Own the Fun, Own the Details, Own Your Power

The day-to-day of being a travel agent can be monotonous. There, I said it.

Yes, we know, we’re all selling the dream. It should be an adventure every day. But there’s always that bit of creep, as the reality of administrative duties and endless multitasking make this feel like a cliché, days-full-of-gray desk job.

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The same can be said for attending travel conferences. Yes, we’re doing a good thing by furthering our education. But if done wrong, it can merely feel like a bunch of destination specialists selling you on selling their dream as The Dream to your clients.

That’s what made Day One of the Agent@Home Travel Summit so refreshing. My boss, travAlliancemedia founder and CEO Mark Murphy touted the conference in his opening remarks, telling an exhibition hall full of work-at-home travel agents that the takeaways they get in Atlantic City will be different.

Then, the star speakers of the day set out to quickly prove Murphy’s point. This wasn’t a day of patting ourselves on the back. Sure, there were plenty of plaudits. But there were also a number of wakeup calls and reality checks.

It went beyond the surface kind of talk, like, “Remind yourself: We’re not digging ditches here. This is pretty cool.”

Speakers like Mark Travel president Mike Going went way deeper. This was the kind of speech that Going has likely given 2,000 times in his lengthy career. But there were few PowerPoint slides here.

Instead, Going spoke from the heart. He led by example in showing passion for what he does. He made his keynote speech fun, reminding the audience just how big our candy store is.

“This isn’t a job. It’s a way of life. We all know it. Being around this is addictive and awesome,” Going said of working in the travel industry.

But he wasn’t afraid to get real either. The message: We’re past adapting to the presence of the Internet. Saying that you’re losing business to Expedia is unacceptable.

“We own the advantage of knowledge,” Going said. “It’s fact. Travelers are looking for us. They want the conversation. It’s all about what you’re going to do with that advantage.”

Going also tossed out some stark statistics about agents losing repeat business at an alarming rate, of agents rarely customizing their clients’ adventures in advance.

“I get it. We’re all guilty of it. We thirst for a volume of sales, so we just sell the air, the land and the transfer,” Going said. “Slow down. If we don’t take advantage of the beauty of conversation, we’re ultimately leaving money on the table.”

Sometimes, the simplest advice escapes us, unless delivered with just the right tone. I watched industry stars like Going, Carnival president Christine Duffy and Royal Caribbean trade sales and national training director Laurie Bohn master that tone Wednesday.

“Asking questions, showing interest, knowing their kids’ ages, it all leads to a relationship that grows and sustains challenges like the Internet,” Going said. “Do you have a travel bucket list? What do you value from travel? Where do you like to eat locally? What kind of music do you listen to?

“Turn idle chit-chat into meaningful research. You build a connection and a trust. But just a couple of great qualifiers up front of a conversation can lead to so much knowledge.”

And that knowledge needs to carry through every step of the vacation.

“You have that conversation, you cover the basics. Then you come back for a second talk to build out the experiences. Don’t let them buy excursions or adventures locally once they get there,” he said. “Be flexible, but be there for them. Make those bookings. Know your destinations and you truly prove the power of the travel counselor. Do your job fully and it pays off in so many ways.”

Going was equally blunt about shooting for the moon with every sale.

“I know, we get pinched on every possible way to be cheap and find the deals,” Going said. “You know what? The best adventures, the true mantle photo makers, they’re worth every penny. It’s not about overextending your client financially. But if they’re they are ready for a vacation, cost won’t matter when they’re in the middle of a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Those same people that were being cheap, they come back to you, because you delivered every bit of the memories.”

There was a giddiness in all of the speakers’ voices. The glee is not gone, no matter how far they’ve climbed the corporate ladder. Fun has no pay grade in travel.

The information and the education followed. But especially for a group of at-home pioneers that run the risk of being a bit more isolated than the traditional brick-and-mortar agents, witnessing the lessons in person was so key.

They took insights from a distinguished group of all-stars in the industry. Each one of them letting their inner child talk up the magic of travel as if it was their first day of their lifelong adventure. Each one of them sharing their craft, seemingly effortless yet with intense attention to detail.

No, we’re not digging ditches here. But losing focus of the fun and the connection of a conversation can lead us from endless adventure and financial gain to a quick business death.

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