Suffice it to say that Judy Nidetz loves being a travel advisor. "Every single day when the phone rings it's exciting because I never know what the next request is going to be," she said. "It's using my brain power and my knowledge to make people dream's come true. And that's really exciting."
Nidetz, a travel advisor with Travel Experts in Chicago, also loves working from home, something she has done as independent contractor for 23 years. "I enjoy the freedom of being a sole proprietor of my own business and being free to make business decisions as I see fit. I am in control of my own destiny," said Nidetz.
Nidetz, however, was not always an agent. "I had taken time to have my children from my original career, which was as a medical technologist," she said. "I decided to get back into the workforce but didn't want to go back to doing lab work."
She also had first-hand experience dealing with clients, albeit it of a different kind. "I had experience as a technical specialist for a medical marketing research company," she said. "I learned a lot about speaking with the client over the phone and how to listen and ask questions about their equipment. So I decided to go back to college and attended travel school."
While there, Nidetz learned about destinations, how to write airlines tickets and how to book travel through the CRS. "Part of my training was to become an intern at a local travel agency, which I did," she said.
The agency hired Nidetz as an independent contractor immediately. "I started selling right away, using the pay phone in the school I attend during breaks from classes," she said. "I never looked back."
Nidetz sent letters to every person she knew - the drycleaner, insurance agent, snow plower and personal physicians - telling them she was open for business and asking them to please give her a try. "I always spoke about travel and about what I do for a living when attending various clubs I was involved with and also volunteer positions I held in my children's schools," she said. "All I had to do was ask, and the business started flowing."
Eight years ago Nidetz made what she considers one of the best professional decisions of her career: She joined host agency Travel Experts. "I really enjoy working with Travel Experts because I like their business model," she said, adding that the company operates on a fee-based model rather than a commission split, which resulted in a 40 percent raise when she joined the company.
Another benefit of joining Travel Experts was the host agency's affiliation with Virtuoso. "It gives me the ability to make personal contact with the suppliers that I use on a daily basis - so I have more clout in the industry," she said. Nidetz is also able to provide better value and rates for her customers thanks to Virtuoso, and those clients not only return but recommend her to friends. "All of my business has been built on referrals," she said.
She calls each and every client after a trip to thank them. "This helps me keep up to date on destinations that I sell and also shows the clients I care about them and their happiness," she said. "If there was any type of issue or problem on the trip, I always follow-up the best I can and I don't hesitate to ask suppliers for remuneration if it is warranted."
As far as suppliers go, Nidetz never sells a hotel or vendor that she hasn't experienced personally or learned about from a client or fellow agent. "One of the biggest frustrations I have, as a travel agent, is not having any control over what happens to the client the minute they walk out their front door," she said. "Using knowledgeable, reliable vendors at least pushes this unknown in the right direction."
Nidetz has also made it a point to establish personal relationships with both clients and suppliers. "In this world of email and automation, it is of the utmost important for my clients to know that I am here and available to them at the other end of the phone, to help them in times of emergency or to ask the simplest of questions," she said.
In the final analysis, it's all about doing right by the client. "I learned to go the extra step and extra mile with every single trip I book," she said. "Even if it's a small budget, I treat every client like they booked a million-dollar trip."
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