There was so much good advice at the Avoya Million Dollar Expo in Seattle last week that I guess you just had to be there to absorb it all. But here are some highlights:
You don’t have a responsibility to tell your clients about commonly known issues like COVID, says travel attorney Mark Pestronk, but if you read in the trade press (where a client would not normally be) that a supplier is having financial problems, you do have a legal responsibility to advise your customers. Have them sign a disclaimer (there are several on his website, Law Offices of Mark Pestronk, P.C. – The Travel Law Office – Legal help for Corporate Travel – Online Travel Agencies – Home Based Independent Travel Contractors). And for heaven’s sake protect your assets from disgruntled clients and the IRS with an LLC. E&O insurance in most cases covers damages but not legal expenses, which can add up to $50,000 in a case that involves death or injury. Always sign contracts in the name of the LLC and not your own—and note that if you deduct travel expenses as a business expense, you are five times more likely to be audited if you file on Schedule C than if you file as an LLC.
Grow your business by creating a simple referral program of some kind. Reach out to your Pied Pipers and incentivize them to talk about you. And don’t forget to celebrate them, perhaps on a Facebook page for only your top customers. In any case, always send an email asking for feedback and for referrals when clients return from a trip. (Travel advisor Carri Kersten, of Carri Kersten Travel Design, told me that during Covid she raffled off a $10 gift certificate to a local business to anyone who shared her Facebook posts or tagged a friend. In return for an $80 expenditure over eight weeks, her followers quadrupled, from 500 to 2,100.)
Keep two questions top of mind when meeting with suppliers: Does my client base have synergy with your product? And, can you help me develop a client base that matches your product?
Celebrity’s new round of shorter Caribbean cruises that stop at Perfect Day in CocoCay offers travel advisors a great opportunity to try the ever-improving product. While you might not think of RCCL’s private island as a perfect fit for Celebrity clients, the itineraries included have seen a high number of immediate bookings as soon as they are announced.
Need a little inspiration? Envision how other people’s lives are better because you are living your dream, says keynote motivational speaker Lucia Onieva (Life and Relationship Coach | Lucia G Onieva | Life Aligned). Write down your dream and then “bring your people into your dream” by visualizing how it will positively your family and your customers.
Don’t overlook the value of selling air. Every single day travel advisors have to prove their value to their customers, and part of that proposition is having a conversation about air. Things will go wrong and you will have to be an advocate for your customers, but you can charge the customer and also retain them by being their airline and travel document advisor.