Attitude | Travel Research Online

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Attitude

In a service industry like travel consulting, carrying a good attitude into the buying process is vitally important to success. Our outer world reflects our inner landscape. If we view clients as opponents, if we don’t feel good about our skill set, if we don’t fundamentally have a positive perspective on the travel profession, every aspect of your travel practice, including your revenue, will suffer. Clients intuitively detect, and respond to, attitude and mood. 

psychology of a travel agentThe psychology of travel planning and maintaining the correct attitude is complex, but important. A travel planner with a positive attitude will, over the course of time, successfully interact with more clients than a travel agent burned out on travel consulting. The travel agent with an authentically good attitude understands the concerns of clients and works with them from a perspective of helpful assistance. A good attitude supplies the energy to prospect for clients, for conducting meetings, doing research and making presentations. A good attitude carries a confident demeanor and makes clients comfortable with the travel agent’s abilities. A good attitude is the essential foundation for trust.

I want to differentiate having a positive attitude from an inauthentic emphasis on “positive thinking” which is often little more than “wishful thinking”. Don’t mistake a phony smile and an overly-enthusiastic handshake for a good attitude. In an authentic frame of reference, a positive attitude means, most simply, that you really like what you do as a travel professional. A travel consultant with a positive attitude has allowed a passion for travel to extend to a desire to assist others to travel better.

A positive attitude may begin with truly liking what you do, but it requires daily care and maintenance. There is a lot of wear and tear on our attitude as we bump up against the profession’s obstacles, objections, and obstructions. Keep items around you to remind yourself  of your passion for travel. Keep your work area fresh and uncluttered. Give yourself time each day to breath, to read, listen to music, walk outdoors, or whatever allows you to refresh your mental energies. Spend some time realigning your perspective on being a travel professional, on your fundamental mission toward clients. Work to not just intellectually understand the need for empathy, but to adopt an empathetic attitude emotionally so that it is your first reaction to the client, not a forced one.

As you visualize your meetings with clients, make your mood the very first element of the exercise. Your mood will impact every aspect of each client encounter. Before a meeting, take a few deep breaths, relax, and reflect on a positive attitude toward your client and your profession.

The outer world reflects our inner landscape, and our mood is contagious. Give your clients the opportunity to see travel through your passion and positive attitude for their well-being.

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