Dear Tammy: My travel agency business is growing quickly, which is great but I'm now beginning to notice that there are many different types of client personalities. What's the best way to deal with this?
Tammy: First of all, good for you! I truly love hearing from travel agents who are achieving their goals and finding the success they're looking for when working in the travel agency industry. I think this is one of the most rewarding industries to be a part of and I'm really happy for your success so far, as there's surely much more success that will be coming your way soon!
When it comes to dealing with clients, yes, there are definitely a lot of different types of personalities that travel agents will need to deal with when working in the travel industry, as the majority of people will travel at one time in their life or another.
What's important is for you to recognize that people are indeed different and therefore different clients are going to require different approaches, which you now already know, so great! And know that by your recognizing that treating your clients all the same is not a good idea, you're taking the steps necessary to become the best travel agent you can possibly be. Congrats!
So what's the best way you can start learning how to deal with your client's personalities? Start taking notes. Notes on their overall demeanor, their behavior, their outlook, the way they treat you, etc. Basically, anything you feel is worthy of taking a note on.
The following are some more common types of client personalities travel agents often deal with.
-The Nervous or Afraid Traveler. Sometimes travelers are afraid to visit a particular destination. This is usually because they heard something on the news about violence or crime in the area, or because of potential bad weather conditions that may be predicted for a particular area, i.e. hurricane, flood.
How to deal? Offer them safety statistics; be comforting
-The Complaining Traveler. Some people find it necessary to complain about everything.
How to deal? Ignore the complaints and instead focus on their underlying message, then be sure to repeat back what they've said so they feel heard.
-The Too Agreeable Traveler.Low budget travelers often make up this group of travelers as they've saved for a long time and are looking forward to their vacation.
How to deal? Double check everything! to make sure what they're agreeing to is indeed exactly what they want.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
