Simply Europe Travel – Did you fall off the track? | Travel Research Online

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Simply Europe Travel – Did you fall off the track?

Welcome to spring!  The weather is beautiful, the flowers are blooming, my car is yellow with pollen and my phones have been ringing with new business!  Along with that normal spring business boom, something else that I’m familiar with has slipped back in this year.  Complacency!  As soon as my phones started to ring, I got that familiar warm fuzzy feeling inside.  I remembered it from springs gone by; the complacency of just sitting back and answering the phone. Awww, it’s all so familiar, so comfortable, and so easy.

Then as I search through a stack of confirmations, messages and call backs, I find my list of 2012 goals.  Remember those?  Last year during our down time, we decided to start the year with some shiny new goals in place!  It was our road map to buried treasure showing us how to make it from point A to point B and then on to where X marked the spot.  I know you remember it!

The plan called for us to be disciplined and to stretch; to leave our comfort zone and embark on a new adventure in order to achieve our dreams.   We started off starry-eyed with a head full of steam!  We were on our way! Watch out world!  Here we come!

And then the phones started ringing.   We all love it when the phones ring and clients want to book and deposit.  We just sit back and answer.  Then we find that ourselves drifting along with the circumstances.  Going nowhere in particular and bobbing along with the current.  Have you noticed that too?

Hey, I’m not pointing fingers here.  I’m just saying that it’s human nature.  It’s really easy to go along with the flow.  The flow of answering the phone, taking client meetings and doing the paper work that goes along with all those new bookings.  We love those easy commissions.  We’d be crazy to say no when the client is standing there with card in hand ready to pay!  Right?

But what about that business or group we really wanted to pursue?  It was that really great product that we love so much and are so passionate about!   Not only that, but the commission on it was great!  And didn’t we make a decision about that business or vendor that wasn’t profitable?  Why do we find ourselves still taking those bookings?

Where did we step off the path?  More importantly, how do we find our way back on?

Now we have two choices.  We can throw in the towel, and keep doing the same things as before and getting the same results.  Or we can choose to do the harder thing; the better thing and get back on track.

If you’re still reading, good for you!  If you’ve found that you’ve been drifting, the first thing to do is to give yourself some grace!  It takes time to develop new habits.  A masterpiece takes time to perfect. These challenges are opportunities that will help us to grow.  It’s our personal responsibility to respond in a way that will help move us closer to our end goal.  That means we need to be willing to put forth the time, effort and energy, and not always take the easy way.  Are you on track? Or have you fallen off a little? Be honest!

Trish Gastineau, CTC is the owner of Simply Europe Travel who is passionate about her craft; especially Europe and River Cruises!  She was recognized as the #1 Selling River Cruise Specialist for 2011 with Avalon Waterways as well as participating in several of their training webinars.  She has been in the Travel Industry since 1993 and hails most recently from Montgomery, Alabama. Learn more about Trish at: www.simplyeuropetravel.com or contact her by email:  trish@simplyeuropetravel.com.

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