So you lost a client–man up! | Travel Research Online

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So you lost a client–man up!

We have all felt the sting when we learned that a client we have worked hard to close a sale with ends up not booking with us. It is frustrating, disheartening and frankly, it hurts. Recently one of my IC’s called and asked “What am I doing wrong?” She had lost a few sales over the course of a few months. This most recent sale would have been a decent sized wedding group and she was devastated. The thing is, she’s a GREAT agent! She has excellent customer service skills, is knowledgeable, and has a very admirable desire to please and take care of her clients. But, I could hear the defeat in her voice as we spoke. She was so upset!

My first reaction was to empathize with her. It stinks. I know the quality of work and effort that goes into securing each client and when there is no real clear reason for losing them, we begin to doubt ourselves. We’re in sales, and in order to be in sales, we all need to have more than one competitive bone in us. Closing a sale means success. Losing a sale means… well, failure. The one thing that really helps me, and in turn the IC I was talking to, is to consider our volume of business in relation to missed sales. This IC’s sales are through the roof this year. She is booking more and more trips, so logically, she is going to see more and more of these lost clients. If she booked 10 trips last year and lost 1, I’d expect her to lose 2 sales if she booked 20 trips this year. The ratio is the same, but her volume is higher. It is part of growing our businesses. Putting this in perspective really helped lighten her mood and let her see her successes.

No one wants to lose a sale. Chin up! Accept it gracefully. Take a moment to do a mental inventory to learn from the situation. Take a deep breath, and move on to the next client. Keep the big picture in mind and build upon the experiences you’ve had. It will make you all the more qualified to close the next sale.

Shelli Nornes is the owner of Shelli’s Travel, a wedding travel expert specializing in destination weddings from Minnesota, with happy clients located across the United States. She services weddings throughout her local area, including destination weddings in Mexico, the Caribbean, and Hawaii. Shelli is a professional wedding destination specialist and has been part of the destination wedding industry for over 15 years.

 

 

  One thought on “So you lost a client–man up!

  1. David Holman says:

    This is why it is important to track your sales. Agents should know how many contacts they’ve had, how many of those turned to quotes, and how many quotes turned in to bookings. Every agent should know exactly what their closing percentage is at all times.
    As you say – the more volume you do, the more potential clients you’ll likely lose. But if the percentage is holding steady, or increasing, blow it off. Just accept that no matter how good you are, you won’t get ’em all.
    Conversely, if that percentage is dropping, maybe you do need to re-evaluate your process, because maybe you are causing it.

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