Getting to a Million: Top Travel Agents Share Tips for Six-Figure Sales

There’s no magic to making it to the million-dollar mark in annual travel sales. It takes focus and training — and the patience to hang in there, often for four or five years, until your hard work starts to really pay off.

When Travel Market Report asked some Facebook friends how long it took them to sell $1 million worth of travel, they offered up some tips and timelines.

Set goals.
After three years in business, Janet Noblett got the best birthday present of all this year: She hit the million-dollar mark on May 10, the day before her birthday. “One of my goals for 2019 was to hit $1 million in sales by my birthday,” she said — and she credited that goal with pushing her to make it happen.

“Goal setting is my number-one priority,” Noblett says. “Without goals, you have nothing to strive for. I set goals each month on how many cruises and how many European vacations I want to sell; every month I set new goals that I want to strive for. Sometimes I reach those goals and other months I will not make it — but that’s OK.”

Working in a big city like New York pushes up your overhead — but also forces you to set goals and work toward them, says Julie Danziger. “Your market has a lot to do with it. The cost of living in a city like New York is high, so that pushes people to strive for higher production.”

Education is key.
After three years part-time, it took Chantelle Nugent just two more years full-time to hit the mark. “I really feel that as soon as I took it seriously and invested in my own education, fams and classes, the business followed,” she says.

Be in it to win it.
Heather Bannon earned $500,000 in her first year and a little over $1.5 million in the second. “My biggest tip is to have the confidence to invest in bridal shows and events where you know you can recoup your investment. Then I went on as many fams as possible to grow my product knowledge quickly, focusing on brands and areas I wanted to sell. I am replicating an even more accelerated timeline with my sister who joined our agency just over a year ago.”

Find a mentor.
“Find as many mentors and advisors that you admire in the business as possible, befriend them quickly and then ruthlessly milk then for hints, information, best learned lessons, and hacks,” Bannon said. “I’ve been lucky to meet a lot of cool people in this industry and many of them are really willing to help you succeed if you ask!”

Choose your clients rather than vice versa. 
Sit down and decide how to upgrade your clients, says Linda de Sosa. It takes the same amount of time to sell a cheap cruise as an expensive one.

Mingle where the high rollers go. 
Where to find top clients? De Sosa is very involved with charity balls — a great way to meet potential clients. She gets donations from vendors and then works hard on the auction committees. And Susan Rutan credits five years of “constant networking within groups that had affluent travel decision makers, planting seeds everywhere I went for more business and referrals, providing above-and-beyond service, investing in education and travel to learn new destinations, adding great associates to my franchise, setting goals and just plain hard work and determination.”

Consider working for someone else first, so you can start a business with a book of travel in hand. 
Melissa Feenstra started selling travel at a brick-and-mortar agency 15 years ago, so when she launched Feenstra Travel, she already was selling six figures’ worth of travel. Just 18 months later, her annual sales topped $1.3 million. “My average sale is maybe $4,500, but I do get those $60,000 A&K Africa trips and $30,000 Regent cruises from time to time,” she said.

Build a team.
Tricia Horick Kelly credits her team of eight ICs with helping her hit $1 million in just three years. “I’m hoping to hire more, but my little agency of eight is mighty and we have a great relationship with each other,” she said. “I try to get everyone together quarterly, and to mentor rather than manage. And I’ve seen everyone’s sales double and then some.”

Charles Russell also credits his support staff with helping him reach his first $1 million in gross sales in just over four years. He used “a mix of destination immersion, business-to-business networking, peer networking, and constantly working to broaden my knowledge and experience. Today, I have five ICs and an admin assistant to keep the process moving forward. I project my business will be crossing into multimillion gross sales within the next 12-18 months, as I continue to see a significant year-over-year growth pattern.”

Estelle Wilkinson also got to $1 million in four years. Two years later, she has six independent contractors helping to build her volume.

Never take your eye off the customer.
In addition to the training, the networking and the joining, in the end, success comes down to delivering great customer service. For Limor Decter, the “networking, educating myself on product, watching webinars, attending trade shows around the world, attending fams, and building relationships with suppliers gave me confidence to build a client business where each client gets my prompt personalized service.

“The clients hear my passion, confidence and excitement — and they know that I am accessible from the minute they start their trip planning until they get home. I invested a great deal of my time connecting with my clients so that I am able to design a seamless trip that exceeds their expectation, regardless of budget. I believe your name is your virtue and I strive to maintain a great name on the supplier side and on the client side, since both need to sync in order to succeed.”

Love is what you need.
It took Pat Graham and her husband eight years, four part-time and four full-time, to build their product knowledge and put together the group programs that now lead to more than $1 million in sales each year. “Be passionate about travel,” she says. “My husband and I work as a team, each having our specialties. You have to have a good support system and team. You have to put in the time, be available to your clients, never stop learning — and love what you do.”