Can this Trip be saved / Managing your Travel Business / Travel Selling 101
by John Hawks

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Here's how you can help your clients further:

If they're choosing a certain sailing because it includes their favorite ports, remind them that the cruise line has the right to make schedule changes without notice. Many consumers don't know this -- and your upfront warning may prepare them for the unexpected news if changes do happen on their cruise.

Watch your fax and email for schedule change notices sent by the cruise lines, so that you can be the first one to tell your clients what's happening.

Re-confirm the details with the cruise line just before your clients leave, and update them if you've learned about any changes.

And, remind your clients that these extra steps you're taking demonstrate the added value you bring to them -- value that they won't always receive by booking cruises with your online competitors!

Managing Your Travel Business

It's hard to argue with Jack Welch.

As the former CEO of General Electric, he revolutionized the way American industry does business -- introducing new concepts such as Six Sigma quality improvement techniques and the strategy of exiting markets in which his company was not the # 1 or # 2 player.

And, in the process, he earned millions of dollars and enjoys a pretty good retirement these days!

In his latest book "Winning," Welch throws out an interesting thought:

Consumers strongly prefer a consistent experience from the businesses they buy from -- not great experiences balanced by a few screw-ups.

Think about the next time you take a flight. Would you rather fly with an airline that arrives as promised 90 percent of the time . . . or an airline that actually gets in ahead of schedule 50 percent of the time, but is delayed an hour or more the other half of the time?

As Welch says, the name of the game is consistency -- not averages.

For OSSN agents, this lesson means taking a discriminating look at what and how we sell to our clients. Do we answer our phones and return calls promptly? Do we reply to emails as promised? Do clients receive their travel documents on time, every time?

In some cases, Welch's advice means we must simplify our businesses. It's better to sell one cruise line or one tour operator or one specialty type of trip, and do that very well time after time -- instead of trying to be everything to everyone and delivering mediocre results for our clients.

"Variation [in service levels] is evil," Welch says. That means Job # 1 for us in June is figuring out what types of travel products we sell consistently well . . . and doing a lot more of that this year!

Travel Selling 101

Ever heard the phrase "TMI" ("Too Much Information")?

It's a trendy way of saying you understand the gist of what someone is telling you, without having to hear every single detail that's involved.

Your mother-in-law may share a completely graphic description of her recent gall bladder surgery, for example, instead of simply saying, "Everything went fine at the hospital -- I'm home now."

Or, when you've walked into the local furniture store to buy just a sofa, the pushy salesperson tries instead to upsell you by describing every detail of how the matching loveseat was designed and manufactured. "Honestly, I only want the sofa," you tell him -- but he keeps on talking.

Sometimes, we travel agents are guilty of TMI with our clients -- especially home-based agents like OSSN members who try so hard to delivery personalized, hands-on service to our clients.

We grow so nervous when we're closing the sale that, to avoid any pauses in the conversation, we just keep talking -- giving the clients way too much detail about the cruise line's history and the ship's construction and even descriptions of competing cruise lines. Pretty soon, we may actually talk the prospect out of buying the cruise at all!

What's troubling is that TMI is tough to recognize, because we actually think we're being helpful -- giving clients the information they need to understand how good a deal we're giving them. Instead, we're driving some sales right out the door (and straight to travel Web sites).

How can we avoid TMI?

1. Listen, listen -- and then talk.

Remember that we have two ears and one mouth, and we should use them in that proportion!

Travel agents who are good closers ask their clients lots of questions -- "Describe the perfect cruise, in your mind." or "What appeals to you so much about this cruise line newspaper ad you saw?" or "How much time do you want to spend with your kids onboard, and how much 'alone time' do you want with your spouse?"

Then, they answer those questions based on their travel expertise -- and they ask more questions. That's how they probe their clients' desires and defuse objections before they arise.

2. In a sales conversation, silence can be golden.

Famed national sales trainer Tom Hopkins puts it this way: Ask for the sale -- and then shut up. He who speaks first, loses.

What he's saying is that, once we've asked for the initial deposit, we should be quiet so that our clients feel a subtle pressure to say "Yes" to the great deal we've just offered. If we continue talking, we remove that pressure from the clients, making it easier for them to say "No, thanks."

Remember: Listen, listen, and then talk. And, after you've asked for the sale, be quiet and wait for the "Yes" that's on the way . . .