By the simple fact that you are reading this, I will assume that you do not want to be average. Maybe not even a little better than average. I hope you want to become known as a true expert in travel.

In his book “Talent Is Overrated,” Geoff Colvin concludes that the best in sports or in any profession are not at the top due to experience, innate abilities, intelligence or memory. He says that “the difference between expert performers and normal adults reflects a life long period of deliberate effort to improve performance in a specific domain.”

The good news is that becoming the best advisor is a matter of choice to make the effort to get there.

Daily Routines

The hard part is what that means – practice. Whether in sports or selling travel, it is about determining the daily routines to constantly improve. This is different than just “being” an advisor and thinking you will improve with time. No doubt, experience will be beneficial, but it’s not the path to the top.

Critical Skills

The author notes that in sports, practice falls into two categories – conditioning and critical skills. In travel, increasing product knowledge may be the conditioning element of practice. The critical skills would be the details and intricacies of marketing, networking, sales and customer service.

Setting Goals

Interestingly, Colvin concludes that the top performers do not set goals based on the outcome but on the process that will lead to the outcome.

In other words, instead of setting a goal to do $1 million in sales, the goal will be to learn all of the steps of the sales process and be completely prepared and comfortable with each step.

For travel advisors, it could mean making the goal to have detailed marketing plans with spelled out, consistent touch points; or to document what exactly you will do for a client once they book with you, which will make them ardent fans.

The most important trait among the best performers was an ability for self observation.

Constant review of the use of your time, the skills you need to work to improve may not be fun, but they are the fastest way to become a true expert!