The old axiom is true…time is money. And it is SO true in the travel industry. If you have not analyzed your cost per transaction, shame on you; and go do it soon. You will be surprised at how many sales you handle that earn a pittance, or worse, a loss. Clients have a way of wasting your time and costing you money if you let them. Here are four of the worst offenders!
Here’s Exactly What I Want!
This client comes to you with very specific ideas for a trip. He is not interested in hearing any of your suggestions for fear of being up-sold. You work to put it all together and send it back to the client who “wants to think it over” and then disappears. Emails go into some Internet abyss. Phone calls go unanswered. In the end, the client calls back and tells you they booked a completely different trip than discussed with some Internet site.
I Don’t Want To Bother You
This client is one of the worst. They come to you armed with documents to discuss a trip they are planning. They have pamphlets for day trips, airline specials and a dozen different hotels and need some help sorting through it all. On a rare occasion, this client will buy and comes to the realization that travel planning can be complex. But often, this client will get back to you and profusely thank you for all the great information, and they booked that great trip online because they didn’t want to bother you. I wonder if surgeon’s patients do this.
I Have A Friend
This is a tough one to sniff out. The client appears very interested, allows themselves to be qualified, and asks and answers the right questions. The sale looks imminent. When you get back in touch, you learn that their yoga instructor has a travel website, and they booked it on there, and they only came to you to make sure it all made sense and they were booking the correct thing.
Casper
This client is the absolute worst. You work together on a trip. There is a lot of back and forth working out the details. And one day, you call to get a bit more information. And they ghost you. When you finally get in touch with this client…wait….you never get in touch with this client. They simply disappear. Emails are not returned. Phone calls go unanswered. Even a letter mailed has no response.
Many of these can be mitigated with upfront fees. But as we all know, they are not universal and sometimes do not make sense. But all four of these clients will waste your time and ultimately cost you money. Why work with them when you can be working with a client who will buy? I wish I had the answers. I wish these clients had some special identifier. But they don’t, so all we can do is look for the signs!
