What Travel Advisors Should Focus on During Uncertain Times

“Indifference is not a place where travel advisors want to be,” Vicki Freed, senior vice president of sales, trade support, and service at Royal Caribbean International, told TMR during a short chat at Royal Caribbean’s recent Perfect Day Mexico reveal event in NYC.

TMR was speaking with Freed about where advisors should be putting their focus during uncertain times, whether geo-political or economic.

“This is a relationship business,” Freed said. “People buy from people who they feel connected to.”

A sad fact, she added, is that three out of five clients booking a Royal Caribbean vacation book their next vacation either direct or through a different travel advisor.

That’s not something advisors should be risking even during the best of time.

“The reason that they do so is not because of bad service and it’s not even because they found a better price. It’s really indifference.”

Freed told TMR that when she asks customers why they switched advisors, they’ll tell her they forgot who their travel advisor was.

“That’s like fingernails on a chalkboard for me,” she said.

During times of uncertainty, its important that travel advisors pay attention to and stay connected with the clients they’ve already served. But only sending automated emails isn’t enough, Freed added.

“Email is a monologue. It is not a dialogue… you might have 200 emails in your inbox and you may never open it or it may go to your spam.”

Freed offered two pieces of advice for staying more connected with the clients you’ve already served: send cards and send a text message.

“Travel advisors know when people’s birthdays are. Send a birthday card. People don’t get cards anymore and it really does stand out.”

She also suggested sending texts. Her example: “Hi Dori. It’s Vicki, I have some exciting news to share with you. Please text me or call me back.”

She explained that people are naturally curious. They want to know what the surprise is.

“You don’t know if I hit the lottery, and I just don’t need all that money and I want to give you half of it.”

Make sure you have news to share. Perhaps you were at an event and there was something you learned that is perfectly suited for the client you’re texting – like just discovering some of the amenities at Royal Beach Club Paradise Island, which is opening this December, and you know your client was thinking about doing a short cruise this holiday season.

Aside from staying in front of your current clients, Freed also emphasized the never-ending work that advisor should be doing to find new clients.

But that doesn’t have to be difficult, she added.

A piece of advice Freed likes to repeat, because she knows how effective it is, is to ask a client you’ve just planned a trip for if there’s anyone that they can think of who might want to travel with them.

Even if the people your client refers you to don’t book this particular trip, you’ve just added to your prospect list.

“Now you have a new prospect that you didn’t have in your database… What happens is with one out of four people, you will close another sale [eventually].”