Tell Them the Truth!

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One of the biggest struggles I see facing millennials in the travel industry is a lack of transparency and inconsistency with the job title “travel agent.” Where does one go to find what it means to be an agent?

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A new agent’s first and likely only place to go would be their host agency. I built Epperly Travel because I saw such a need for many agents to be told the truth about the business — the good, the bad and the ugly.

Blood, Sweat and Tears
I’ve watched so many millennials enter the industry without a firm grasp of what to expect. While this is a dream job, you’re really dreaming if you don’t expect to pour your blood, sweat and tears into each and every moment you spend in the business, as I’m sure everyone reading this can attest to.

As agents, half of our job is to manage the expectations of our clients. But I have quickly learned that as I build a team, it is just as important that I manage the expectations of my agents.

Those new hires who enter the business without any mentorship are dropping like flies, and it worries me that we are losing good potential talent. It’s unfair to everyone to bring others on if you don’t have the time, tools or desire to train them to their full potential. So how do we combat the problem?

First, I think it’s important to DTR (define the relationship). I have to do this all too often in my personal life, which is another story for another time, but when it comes to working with millennials in a business relationship, this should be much more clear-cut than in my personal life — hopefully!

I’ve never been comfortable throwing around the words “boss” or “employee.” These terms create a schism that immediately makes a millennial shirk, including me. Instead, I’ve found myself in a leadership role in relation to my team — and they are just that, a team. The synergy that has taken place between them is something magical. They are learning from the steps that I take, but they are also turning toward one another to gain valuable experience.

Networking With Peers
When we cannot look up to a leader for training, we often reach out to our friends. I for one would have been lost without my peer group as I grew in this business.

I recently heard a story about an agency owner who got mad when an agent left, calling the consortium and blaming it for giving the agent too many opportunities and friends in other agencies. The owner ended the call promising that she would never allow any of her agents to attend consortium-sponsored functions again. Isn’t that a shame?

I’ve heard countless stories from my millennial peers who were trained and chained. Their talents were honed by a host agency and when they reached a point where they had outgrown their circumstances, they were terrified to leave because they knew they were shackled and indebted financially.

So I say to host agency owners: you own an agency, you cannot own people. This is an old-fashioned way of doing things. Millennials who don’t know how this industry works do not know how easily they can be taken advantage of.

Create Opportunities
I’m sure this opens the door as to whether millennials are using certain stepping stones to find that better opportunity — and I think a millennial’s behavior is an article for another time — but if this happens on more than one occasion, then it’s time to pause for a moment of self-reflection. It’s our job to create those better opportunities. And as with every good or bad trait in any sort of business, it starts at the top.

So be transparent with your new hires. They need to know about the 5 a.m. phone calls over missed connections or the gut-wrenching feeling when you catch a mistake on final documents. They need to know that they will have an introduction to everyone who can help them learn on the supplier side, because those relationships are invaluable. They need to be told what you wish you would have known when you started ever so many years ago.

Don’t make them flounder and learn on their own. Don’t hide the education, connections and advice that have gotten you to where you are today. Give them the tools they need. If you cannot, then reconsider your decision to add millennials to your team.