Cindy McCabe. (Source: Cindy McCabe)
Success Stories focus on veteran travel advisors and how they achieved success. Here’s a look at Cindy McCabe, owner of Bethany Travel.
How did you get your start as a travel advisor?
I had worked for 25 years after high school (did college accounting courses at night) in sales and bookkeeping and like everyone else, I thought it was fun to plan my vacation. I would plan our friends’ group vacation every year and go into Bethany Travel to actually book the trip. More friends started calling for me to help them book their trips so I started working part time as an outside agent for another agency who was not in our area – I didn’t want to step on the owner of Bethany Travel’s toes! – and it was basically a hobby I did at night.
After more and more calls, my husband said, ‘I think you have a knack for this, why don't you open your own storefront?’ So, I did in Millsboro, Del., and three months later, the owner of Bethany Travel called to see if I wanted to take over her business so she could retire and move out of state with her family.
Within three months of opening my first storefront, I had two – totally not in the plans but too good of an opportunity to pass up. I operated both storefronts for about five years and finally had the chance to merge both businesses into a larger storefront in Millsboro, which had become a growing area 30 minutes from Bethany Beach.
How did you build your business over the years?
The Millsboro area has grown tremendously since I opened my original storefront in 2005 and many new communities were built (and are still building!), which has attracted many people to our area, formerly known as ‘Slower Lower Delaware.’ Since many of the communities are golf communities, retirees and families from other states have moved to our area and greatly impacted my business since they prefer working with a storefront agency.
I joke with some clients that stop in to make a payment and tell them, ‘You know we can do that over the phone or by email,’ and they answer, ‘I’m retired, I like coming by your office!’
What characteristics make you a successful advisor?
I think because I was a ‘traveler’ before I was a ‘travel advisor’ has made a big difference. Since I started my agency, I have always had a 24/7 emergency cell number for our clients when traveling since most things that can go wrong do not happen during 9-5 Monday to Friday, which was the normal hours of the original Bethany Travel. That gives our clients peace of mind when traveling.
I also am very conscientious and since I grew up here and ‘everyone knows everyone,’ I have always stood behind my agency. If a mistake was made (there are very few but they happen), the agency takes care of it, usually without the client even knowing. Mistakes that cost you money are not fun but they definitely won’t happen again so I believe we live and learn.
What have been your greatest challenges been?
Keeping a handle on a rapidly growing business with a small team, especially after COVID. I also love to sell and was told at the start of my full-time career that an owner of an agency cannot be a top producer. I have proved that theory wrong and have added assistants to my team who help me and my other storefront agents so much that I don’t know what we ever did without them! Work-life balance is hard sometimes, especially in the busy winter months, but I’m working on that.
What have your greatest accomplishments been?
I am proud to be a chairman’s Royal Club Elite Agent with Sandals & Beaches and in 2019, Bethany Travel was named one of the top 10 travel agencies selling Sandals and Beaches. I am also proud of my team and I feel they work by example. We truly are a team, and that’s important to me.
My greatest accomplishments are my incredible daughter, Lindsay, and two sweet grandkids, Kyler (5) and Kynlee (2), and celebrating my 37th wedding anniversary with my husband Jerry on May 2. My family loves traveling with me and hopefully will be part of Bethany Travel when the time is right.
What tips can you provide advisors new to the industry?
Know what you sell and sell what you love! Put the work into it, travel to the places you sell and treat every vacation as if it were your own.
A wise mentor once said, ‘If you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life,’ and I truly believe that!
Take time for yourself and family. Taking time for yourself is hard since time is precious and our time in the office goes by so fast. I’m working on that too!
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