Do you sometimes feel as if you’re in a bit of a loop, dealing with the same types of enquiries and same types of customers again and again and again?
Well, to celebrate Groundhog Day in the US, we’re going to get all repetitive on you, repetitive on you, repetitive on you (SLAP!) and focus on some of the most common types of customers and enquiries you’re likely to come across as a travel agent.
Are you ready? Are you ready? Are you #* (SLAP) …
“Oh, I want to book in those flights to London from $1,499*”
Ah, if only flight prices were static and remained the same price all-year-round, regardless of the seasonality or how far in advance you book them.
Thankfully, most of us already know this. But some poor souls are still in the dark about this one…
“No, sorry mate, notice how there’s the word ‘from’ lodged in there? It’s just next to the price, you can’t miss it. Now, let me get out my dictionary – I just want to be sure here – but it looks as if the word ‘from’ means – in this particular context – that $1,499 is the STARTING price, the lowest it could be.
“And notice how there is one of those ‘*’ after the price? That means conditions apply…
“And for this particular deal, departures need to be between April 21 to June 8. You want to depart in December…
Customer: yeah but can’t I get that price in December? I don’t have to depart on the 21st of December exactly. We can try the 20th or the 22nd too….
*Face palm*
Does that “4 nights in NYC for $299” deal include flights?
The suits up in marketing really are to blame here, but these shop-front signs do bring in the walk-ins, so we guess that makes up for having to deal with these kinds of enquiries on a daily basis.
“No dear customer, flights aren’t included in that $299 deal.”
“And no, it’s not deceptive. Do you even see the word flight on that sign? No, it’s not there isn’t it…it just says “nights” doesn’t it.
“Oh, but you thought we rated airlines by stars now? That’s a fair assumption to make…NOT!
The “oh, you wouldn’t believe the morning I’ve had today” customer type.
For some people, travel agents aren’t just there to sell travel – they’re also there to talk to, available during office hours for a good old chat.
It’s true, a part of me feels bad for these people – maybe they’re lonely and maybe no one listens to them anymore. You can almost smell a whiff of underlying craziness in them, too…
Still, it’s frustrating dealing with such people, people who have no qualms in telling you their life story – in detail – when you have heaps of work to do.
Look out newbies: there’s a tradition in the industry to palm these types of “enquiries” to fresh travel agent meat.
You’ve been warned…
So can I get that in a quote please?
You can spot these customers from a mile away.
And if your eye sight isn’t what it used to be (thanks computer screens and Galileo, with your small text) you can spot them when they’re sitting in front of you on their phones, looking on skyscanner.com, throwing different dates at you.
They have price beat written all over their face. And you seem to see that face a lot – at least in retail travel.
You know it like the back of your hand…
Of course, it’s totally up to you whether you want to spend the time to type out that quote. You may be able to make a decent sized commission out of them once you throw in insurance, accommodation, a tour here and there.
But you travel agents know what I’m talking about, right?
Do you have anything cheaper?
After the necessary small talk (Hi, how are you?) and the pertinent travel details (where are you going? when?) are out of the way, this question is likely to insert itself into the consultation.
Do. You. Have. Anything. Cheaper?
Sometimes you do, sometimes you don’t.
The times you do, they don’t want to fly that particular airline, or that route.
And the times you don’t, they point to the sign board behind your head that has EXACTLY their city and EXACTLY their price smeared all over it.
“Why can’t I get that price,” they say.
It’s at this stage that you refer back to your dictionary, point out ‘from’ and the *, and take a another sip of red wine in the store back office…
