Become a Home Based Travel Agent

Present Sales Perspective…
By Cory Andrichuk

How often do you sell travel and cruises to your friends?  Hopefully your answer is a lot because you do business with people that know, like, and trust you.  Selling to such friends, or just people who you refer to as friends can sometimes put you in an awkward spot by asking you to match the ‘deal ‘ they just found, either from another professional travel expert or most likely from a travel website. 

So what do you do?  Because you have a so-called relationship, they offer you the business, if you match the price, because you are friends.  You probably feel some pressure because they book annually and occasionally refer you to others.  To make matters even more frustrating, this past customer knows your level of personal attention to detail, passionate customer service, and superior product knowledge (they even wrote it out for you to use on your travel website called a testimonial).

Collect your thoughts before you move forward. 

Did your friend actually get a quote?  Ask for the document / email / deal / price upfront to actually view the quote before deciding what you can offer to match it.  If this apparent friend wants to give you the business, decide first of all, if you can afford to match it… meaning do the math!  (Remember; if you do it once be prepared to always offer the same discount!)

If they do actually provide a legitimate document that does outline a lower price, help your customer understand what is and is not involved, in the competitive quote, and then decide if you want to move forward.  A golden rule in selling is to always ask candid questions and so I recommend that you ask your customer candidly the following question:   “If I understand your proposition (Mr. past customer), what you want the most is my personal attention to detail, passionate customer service, and superior product knowledge, but don’t want to pay for it? PAUSE….  He who speaks first loses!

So, the next time someone, close friend  or not, gives you an opportunity to match a quote/ group deal/ price because you are a friend, do the math and see how much your friendship is really worth…