Sealing the deal

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Sundar Vasudaven.

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Norman Cloke.

ATN's training expert explains why "selling travel without service disappoints" and offers tips on "selling travel across the front line.

Some people enjoy cooking. They like to plan a menu, choose recipes, and experiment with different ingredients. Others think cooking is a boring chore and avoid it whenever possible. Similarly, not everyone likes to sell. But there is a major difference between cooking and selling.

If you don't want to cook, you may be able to get someone else in the family to do it or pop a frozen dinner in the microwave, but virtually everyone in the travel industry engages in some part of the selling process and whether you like it or not, you need to know how to sell.

The rewards of selling travel are many - helping clients realise their dreams can be deeply satisfying - and of course, the products - destinations around the world - can be fascinating to experience or just to learn about. But if selling is so rewarding, why do many people not want to sell?

One myth holds that selling is boring and repetitive.

In fact, the variety involved in travel selling far outweighs the repetition. Every sales situation is a little different and each customer has different needs and expectations, so how you meet those needs must also vary.

This variety makes selling a challenging and sometimes frustrating job, but also an exhilarating one.

A second myth says selling is manipulative and tricks people into buying. Certainly, there are manipulative salespeople, but in the long run they are not likely to succeed. The goal of selling should be to help clients find the product or service that will meet their specific needs.

The best salespeople are the ones to whom clients keep coming back, and clients will return only if salespeople are helpful.

Another myth claims selling is a low-level job that people do until they find something better. It is true that many organisations start people in sales positions, but it is also true that if you are a skillful sales person, selling can be a very rewarding career.

Furthermore, people who move into managerial roles often find that selling is still an important part of their job.

Unlike many types of selling, travel selling involves many transactions and to a great extent, deals with intangibles. Both characteristics open the way for errors and misunderstandings in dealing with customers.

Furthermore, each transaction often involves several people, ranging from suppliers to tour operators and travel agents.

But whether the sales person works for a supplier or for an intermediary, the job of selling is to identify and meet the needs of the client.

Selling steps and tips

Selling is a process that can be described in terms of eight steps: identifying customers, establishing rapport, determining client needs, selecting a product that fits the clients needs, presenting recommendations, dealing with obstacles motivating to action and following up to ensure after-sales satisfaction. Sometimes, steps must be repeated, and sometimes steps a can be skipped.

Ideally the sales person keeps repeating this cycle because the customer keeps coming back for additional purchases.

Practicing transactional selling in a travel agency can create a disaster as it provides the client with lots of information to help them make the decision to book. But in travel, it actually gives them all the information they need to book elsewhere where they think it will be cheaper (i.e. online).

Consultative selling may ultimately involve creating a transaction (a booking), but the manner in which the sale takes place is entirely different. A consultant works on behalf of the client where as in transactional selling, the sales person represents the product or service providers.

A consultant's role is to decide on the product that truly suits client requirements.

They make recommendations based on their understanding of the client's needs and of the quality and value of the suppliers.

Never assume a client knows what they want: when a prospect tells you they want to book a cruise to Alaska, that decision is based on their understanding of what an Alaskan cruise is all about. But what if they are completely wrong and mistaken? You could win a sale and lose a customer.

In a travel agency you are the product. Cruises, tours and tickets are available anywhere but you are only available in the agency where you sit today. You have the skills, now get our there and sell!

Selling value-adds

By now, most travel agencies in the Middle East will have realised that airline ticket sales are no longer lucrative as airlines worldwide increasingly adopt a zero commission policy.

The traditional travel agent model - with a high dependence on air travel and airline commissions - is now becoming obsolete. Instead, agencies are being forced to be creative when selling travel, whether corporate or leisure.

Travel agents are not only being advised to enforce service, management and transaction fees, but to specialise in niche markets and products, to put together packages, and above all, to add value.

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