Krissy Yoder. (Source: Krissy Yoder)
Success Stories focus on veteran travel advisors and how they achieved success. Here’s a look at Krissy Yoder, owner of Be Our Guest Travel Company.
How did you get your start as a travel advisor?
I owe it all to my husband – he saw me helping friends plan their vacations, staying up late to create custom itineraries for them and he wisely said, ‘You should figure out a way to make money doing this.’ My previous vocation was an elementary school teacher and I was staying home with three kids, so I started researching. Through a college sorority sister, I started working as a travel advisor with a large host agency –and the rest is history! I very quickly got much busier than I ever expected. A ‘hobby’ that started as a mom working at the kitchen table soon morphed into joining forces with my sister, Kerry Alfrey, to open our agency in the fall of 2014.
How did you build your business over the years?
Kerry and I never planned to hire travel advisors to work with us; we had a great working relationship with me selling travel and talking to clients and Kerry doing all of the ‘back end’ work. But then we had a few clients who were moms themselves ask us about our jobs and it grew from there. Working in travel isn’t always flexible, but it’s portable and we’ve found that there are so many bright, hard-working women who left the workforce after having children who have an incredible skillset for being a successful travel advisor. This vocation allows them – and me – to be able to work from home and be fully present for our children while also helping clients.
When we started working in travel, we found that we had to do everything on our own: Create every proposal, every itinerary, every email, every piece of information that we send to clients to ensure they had a successful vacation. Kerry’s strength is efficiency, so we felt that if we created all of these things to be efficient, why not share them with others? Our advisors can focus on servicing clients and making sales, as we have a robust library of tools and templates for them so they can do their jobs easier without recreating the wheel. Having systems and resources in place attracts advisors.
Further, we found that investing in our advisors has helped us to grow our business. We want our advisors to know that we are here for them to help them with issues and escalate when they need it [so they can] feel confident that they work with a strong team they can rely on for information and support.
What characteristics make you a successful advisor?
The desire to always want to be better. This means constantly evaluating things – our workflow, resources and our tools – and making adjustments as needed. This is not a vocation where you can ‘settle’ and keep doing things the way they were always done. You have to adapt, be willing to make changes and listen and learn from others.
What have your greatest challenges been?
Aside from the pandemic, which is likely the biggest challenge that all advisors have faced, time is a challenge. There’s only one of me and only 24 hours in a day. The ability to trust others and find ways to assign tasks and projects to other people on our team is a challenge. But the most important thing about our agency is the people I work with are the absolute best people, and that’s more important that any system or tool.
What have your greatest accomplishments been?
I could say awards or recognition, but truly, the greatest accomplishment is that we have paved the way for women to contribute to their family’s income. They can do this at home, without paying for daycare and be fully present with their children. Fifty-seven women work at Be Our Guest Travel Company, either as advisors or support staff. The average advisor on our team is selling $350,000 a year in travel. This means they are engaged in their work – it’s not a hobby. They are professional and they are excellent at what they do. I am so incredibly proud of that!
What tips can you provide advisors new to the industry?
There are many agency models out there – take the time to do your research and find the one that’s the best fit for you. Listen to others and what they have to say. Engage with your colleagues. Sales skills are important. Communication skills are important. Do what you’ll say you’ll do. Let your heart for service shine through so your clients know that you care about them. Follow up with clients. Use your CRM. From the very beginning, work as though you have high volume so you can be prepared for it. Relationships are important. And I’ll say it again – follow up!
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