President's Message
The more you adopt an "all things to all people" stance in the marketplace, the more likely you are to fall into the cheap-travel trap.

SPECIALIZATION IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS
By Gary M. Fee, OSSN President

The more you adopt an "all things to all people" stance in the marketplace, the more likely you are to fall into the cheap-travel trap. The best way to prevent that from happening is to define yourself as a "specialist." By doing so, you do not necessarily cut yourself off from all other areas of the travel business, but you do provide a focus - both for yourself and your clients. By specializing, you make it easier for yourself, since it takes less time to gain an in-depth knowledge about one destination or mode of travel than about dozens. At the same time, you provide your potential customer with a convenient way to remember you - "Oh, yes, she's the one who books all those wonderful cruises!"

Businesses of all kinds specialize, and even businesses which seem very specific indeed have further specialized within their own market niches. It's called "positioning" by the MBA marketing types and it works like this: Cadillac and Harley-Davidson both sell something that will get you from point A to point B. But the similarity ends there. Harley-Davidson specializes in motorcycles. But saying that doesn't mean to imply that a chopped hog from Harley and a rice-burner from Kawasaki are one and the same vehicle. That's because Harley-Davidson has "positioned" itself very precisely in the marketplace. Their products appeal to a different kind of person and for different reasons than do Kawasaki's sleek racing models. Your niche should be your passion. What is it that you like to really sell in the travel business?

The fascinating thing about positioning is that, whether you are aware of it or not, you will "position" yourself in your travel business. Over time, the people who deal with you will develop a "picture" of your business in their minds, just as they have a picture in their minds about what Harley-Davidson represents to them. Since you're going to be positioned anyway, why not spend a little time thinking about it?

You may survey your available options and choose to specialize from the beginning of your travel selling career. Or you may begin to specialize gradually as you feel your way to your niche in the travel business.

However you do it, the key to specialization is knowledge - you gain an indepth familiarity with your area of specialization through a combination of study and experience. That means you become better equipped to advise your clients, offer them a wider range of options, alert them to great deals, or warn them of things to steer clear of. But specialization has another, equally important, benefit: You increase your earning power!

That's because you work more efficiently. Someone who knows all the ins and outs of booking a scuba holiday will earn their $200 or $300 or $400 commission a lot faster than the person who is making this kind of booking for the first time. Once your suppliers know that you are specializing in their destination and your sales begin to increase watch you commission increase from the standard 10% up to 15% and higher and even more with groups!

Moreover, by specializing you increase the viability of charging fees for your services. When you are obviously knowledgeable it is easier for the customer to perceive value. You will find consumers will pay more money and go out of their way to do business with a "specialist" as opposed to a general sales agent. Developing your "niche" market should be one of your first priorities in the travel industry.