Sales Coach: The Value of Experience in Travel Advising

Does experience outweigh energy? It has become a question this football season, as a retired quarterback has been brought back to play. This player is in his mid-40s, and because there’s no doubt that a professional footballer is considered “old” at this age, it leads me to ponder how the decision is made.

There are certainly many younger, faster and fitter choices for a new quarterback, but the team went with the formerly retired player — why?

It will still need to be proven, but I believe that teams would generally rather lean on those who have significant playing time under their belts than go with a rookie. After all, knowledge of the game could supersede all other physical attributes.

Does the same hold true for travel advisors? For 40 years now, I’ve heard that we need new and younger agents to enter the travel business. I believe there are many reasons why that has been a challenge, but one I had not considered is that those with the experience are simply more valuable — and it could be difficult for travel rookies to get playing time.

I’ve said that the travel industry is very rarely someone’s first career, but almost always their last. By that, I don’t mean that our business leads to a quick death; rather, once someone comes in, they realize what a wonderful place it is, and they don’t look anywhere else.

Does this mean that the folks becoming advisors today won’t stand a chance of competing with those who have years of experience? No. The best travel advisors work hard to create loyalty, so their clients aren’t going to run off with a new advisor on a whim. While those more experienced advisors may have a large slice of the pie today, the great news is that the pie is growing faster than those existing agents can handle. So, new advisors can establish and build their businesses by claiming their slice of the much larger pie.

But the real key to success is not to be concerned about how big someone else’s piece is. New and experienced advisors alike, I encourage you to collaborate with each other. And rookie advisors, be sure to learn from the older, experienced superstars so you can enjoy your slice for years to come.