Secrets of the top-performing Travel Counsellors
Success as a travel agent can be measured by customer feedback, referrals and turnover. This group of homeworkers has all three down to a fine art and here they tell us how
Personal service by word-of-mouth recommendations is typical of Travel Counsellors’ ethos, but some of its agents particularly excel. The homeworking company’s recent conference recognised the best of the best across various key performance indicators and softer skills, as well as financial success. Here, these award winners share their secrets.
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
Michelle Wilson won a sports car at last November’s conference for being the leisure agent with the top customer satisfaction score. Besides routinely checking clients in for flights online, Wilson helped them over the pandemic by ordering PCR tests and completing arrival forms.
Recently she went above and beyond by spending 10 hours on a multi-part rebooking for customers stranded by snow and by driving a client from Cambridge to Heathrow to ease them into a special family Christmas in New Zealand.
She believes most TCs give similarly high levels of service, but adds: “I’m very, very lucky they all fill in their questionnaires. I do make sure I say they’re going to get one.”
Managing expectations is important, Wilson advises. “I try to always speak to new customers so they understand how we work; we’re not necessarily always the cheapest, I’ll do the best price I can, but they’ll be really looked after.”
She adds: “If somewhere is not nice, I’ll say so, even if I’ll earn less from a different hotel.” Client feedback from her post-holiday follow-up calls proves invaluable for informing such recommendations.
Many new clients discover Wilson through their friends’ responses to her Facebook posts. “Make sure you’re posting on your Facebook page every day… more people will see the comments satisfied customers have written,” she advises.
Naturally, she posted her car win, with a big “thank you” to those who rated her so highly. She says: “When you get recognised like that, you want to do better, and I think that’s something Travel Counsellors are very good at. I’m not one of their huge top sellers, so it’s nice to have an award for something else, though my sales are good, I’ve done £1.7 million this year.”
MOST RECOMMENDED
Cruise specialist Emma Otter calls it “such a compliment” to be named the Model TC, thanks in part to receiving the most referrals. Travel Counsellors can track where their referrals come from through the Phenix booking platform. It also notifies them about dormant clients and booking patterns.
Making notes in Phenix of anniversaries, grandchildren and niche interests has also helped Otter make the personal holiday recommendations that help her earn referrals. “Phenix is really clever, there’s such a lot of information and it’s improving all the time,” she says.
Many of Otter’s referrals happen organically. A couple delayed on a cruise when the pandemic began were put in touch by fellow passengers and became regular clients. Another newbie asked to join Otter’s mailing list following an in-flight conversation with one of her fans.
Travel Counsellors’ email signatures point out their business is based on referrals and Otter shares electronic business cards via WhatsApp. The homeworker also proactively asks for referrals, having got into the habit through attending BNI (Business Networking International) meetings. As she confirms bookings she typically asks: “Is there anyone else you think might need my help?”
Last year she sent miniature Christmas trees to those who gave her the most recommendations. Occasionally she’ll incentivise larger referrals with Travel Counsellors vouchers, and she discounted the cabin of a cruise blogger client who gave her 15 referred cabin sales. “She trusts that I will look after those customers and it reflects well on her,” Otter points out.
The TC now employs an admin assistant to help free her to “focus on the fluffy stuff”, like leaving ‘Happy cruise day!’ voicemail messages. She says: “As the volumes get bigger, I don’t want those nice touches to go. You don’t want people to say, ‘she was so good before she got so busy’.”
TURNOVER TRIUMPH
Among a personal hat-trick of awards, Chris D’Arcy was named Top Performing Global TC. The corporate agent had become a Gold TC just seven months after joining in 2018, but booked nothing for 16 months over the pandemic. He turned things around by teaming up with another top performer, Gary Fitzgibbon.
Fitzgibbon began by cooperating with Travel Counsellors’ business development managers who source work for the corporate side. He gained a sports marketing client in Surrey then, through referrals, similar clients in the Middle Eastern and later Florida, often handling golf events.
“I was working too many hours and I come from a background of working with small teams, so I approached D’Arcy to buddy up with me,” Fitzgibbon explains. “We got a lot of business off the back of establishing unusual hours, especially as guys out in Saudi like to WhatsApp you 24/7.”
The pair now have four other TCs regularly supporting them on a project basis and two others more occasionally.
Shared systems and no need for payroll or National Insurance are big advantages. The team liaises through WhatsApp and follows a guide to ensure consistency with email style, ticket presentation and response times.
D’Arcy says: “To the client, it makes us look bigger than we actually are. [Our US client] thought we were a huge team because we were always responsive.”
Fitzgibbon adds: “The scale of our business now is within the tens of millions of pounds turnover so it’s as big as most TMCs could handle, that’s why we’re now scaling further. I don’t think there’s any barrier for TCs to say, ‘we can handle your business,’ because we can scale quickly, we’ve got the tech to do it, there’s access to an online tool if you want it.”
D’Arcy concludes: “It’s been a phenomenal year for us. It’s nice also to get that recognition from head office.”
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