Tips to Avoid the Common Mistakes Travel Agents Make

Whether you're brand new to the industry or an experienced agent looking to further elevate your business, it's important to know some of the most common pitfalls that threaten travel agents' success and how to avoid them. Here are some routine missteps agents make every day.

Not having a user-friendly website in 2019 is a big mistake that agents can easily remedy given all of the affordable website-building tools available these days. Agent Studio is a great place to start as you'll have a professional and customizable website up and running in no time.

Typos are commonplace in any line of work but spelling and grammatical errors can send the wrong message to your clients. Always give your emails and any other written communication an extra proofread and utilize tools like Grammarly to catch any mistakes you might otherwise miss. It's also a good idea to double-check things like geography and to look something up if you're not sure to avoid making an embarrassing error.

Social media platforms are flooded with political commentary and other polarizing opinions and negativity but you can ensure that doesn't affect your business by separating your personal platforms from your brand.

Time management is vital and there aren't enough hours in the day to spend as much time as you might like on each client but there are easy things you can do to make a client feel valued. "I always send an e-card to say Bon Voyage-and then one to say Welcome Home-their flights are on my calendar. Takes one minute. Not an overt marketing tool but still a nice touch that they really like," says AGENTatHOME Community member Carol S.

Finding your niche may seem daunting when you're first getting started as you'll likely be looking for any and all business. However, expertise is a key aspect of the value agents provide travelers so it's never too early to start working toward a specialty.

It's not the end of the world if you've forgotten to get back to a client or made a mistake so don't put off that phone call or email to your client. Waiting will only make it worse and hurts your credibility. Be honest with your clients and they'll not only appreciate it but are likely to forgive you faster than you might think. After all, you're only human.

There's a difference between being a great agent and getting taken advantage of so don't be afraid to be firm with clients by giving them deadlines and having expectations of them. Your business is your livelihood so know when to draw the line.

Don't put off important research or educational experiences and bypass opportunities to go on FAM trips even if you're just getting your business off of the ground. Your knowledge and experiences are another huge part of what makes you so valuable to your clients and they expect you to have the answers or at least be able to get them in a timely fashion.

There's nothing wrong with unplugging from time to time but an excellent agent makes sure they're always available to their client or can be easily contacted. Being a real human being that your clients can go to for assistance is another factor giving travel agents the edge over travel booking websites.