Become a Home Based Travel Agent

Client For Life
Managing The Customer Relationship
Mitchell J. Schlesinger
President
MJS Consultants
mjschlesinger@bellsouth.net

Think about your own motivations when you buy…anything.   For clothes, it is how stylish you feel you look or appear to others, or those of you in Green Bay…warmth.   For insurance, it is security, and peace of mind.  Toys, the pleasure in the eyes of children.  A computer, the way to connect to the rest of the world and importantly, conduct business.   The use of the word “commodity” to convey a non brand distinct “thing”, is not accurate.  We don’t buy “things”, we buy ideas, personal feelings, happiness, self satisfaction, respect and solutions to challenges. 

Capturing “Clients for Life” starts with understanding the basics of consumer behavior, which provides a fuller understanding of each of your clients individual motivations.  So lets focus on how this works: 

1. Clients come to you with their own motivation for travel and the expected result.   The key is that they purchase based on emotions and then justify with logic.   To be successful, you must listen very closely to what they want and then match the right product to fulfill their expectation.

2. You need to create an emotional connection with each client so that they perceive you understand what it is they are seeking.   Remember, they buy for their own reasons…not yours.  Selling them a vacation that fulfills their personal emotional desires directly impacts their ability to logically justify that they made the right choice….of both the travel package…and YOU.

3. Customer perceptions of you and your service are crucial.  They must feel that there is significant value in your relationship.  It starts with their trust that you will be invested enough in the relationship  to recommend the travel that best fulfills their expectations, which creates the perception that their purchase had significant value.   It continues with your communicating with them on an ongoing basis and the acid test, how you handle “challenges”.   And part of this perception must be their sensation that they are your most important client!

4. And speaking of service, how each and every member of your agency team comes across establishes a service benchmark for the agency.   This is a reflection that every contact is a judged experience highlighted by:

* Physical appearance…attractiveness counts
* Attitude…accommodation, understanding, responsiveness
* Phone etiquette…attitude can be heard as well as witnessed
* Responsiveness…”how important am I?”

5. Learn from mistakes and criticisms….this is CRUCIAL.  You can’t ignore what a client is telling you. It is their perception and their reality.   And whatever it is, it provides a platform for you to communicate your appreciation, thank them for their honesty and create the perception that you are addressing their input.

An intrinsic part of managing the customer relationship is communication.   There is a distinct difference between how this is handled by clients who are becoming customers for the first time and those who have purchased previously:

With new customers, it is the process of establishing the relationship, learning about what they really want and providing a high quality initial level of service and product recommendation.   It is important to reinforce how the recommendation reflects the input they provided by pointing out the features of the travel and how each segment fulfills the “wants” they expressed.

For existing clients, this is taken to a completely next level, including what you already know and augmenting it:

* Communication must be consistent in order for clients to feel engaged by your agency.
* You must constantly update your profile for each client with demographic and psychographic   trends and changes. 
* Clients must be asked repeatedly, how are we doing?, how can we provide better service?,        what new ideas do you have for future travel? 
* Send information on new travel destinations and products and ask for their reactions.
* Send communication of a personal nature to show how engaged you are

Creating and managing client relationships by understanding consumer behavior is crucial for you and your team members.  The reaction to the service you provide will be judged and evaluated by your clients based on key factors:

1. Credibility
2. Communication
3. Attractiveness
4. Reliability
5. Responsiveness
6. Empathy

Arranging the first letter of these factors spells the word CARE.   Show your clients how much you CARE and increase the number of clients you retain for life.