Become a Home Based Travel Agent

Relationships, Social Media and You
By Joanie Ogg CTC, MCC

Social Media and Relationship Networking are popular buzzwords we often hear, but what does it really mean to our business success?  While we know what relationship marketing is, could it possibly be a result of relationship networking?  Actually, this is where it all begins and relationship marketing is the next step. However, we have to have a relationship to market to in the first place, so finding and nurturing those relationships by networking is a key ingredient to successful selling and increased business for your home-based travel agency.

A relationship that you have with an individual (or individuals) is generally either business or personal. Sometimes however, our business relationships do become personal over time and often our personal relationships find their way into the business world, as well. It really is a win-win situation; relationship networking is about building those relationships and continuing to maintain long and productive connections with other professionals.

There are a multitude of great vehicles for networking such as in various social media like Facebook, Twitter and such, but there are also forums on the Internet as well. In the travel industry this has become a direction that many find to be very successful and it is proving to be very financially rewarding.  Still, the established one-to-one and face-to-face networking cannot be beat. Eye-to-eye contact and a one-on-one conversation can go a long way to creating open communication and ultimately, trust. So much of our business is based on trust. Our customers entrust their vacation dreams to their travel consultant. This is quite an important responsibility. They hand over their dreams, expectations and hard earned money asking you to make that dream come true. A professional travel consultant can make it all happen. We have a pretty great career don’t we?

So where might you expect to do some of your best relationship networking?

Social Media stands out as the most popular way to find or create relationships with potential new clients, however beware that social media is becoming more and more the focus of thousands of travel agents all wanting to cash in on what seems a golden opportunity. Here are some other areas of opportunity to find those coveted relationships.

Friends – Don’t make the mistake of confusing friends with family. Family is generally beholding to us and they are simply expected to buy from us. I must share that I did have some family members whose travel I arranged and thought I might be better off sending to my competitor. Family does tend to be rather demanding and their expectations are quite high. Our friends are often those we are afraid to approach. We do not want to take any chances with our friendships and we often feel they know what we do and if they wanted to have our assistance then all they need to do is ask, right? Well, take a leap of faith in your skills, as an agent and ask for their business and offer to share your expertise.

Customers – Our current customers are without question our best sales force out there. Happy customers share their good fortune and can be the single best way to grow your travel business. While most of our customers will be happy to share the good news of our great service, perhaps you might want to help them along. Create an incentive for your customers to refer a friend and watch your business grow. I have seen agents offer a frequent traveler program with points accrued for travel purchased but also points for referring business to the agency. Gift cards such as a prepaid gift to be used at Barnes and Noble or Starbucks given to the referring customer are always a nice touch and something that everyone can enjoy. It is not as if you are buying referrals, but instead you are thanking your existing customers for their business and support to your business.

Schools – So many agents have had great success with relationship networking at their children’s schools. While it is often hard to get out of the home-based office to network those relationships, it is really imperative to do so. Simply getting out there and passing the word about what you do while in the process of a new relationship might prove to very good both personally and for your business. When our son Andy was in pre-school and until he was about 11 years old, I made it a point to volunteer at the school one day a week, if at all possible. While it had great rewards for me personally that I remember to this day, it also helped our travel business in a round about sort of way. The word got out amongst the teachers and before I knew it, I was handling most of their personal travel. While the relationships were not really based on friendship, they were based on mutual admiration and respect for one another and the by-product was some great business for our agency.

Synergistic relationship networking – An example of this might be working with a local tanning salon. If you get your mind thinking creatively about all the opportunities to market as a team, it can be pretty exciting. Other examples are luggage stores, camera stores and (one of my personal favorites) the local coffee house. Partnering is a great way to tap into related customer bases. In many cases two companies working together in this way can complement each other in such a way, as to provide a combination of services that neither would be capable of providing on their own.

Some basic tips to build on your network relationships might be as follows:

… Be sincere and provide honest and genuine assistance.
… Listen carefully and remember important personal details.
… Keep and open mind and accept rejection without taking it personally.
… Relationships are built on reciprocation; it is not a one-way street.

In summary, I hope that I have accomplished my goal with this article. I want to encourage you to think about new ways to expand your relationships. Both new relationships and those we may have enjoyed for many years can be great sources of both personal and business growth.  Throw a little relationship networking into the mix and you will surely be pleasantly surprised with the results.