Going Platinum: Thoughts from Three Travel Advisors Celebrating 20 Years in Business
by谢丽尔·罗森(Cheryl Rosen)/
American Express threw a party on Vicki Briggs’ first day in the travel business — and every day of the next 20 years has been an adventure.
正是1999年的Cinco de Mayo,当时是一家海洋家庭的前全职妈妈在弗吉尼亚州马纳萨斯的美国快车公司实习。2010年,她迈向了自己的生意,与Nexion签约,并脱颖而出。
“From day one, I treated my clients like they were family; we’d sit at my desk and talk, and then I’d follow up immediately. I got a lot of business from people who said the agency down the road never called them back,” Briggs said. “Initially, it was hard not to have clients sitting in front of me and having that camaraderie with other agents in the office, but it’s so much better working from home. You have control of everything.”
For Brenda Punchak, the first month as a travel agent was much more stressful. A star salesperson in direct sales of cosmetics, Punchak had won more than 30 incentive trips and cruises when, concerned that her husband might lose his job, she took a CLIA training course with him, and quickly was hooked.
她说:“我一直相信上帝为鸟类提供食物,但他没有把它们放在他们的嘴里。”在启动业务的几周内,她进行了三个演讲活动。而且很快,“我有所有这些小组,而且我什至不知道预订他们在做什么。我一直在问并问,直到得到所需的答案。那是在9月11日之后,旅行世界在混乱中。我真的不知道旅行业务中的任何代表。我很新,他们真的不知道我是谁。”
但是,决心成功,她“去每一个交易vel meeting to learn as much as I could and just kept moving on. There is no secret to success; you just have to get out there and do it.”
谢丽尔·斯卡夫隆(Cheryl Scavron)还归功于她与丈夫罗恩(Ron)经营的特许经营权的成功,2018年,她获得了旅行社网络的第一个终身成就奖。他们在医疗领域留下了职业,以热爱巡航为基础。当当地的Cruiseone特许经营(现在她是Dream Vacations)可用时,他们“非常努力地工作”,在四年之内,他们是该公司的最高生产商。
“We started with what we knew, the Caribbean,” Scavron said. “That’s what I always tell new associates: Start with the easiest thing to learn, learn all the ships, and then expand out from there. Within the first year, our Celebrity rep put me on an Alaska cruise, so then I started selling Alaska also.”
Indeed, she said, “We’ve had a lot of good fortune in our sales reps believing in us and helping us grow our business. It helps when someone is next to you saying ‘Come on, you can do better.’”
技巧学到了艰难的方法
布里格斯还通过专注于利基市场来发展自己的业务;对她来说,这是全包。但是多年来,她的客户已经上升了 - 她也是如此。“在这一点上,我希望我从事的旅行成为河流巡游,护送游览和豪华旅行,我更多地专注于团体。我不积极寻求生意;我不做广告;我不推销。只是来了。”
她旅行有帮助。“您不能低估体验出售商品的重要性;我做了很多家庭旅行,我也为自己的旅行付费。’”布里格斯说。“当我在Facebook上发布或与我的朋友谈论去南极洲时,人们开始以这些方式思考。我在回家时,与朋友,圣诞节的信,到处都是旅行。我经常让我的客户知道我感谢他们。他们预订后发送电子邮件,一张手写笔记,一个日历,可以挂在冰箱上,我写了一些有关他们旅行的信息。而且,即使我的客户更少,我的整体销售也更高。”
她对群体的关注也是增长的关键。布里格斯说:“团体可能会令人头疼,但是一旦他们在一起,那就太好了。”她的大多数是先前的客户,现在有他们想与之旅行的朋友和家人:25thwedding anniversary, a fraternity group, and bride whose destination wedding she booked now wants to travel with friends.
Punchak, meanwhile, expanded her business over time to include destination weddings “and whatever customers asked for.” She created a second company, HoneymoonsandDestinationWeddings.com, and lots of groups. Today, she has 10 independent contractors all over the country, mostly former customers; and her daughter, Alicia Kingston, who is her No. 1 agent.
她的建议?“每个人都认为这很容易,但是他们不想付出努力来实现它。当您听到“不”时,不要受伤 - 只要了解下次不做什么。从发展业务中获得个人感受。”
一旦她赠送出了很好的礼物,“现在我给你我的服务和我的知识。我的医生没有给我礼物,他给了我账单。”
Every year has been better than the last. “I always had goals — to pay off my BMW (which I was thrilled to do in my very first year), to pay off the house,” Punchak said. “You have to have something to strive for when you wake up in the morning.”
The Scavrons, meanwhile, have followed a slightly different path. While Cheryl began by being very active in the Chamber of Commerce, building her customer base with local business people, she also cites her lucky positioning in a brick-and-mortar agency in a mall in Fort Lauderdale.
“It’s a great advantage being in South Florida, where I can take my clients to ship luncheons, and can easily get them last-minute deals. And I also learned a lot by getting on the ships myself. So, when a new ship came out, I had an opportunity to go walk around and really search out all the nooks and crannies to find the best cabins.”
A former nurse, she also was “very thorough about following through and making sure every detail was taken care of. I always want to go above-and-beyond and make sure I do more than what is expected, so they come back and say, ‘I was in the best cabin on that ship.’”
And while her location in the mall does often bring in walk-in clients — including one who has booked two round-the-world cruises! — “client referrals are what really make you jump from one level to the next; when they are out there spreading the word for you, there is nothing better than that.”
Her advice, too, is to start with the Caribbean and “learn everything you can about one area first.”
并始终接电话。Scavron说:“当我们刚开始时,我们打电话给15或20个旅行社,其中大多数根本没有接听电话。”“现在有时会一次响了四行,但很少发生,当它确实会时,我会立即给他们打电话。将其视为一家企业,而不是像兼职的东西,而不是回电而不是给他们回电。建立联系 - 走出去,加入网络小组,并向他们展示您的知识。并使用自己的影响力中心;让您的家人和您的网球合作伙伴谈论您;举办早餐或鸡尾酒。始终让所有人知道您的工作。”