Become a Home Based Travel Agent

ARE YOU FOCUSED?
By: Cory Andrichuk

Are you looking for more customers?  Then you need to focus on looking for more clients. 

Are you interested in selling more groups?  Then you need to focus on group business. 

Are you looking for more happiness?  Then you need to focus on happiness. 

There is great power in focusing on what you want.  We’ve all heard   about the “Power of Focus”.  Some of you may have even bought a book on the subject to grow and develop your professional skills.  It seems quite simple and obvious, yet so many miss it.  The number one reason that stops people from getting what they want is LACK OF FOCUS. 

I recommend three ways to stay focused on what you want in your business. 

#1.   Focus on your goals.
A goal is the pursuit of an objective until it is accomplished.  Take the time today to write out of your Top 10 goals that you want to achieve in 2009.  Make sure that your goals are reasonable.  Then, number them in order of importance.   Break each goal down into achievable steps and set a time frame for completing each step.   Post your goals in a place where you can see them every day.  Set up small rewards for yourself along the way as you complete each step.  Don’t fall into the category of travel agents who try to do everything and accomplish nothing.  Focus your energy on a daily basis towards achieving your goals.  What you focus on grows.  An example of a crystal clear goal would be to sell 25 balcony staterooms, on a November 22, 2009, Southern Caribbean group itinerary, on the RCCL ship Explorer of the Seas that you are escorting.  Concentrate on building more customers, or specific groups, or happiness ...and you will see more of it in your life.   Goals breed focus.

#2.  Focus on your best and delegate the rest
What are you passionate about?  What makes you jump out of bed every morning?  If you focus on this passion daily, you will have more energy and success than you ever imagined.  If you are passionate about working with a specific target market, destination and/or product, then this should be your major focus.  Eliminate unnecessary and counter-productive activities such as seminars, product training webinars and FAMs that don’t align with your focus.  These may be fun and interesting, but they also take time and energy away from your main goals and purpose.   

Also remember, you can’t do it all.  We all started out with a great idea of getting into the business of travel.  We envisioned doing it better than anyone else and of course making lots of money.  Our initial purpose was to find new customers, and then ideally make a profit.   But then, day to day paper work, administration, and customer service issues started to pile up.   Monthly cash-flow, taxes, expenses and the not so fun daily tasks took their toll on our days.  Bottom line... it comes down to a control factor.  We want to take care of it all.  After all, this is our business, our idea, and nobody knows more about it than us.... right?  Wrong...Most entrepreneurs have a hard time letting go, delegation is not our strength.  The catch 22 is that there are opportunities on the horizon that are waiting for us, but we need to make the time to be open to them.  Yes, it is frustrating, and we think we can work harder and longer to make it work – but it does not work that way!  So how do you handle “The Dilemma” ...The dilemma of letting go of control and working on your strengths?  You must invest 75% of your time doing what you do best and delegate the rest to others.

I recommend that you delegate these two tasks to experts:

Finance:  Imagine the amount of time you will free-up when you hire a book keeper or an accountant that will take care of your finances on a weekly and monthly basis. 

Technology:  Contract out a web-site designer to take over your website updates and hire a search engine optimization (SEO) e-marketing specialist to optimize your site. 

#3.    Focus on successful habits.
A habit is an established activity that occurs on a regular basis.     Ask yourself if you are doing the ‘right’ things at the ‘right’ times to get the ‘right’ results on a regular basis.   We all have good and bad habits.  The trick is to develop successful habits that work towards your top 10 goals on a regular basis.  The good news is that you can reprogram yourself any time you choose to change and adopt new habits and routines.

Do you want more customers?  Then focus on a habit that generates more sales.  For example, join a breakfast networking meeting and attend on a regular basis.  Add it to your day timer and agenda.

Do you want more repeat and referral customers?   Then focus on a habit that keeps you top-of-mind with your customers.  For example, email a value-driven, relevant message to your database on a monthly basis. 

Successful travel entrepreneurs understand and respect the value of focusing on their goals, focusing on their passion, and focusing on successful habits.  FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS.  Take the time today to reflect and focus on what is important to you and your business, and in doing so you will find greater clarity and peace of mind. 

Remember, “If you keep on doing what you’ve always done – You’ll keep on getting what you’ve always got”.