business this year. Don’t you think that will make them more likely to give you a higher commission than someone you only send a few hundred or a few thousand dollars to annually?
Of course, a promise of higher commissions means you have to make good on that volume to get what you ask for.
Good vendors have a vested interest in your success
When you bring in more clients your vendors will be making more money as well.
Good vendors, therefore, know the importance of helping you succeed.
To help with your success they will do things such as price matching so you remain competitive. They might use their clout to get the inventory you need for your clients. They might even help you get added perks and discounts – pretty much anything you need to help you close more sales.
You won’t be alone in marketing
The best vendors I work with help me market their brands and my travel agency’s brand simultaneously.
This could mean they will help me pay for trade show booths, they could offer me free trips to give aways for promotional purposes, and/or they’ll pay for the printed marketing collateral for use at trade shows.
They won’t cut you out of the deal
Believe it or not there are some vendors out there that will push you to sell their product only to try and cut you out of the deal when it comes time to make the sale.
Sure, they give you collateral materials to promote at trade shows. But those materials also direct customers to their property’s websites where they then offer the customer a deal to book directly with them—leaving you out in the cold.
If you are dealing with a vendor like that, you should find an alternative as soon as possible!
Tammy Levent is the founder of T.A.S.K., the Travel Agent’s Success Kit, which teaches the agents of today how to succeed in being travel entrepreneurs. Contact her at tammy@tammylevent.com.
