Babies cry. They cry at the drop of a hat–a lot. But as they grow they realize they are becoming self sufficient and no longer need to cry out for for an adult to meet their needs. I am not so sure that is an entirely good thing. While crying and whining can be irritating to an adult, to a child it is reassuring as they continue their lifelong journey of learning. In fact, I believe crying is a good thing–at some point (maybe at most points) we all need some help and crying for it (OK, well asking for it) is a great way to get it.Believe it or not, there are times when you need to ask for help. Get some help. Need some solid basic advice? Maybe look to SCORE. Are your employees running amok? Maybe a human relations consultant is the solution. The point is that no man is an island ; and at some point you need to ask for help. There is nothing wrong with it. As a matter of fact, I think it is a weakness if you don’t ask for it!
When I had several branches to my travel agency, I once booked a speculative group. I had hoped to sell 50 cabins. Well it snowballed on me and before I knew it I had 800 under deposit and no clue how to handle a group of that size. I called my Royal Caribbean DSM and asked for advice and she personally worked with me to get my act together and pull off a much larger booking than anticipated. I asked for help. It worked
A friendly competitor in my marketplace had a strong corporate base that wanted his agency to handle their meetings. If anyone does meetings and incentives, you know this is a different breed of travel. My competitor called me, since I had some agents who were strong in meetings and incentives, and we developed a program where I would handle the meetings and incentives and he would handle the corporate travel. He took a 5% override on my business and I kept my hands off his clients. Everyone won and earned some more business. He asked for help. Of course it helped that we trusted one another.
More recently, a new agent was putting together a themed culinary group on Holland America Line. She was not sure of how to promote (or even price) the group to insure she did not lose her shirt. She turned to TRO and our Community and asked for advice. Se received tips, suggestions, and solid advice for writing a solid press release and protecting her investment in the group. She asked for help.
Your need may not be so urgent as to need an ambulance, but as a businessperson you do need to know when to call for help. TRO is here to help you. Do you even know the tools which are available to you at no cost?
- Destination Guides customizable to your agency*
- E-Postcards for your clients also customizable*
- Customized trip research for those areas you have yet to explore*
- Daily marketing tips in the 365 Guide*
- Our TRO Community forums with over 5000 agents*
- Content for your newsletters and websites*
- Destination videos for your clients*
- More
Are you looking to be a success in this business? Or just looking to mosey along and take what comes your way? Be proactive and use the resources available to improve your business and your customer retention. Ask for help!
And in keeping with the topic at hand (and having learned my lesson the hard way) I am reaching out for help right now. At the bottom of each column is a link for you to “Leave a Reply”. This is for you to comment on our articles. Do you agree with them? Disagree? Have something to add? Have a suggestion for a future topic? TRO is your site and we welcome your input and comments. Please, I am asking for help—just one more click!
* Those pesky asterisks usually mean ‘bad news.’ Not this time–it just means they are FREE resources to agents provided by TRO!
One thought on “We all need some help sometimes”
I’m not sure what I would’ve done without the TRO community as a newbie navigating this new industry. Your resources are invaluable and I use most of them on a daily basis.