Travel agents are being advised to offer unique and highly personalised service to their clients in order to increase their earning potential.
Kirsten Hughes, Travel Counsellors’ Commercial Director made the statement at the company’s annual conference held in Canberra last week.
During her speech she told agents that they need to master three areas in order to increase their earnings.
Kristen Hughes talks about building client relationships at the annual Travel Counsellors’ conference.
They include taking control of the way the business is run; utilising in-house technology; and providing customers with unique and highly personal service.
She reminded agents to go ‘above and beyond’ for the clients, because the better service you deliver the more likely they will return.
“You are not the internet and any client that is using your service doesn’t want to research and book their travel for themselves.”
Kirsten Hughes, Travel Counsellors Commercial Director
Her statement coincides with roomsxml’s Mark Luckey’s tips for agents on becoming useful for travellers in the digital age.
The Asia Pacific MD for roomsxml said as the industry continues to shift, agents need to learn to stay relevant in the high-speed information era.
In the story, he offers various ideas to engage with clients and ensure they come back to book.
Kirsten’s advice coincides with this week’s Mark Luckey column offering tips on being useful in the digital age.
Meanwhile, Kirsten also told agents about how the company was focused on providing the best tools, training and technology to help agents deliver the very best service to their customers.
This includes the development of its own in-house dynamic packaging system Phenix – an integrated ‘shopping basket’ quote system that enables agents to track all enquiries, build complex itineraries and create and track quotes using the company’s newly redesigned documentation.
She showcased how by utilising the system, agents can still sell the best products and prices to their customers, whilst dramatically increasing their own earning potential, citing a recent example of an Australian Travel Counsellor who started using the Phenix system and made the same amount of money in three months than they did in the entire previous year.
Travel Counsellor based in Melbourne, James King, said Kirsten’s speech really inspired him to set tasks such as reviewing margins and figures and making adjustments to boost profitability.
“The only thing holding me back is myself!”
James King, Travel Counsellor in Melbourne
Last week at the conference, Travel Counsellors’ boss Steve Byrne, told the group it’s their time to shine with new intiatives to capture the ‘huge potential’ in the Australian market.
Click here to read on and see images from the event.
