New Advisor Hits $1.5 Million in Yearly Sales, But at What Cost?
经过Marilee Crocker/当希瑟·麦克卢尔(Heather McClure)边锋签约成为一名旅行顾问时,她的动机是许多旅行专业人士都会贬低的动机。“我成为代理商的唯一原因是自己旅行达成交易。我无意兼职。”Travel Market Report.
Yet today, some 18 months after making her first booking, Winger is on track to gross more than $1.5 million in sales for the current calendar year. And last year, she was named the Avoya Travel Network Rookie of the Year.
可以肯定的是,它们是巨大的里程碑。但是财务上的成功呢?工作与生活的平衡?那些仍然躲避的边锋,其代理被称为海沙旅行。
‘I love this business’
与丈夫一起住在犹他州默里(Murray)的温格(Winger)习惯于在2020年9月在Facebook上发布有关假期的习惯,她被招募到主办机构Inteletravel,并承诺折现旅行。
她向Inteletravel支付了入学费,并接受了招募其他潜在顾问的培训,但从来没有愿意进行预订。到2021年3月,在一位著名供应商的敦促下,她决定搬到Avoya,并试图尝试新业务。
After completing Avoya’s training, Winger began receiving leads from Avoya in May 2021. She landed her first sale, a $2,900 Amtrak ticket, on the same day she got her first lead.
With that, Winger was hooked.
“I learned from that moment that I love this business and that no matter where I was, if I was on vacation, or sitting in my car, or with my grandkids, I could still work using my cellphone.”
Apart from the Avoya training, Winger was as green as they come. She never even planned her own vacations; her husband always took care of that. “It’s crazy – I had zero experience booking a vacation,” she said.
从头开始学习
Winger said her business “really has just evolved,” but the reality is she has worked hard, investing her money into building a website and her time into training, including completing more than a dozen supplier courses. She’s also gotten good at picking the brains of supplier reservations agents.
During her first eight months with Avoya, Winger only booked Amtrak Vacations, working exclusively with Avoya leads.
此后,她扩展到了旅游,河流巡游和海洋巡游,重点关注奢侈品牌的优质。她目前的大多数活跃客户都在与CIE Tours,Collette,Globus,Insight,Avalon,Amawaterways,Oceania和Atlas Ocean Voyages等供应商预订欧洲假期。
盈利挑战
尽管边锋达到了销售水平,这将是任何二年级旅行顾问的嫉妒,但她尚未实现自己认为财务成功的目标。
一方面,她正在登录疯狂的日子 - 每周7天12至16个小时 - 以家庭时间和工作与生活的平衡为代价。“这是激烈的,我所做的工作量与我可以显示的收入相比。我会在麦当劳做更多的事情。”她说。
盈利能力的一个重大挑战是,她的大部分业务来自Avoya的主要生成器,而Avoya仅支付了她30%的供应商委员会的销售。
因此,尽管边锋将她的成功归功于Avoya的隶属关系,并赞扬她从主持人那里获得的支持,但她的目标现在是通过在Avoya Lead-Enernerated System以外建立商业书来提高自己的收入。
“If I had my own clients, my annual income would be closer to $95,000 to $98,000 annually. Right now, we’re looking at $45,000,” she said.
Avoya’s no-fee policy means Winger can’t charge Avoya clients for her time. But even if she could, Winger has decided not to go that route. “I need to do what’s right for the customer, and that does not include nickel and diming them to death. Supplier commissions should suffice, as long as they are my own customers,” she said.
‘今天需要停止’
A huge thorn in Winger’s side, and a significant challenge to profitability, has been the countless hours she spends researching quotes for resort and all-inclusive vacations, usually without closing the sale.
“I don’t like that part of the business, because people will take my quotes and book it themselves. With every other type of travel, my closing percentage is very high. With resorts and all-inclusives, my close rate is close to zero.
“It needs to stop today. This has gone on way too long,” she said.
一个问题:询问度假胜地的新客户往往会有不切实际的价格期望并提出不合理的要求。
One inquiry earlier this year came from someone who said they wanted to celebrate their upcoming October wedding anniversary at a resort in May 2023. When Winger sought to confirm the timing, the customer replied, “‘Let’s quote something for October, November, and for May, and will you get pricing for Cancun, Florida, and Hawaii?’
“When they don’t have a specific date, location, or budget, it becomes almost impossible to make them happy,” Winger said. “I am really considering letting people know that unless they know the exact location, date, and budget, I’ll probably turn them away.”
Building customer rapport
边锋带给桌子的一大优点是她能够与客户建立良好的融洽关系,并且她有五星级的客户评论来证明这一点。
“我陪伴客户的时间比很多代理商都多。CIE的一名员工告诉我:‘我不知道另一个像您一样与客户交往的代理商。我认为这就是让您脱颖而出的原因 - 风度翩翩和友好。这是给自己的,并为他们服务。’”
边锋谈到她的客户关系并不复杂。“这实际上只是归结为认识他们作为人。”