Tips for Working with High Net Worth Clients from Luxury Advisor Stacy Small

Travel Market Report recently profiled luxury travel advisor Stacy Small, who owns a membership-based agency serving less than 20 high net worth clients. During our conversation, Small offered insights into how she serves her clientele.

Here’s some of what she had to say that advisors, whether luxury or not, can use to provide better service… and make their lives easier.

Don’t be afraid to ask for what you need

High net worth clients can be demanding and they have certain expectations. Whether you’re booking your clients on a private tour or into a five-star hotel, don’t be afraid to ask the supplier for what you need to keep your clients happy… because they’ll be expecting you to provide it.

Related to this, Small said she makes sure to get to know – and use – key personnel at hotels.

“I’ve always been kind of amazed that there’s lots of agents that are a little intimidated,” she said of advisors afraid to cold call hotel general managers.

It’s something she told TMR she learned to do during her time at Elite Traveler Magazine where they had to list the GM and a direct email address, not just a generic 800 phone number.

“I got in the habit of asking a PR person to get me the info or calling the hotel myself and getting the info,” she said.

She makes sure to copy the GM on any email she’s sending to the hotel, and she finds out who is going to be on duty when her clients arrive. It might not be the GM if it’s a Sunday afternoon.

“Who’s going to be meeting them with their keys? Who can I reach out to if there’s an issue?”

Use the hotel concierge

An often underused resource at hotels is the hotel concierge, Small said. They can often get access to things she can’t. When sending a client to a hotel, she makes sure to make direct contact with the concierge to introduce herself and to ask for a dedicated person to work with – “So that you’re not just emailing and getting 12 different concierges responding.”

 It’s not rare for her to book the hotel for her clients, then pass them on to the concierge to take care of them. She also reminds her clients to take care of the concierge in return.

Ask questions

Small told TMR that matching clients with the right hotel is one of her superpowers. She believes she’s so good at it because she doesn’t just listen to a hotel’s pitch when meeting with hotel reps. She asks questions.

“I meet with people when they come to L.A. that are repping the hotel… hearing them talk and asking the right questions about what really makes your hotel different? What type of clients should I be sending to your hotel?”

Little things matter

While some flexibility in a schedule is a good thing, Small said her clients appreciate her taking care of everything so they don’t have to think and can just enjoy.

Even what seems like a small detail, like airport arrival, can be turned into a wow moment. Small likes to book a VIP greeter at the airport who can help her clients through immigration, take them to pick up their luggage, and then escort them to their driver.”

“Find a good greeter company,” she advised.

Small often also pre-books clients’ dinners so they just have to show and don’t have to make any decisions.

“When my clients listen to me, everything goes really smoothly,” she said.

Check your clients’ social media

TMR asked Small if she debrief her clients after they travel. While she said she could probably do a better job of that, she mentioned that she pays attention to her clients’ social media while they’re traveling.

“Most of them are pretty active on social media, so I hate to say it, but I use that as a gauge and if I see that somebody’s quiet and not posting and I better reach out to them,” she said.

Take advantage of the gig economy

If you’re a solopreneur advisor it can be hard to keep up with everything, whether you’re working with high net worth clients or not. While part-time employees, back-end ICs, and virtual assistants can help, Small recommended a website called Lucia.

“It’s basically like Fiverr, but for the travel industry,” she said.

You can even find other travel advisors who are still building their business and supplementing their income taking on odd jobs.

“I can put a gig in there, hey, I need 10 hours of admin help or I need three itineraries pumped out or someone to help me change a flight.”