Sometimes it's hard to find a balance between offering clients the best options and sounding too "salesy." You know what would make the trip amazing for your clients, but they don't always feel they need extra amenities and think you're only trying to upsell the trip.
Things such as upgrading the room category or view, purchasing a seat on an airplane or paying additional for a private transfer instead of having to share with strangers are all wonderful things to let your clients know about, but they may see them as unnecessary.
Over time, you'll get to know your clients and figure out which ones prefer to have the extras and which ones choose to travel simple without additional upgrades. These are great things to note in their file so you'll remember when booking their future trips.
Although offering these things is optional and you'll figure out when to do so and when it's not needed, offering travel insurance to your clients does not fall in this category. Trip protection should always be offered to clients no matter which type of trip they are booking.
Aside from a select few tour operators-often ones that travel to exotic or unfamiliar places-travel insurance is usually not mandatory for the traveler. However, offering the option to your clients should be. In many cases, travelers don't even know they have this option, or sometimes it doesn't cross their minds.
Most clients will be appreciative that you suggested it, but you'll have a few who think it's just something else you're trying to upsell. In this case, you should let them know that your agency highly recommends trip protection at all your clients.
Some people aren't familiar with what it all covers, so it's nice to go over the coverage with them. You can point out the more common incidents such as flight delays and lost baggage and also more major occurrences such as medical emergencies. Most insurance plans offer a link with all of the plan details, so you can always send this to your client as well if they prefer to look it over more thoroughly.
Can you think of a time in the past when your traveler would have had a terrible experience if it wasn't for travel insurance? Try to have a few of these instances on hand to share with skeptical clients who don't think having travel insurance is very important.
Many tour operators offer insurance to bundle with the vacation packages. Other times travel agents will need to look at outside options such as Travel Guard or Allianz Global Assistance. Try to become familiar with all the various options so you're able to choose the plan that works best for your clients-allowing them to be stress-free when they travel.
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