In a new approach at last week's Cruise360 conference, a top cruise line executive, Dondra Ritzenthaler, CEO of Azamara, moderated the first day’s general session panel, putting questions to a panel of “Travel Trade Titans,” five top executives from agency host groups and travel agencies. "So, are you all ready to hear from the titans?” Ritzenthaler enthusiastically asked the audience—with cheers of response from the 1,000 travel advisors attending the session.
Typically, this panel at the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) conference has a different makeup with a top trade executive asking the questions and cruise line executives on the panel discussing issues. But the roles were reversed in this session. Ritzenthaler asked questions of Jeff Anderson, co-CEO, Avoya Travel Network; Theresa Scalzitti, chief operations officer, Cruise Planners; Danny Genung, CEO, Harr Travel; Tara Minson, president, InteleTravel; and Lori Spears, CEO and owner, Levarte Travel. Much of the discussion focused on tips and insight for new travel advisors.
“What strategies are proving most effective for advisors who are building and nurturing loyal, long-term client relationships?”
“Constantly keep in touch with your clients,” stressed Minson. “And be real and grow with them.” In other words, an advisor may have had a client who initially booked their daughter’s wedding trip. But if the advisor follows the client, the family may now be seeking a multi-generational trip. Constant communications, staying in touch and being real are all imperative. “That is why your customers pick you every single time," Minson told the audience.
"Authenticity is absolutely everything in our business," said Genung. The former middle school teacher told the advisors that nobody can see through anyone like a 12-year-old. Being authentic is important, he said, but also "have that same enthusiasm as a 12-year-old but be real. And if you love what you do, it’s going to show.”
Scalzitti said that, yes, it's important to chat with customers about important anniversaries and milestones, “but make sure you are communicating to them throughout the process." She suggested using a mail tool, for instance, to assist with touch points-such as sending a thank-you email after the customer has booked or, a month or so later, sending out suggestions for shore excursions. Using automation for these kinds of tasks can save time, and “to the clients, they feel it’s you reaching out to them," Scalzitti added.
“What advice would you give a new travel advisor on building a client base of business from absolutely scratch?”
“The simple thing is to specialize,” suggested Anderson. “Start with something you’re going to be the best at.” That way, “you’re smarter than Google and you’re smarter than ChatGPT because you will become infectiously excitable about that topic. And that will spread.” As an enthusiastic expert, an advisor can pull people toward them, he emphasized. "There’s nothing better than that.”
Spears recommended that advisors look to Facebook groups and focus on referrals. With Facebook groups, "you can build a trust in a [like-minded] community. You can put specials in there, you can talk about where you travel, and it really builds clientele right now.” As for referrals, “start with your family, start with your holiday card list, start with your niece’s wedding list," she emphasizes as all those (including friends, too) “will grow into referrals. Those can be the best customers.”
If advisors don’t have a travel club in their area, Scalzitti's recommendation is to start one. “Everybody loves to get together and talk about where they’ve been and where they want to go,” she said. She also suggested wearing clothing that sports the agency’s logo or a phrase such as “I sell travel.” She added: “Just be big and bold.” Whether in the grocery store or at a child's soccer game, advisors should "walk around and say, ‘I sell travel.’ It will be a conversation-starter.”
Concurring, Spears acknowledged that when just starting out, she’d go into a dry-cleaning shop to pick up clothing and tell everyone, “I sell travel.” Yes, she acknowledged that the approach embarrassed her kids who said, “Mom, they don’t want to know." But she’d emphatically respond, "Yes, they do. Everybody wants to know about travel.” And Ritzenthaler agreed, quipping that “it’s such a fun and sexy business. It really is." She emphasized: "Everybody wants to travel.”
“What are some of the common mistakes that a new travel advisor might make? How can these be avoided?”
When working with new advisors, “I see it all the time,” acknowledged Minson. “They come in and they think they have to know everything about everything. And you will not succeed that way.” Instead, she told the advisors that any new advisor should start doing what they’re passionate about: “You can’t be drinking from the fire hose in the very beginning at the start of your business.”
Minson adds that new advisors should look to their other jobs: At the outset of a travel advisor’s career, many new to the business do the job part-time, keeping their other career going. Look at that other job, and bring some of those skills into the travel business, explained Minson.
Authenticity and knowing one’s clients well are both imperative but so is having everything in a great customer relationship management (CRM) tool, according to Anderson. “The value of a travel agency is in the data,” he said. “It’s in the relationship and the data and the ability to kind of go back and forth between the two.”
As for return-on-investment (ROI), Anderson said that far too often it's something that people new-to-the-business look at and think, “Oh, that’s down the road. For now, I’m going to make a $500,000 marketing investment.” But that thinking is flawed. "ROI starts on the first day," he told the advisors.
New advisors also can get "really excited" and also "proud" when starting out in the agency business, thus creating a business dynamic where they “charge into it alone,” Anderson noted. "But the reality of it is that doing everything is really hard. It’s exhausting and we’re not good at everything.” He strongly advocated that new advisors find the right partners and suppliers to assist.
Also, “if you’re new and you’re not with a host, you’re making a big mistake, honestly, if you’re trying to do this by yourself,” said Scalzitti. “If you’re with a host, you automatically already get top commission tiers,” and also have access to marketing, technology, websites, social media programs and more. “Definitely, first, get with a host agency,” she recommended, and suggested the advisors go to the Cruise360 trade floor and "interview" the hosts, to see which one might make the best fit.
“Mentorship” is also important, believes Spears. Simply put: "build your confidence and use someone else’s professional knowledge.”
“What suggestions do you have for managing cash flow when this business is primarily commission-based?”
“Cash takes a while to get when you’re on commission only,” acknowledged Anderson. “You really want to make sure that you don’t ‘outspend’ yourself at the very beginning. You don’t need the fanciest laptop. You don’t need a super fancy marketing campaign. Start with the basics.” He said that this is why friends and family referrals are so important as advisors don’t need to spend a lot of money on marketing.
One thing that big companies do find challenging from a marketing perspective is social media, noted Anderson, “but as individuals, though, you ought to be rock stars at it. So, just don’t overextend yourself. Be patient. Commission checks take a while to receive.” And building commas into commission checks, "takes a little bit of time," he imparted.
One tip? While Anderson encouraged any new advisors to specialize, during the discussion he also told them that at the start of their travel advisor career, “don’t be afraid to sell a mix of products.” For example, selling a three- or five-day cruise at a cheaper price isn’t perhaps what advisors might desire to do in the long term. But early on—in helping get cash flow started—things are different. "Cash flow is a challenge when you’re getting started in this space," he said. “Those [short cruises] travel pretty quick,” he said. “They’re not a year out.” Commission, thus, arrives more quickly to help with cash flow.
Asking for a show of hands from those advisors currently working another job while they’re getting into selling travel," Scalzitti said, "Look at that, wow,” when a large number of hands went up. “We see this all the time at Cruise Planners, people who want to become a franchise owner, maybe they’re trying to wean themselves out of corporate America into their own entrepreneurship."
Her advice? "If you have a certain amount of money that you need to make in order to completely step out of your career and into this full time…think about what that number is that you need to live on for at least maybe nine months to 12 months,” she stressed. “Sock it away. All the money you make from travel or any extra money that you can afford to put to the side. Put that in a separate bank account or savings account.”
“Once you’ve hit that goal, she said, “I’m telling you … once you go full-time in this business, you’re going to see your sales and your dollars just skyrocket because you’re able to put your entire energy into the business. So, if you are one of those people looking to transition into this full time, that would be my advice to you.”
Concurring was Spears: "Know your number. Look at that number repeatedly, and make sure you’re making decisions that” reflect that. She also feels that a lot of new advisors tend to spend lots of money on things such as clients’ gifts. For those thinking of going full-time into the advisor profession, “you have to always know that number and set that goal,” Spears explained.
Stay Tuned for More
More "Travel Trade Titans" tips and insight—focused on marketing and technology—are coming in multiple ways here in Travel Agent. Meanwhile, check out Monday's "New in Cruise" update, which includes one of those marketing tidbits from Anderson.
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