You Gotta Believe | Travel Research Online

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You Gotta Believe

My message today should come as no surprise to those who know me. I am a firm believer that we are all making this business-thing harder than it has to be. Let’s step back today and regroup. Here are a few of my beliefs:

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1. I believe steadfastly in the basics and fundamentals of “relationship.” You can’t rush relationships. They take time to form and effort to maintain. The fastest way to initiate a working relationship is to become interested in others. Get out of you and into them. Sincerely and genuinely.

2. I believe that people do business with people they like. Of course you have to back things up with a solid service with consistent delivery. But all things being equal, people still migrate towards those they feel comfortable and who easily display a likeability factor.

3. I believe that “lack of interest” is your number one reason for losing clients. Most agents feel they lose clients due to mistakes. The truth is that you lose your clients as soon as they feel you are taking them for granted. The secret to client longevity is spelled “interest.”

4. I believe that you know more than you think you know. You owe it to your clients to share your “smarts.” We all have a tendency to think that everybody must know what we know. Not true. You are the specialist and live and breathe travel every day. Make your ezine or newsletter meaningful as you share the hidden particulars of your field of excellence.

5. I believe that you can double your business by doing the right things. I am afraid that you must determine what the “right” things are for you given your personal, time and budget constraints. I will however be quick to remind you what is the wrong thing to do. If you do not contact your valued clients on a regular basis, you are doing the wrong thing. If you do not thank your clients for working with you, you are doing the wrong thing. If you are not finding time to market your services on a regular basis, you are doing the wrong thing.

6. I believe it is how you recover from your errors that solidly position you in the mind of your clients. I have been advocating for years that the fastest way to the promise land (business-wise) is to double your failure rate. That being said, once you do make an error, it is your recovery and sign of sincerity that will make all the difference in the world. Fail fast but recover faster.

7. I believe that once you begin to enjoy your work more, the sooner you will grow your bank balance. This my friends begins and ends in your mind. Helping people is fun. Making people smile is fun. Solving problems is fun. Making money is fun. Are you beginning to get the picture?

8. I believe that you should not and cannot try to satisfy anybody who can fog a mirror. Select your clients wisely. Lose the “duds” expeditiously. At the risk of creating an industry-wide donnybrook, everybody in business is not created equal. There are clients you like and there are clients who seem to enjoy ruining your good mood. I could go on for days on this subject but I will cut to the bottom line to save us both a lot of frustration. Dump the duds and wish them well. But don’t be callous. Simply give them the phone number of your competitor telling them they do a better job in this particular area than you do. Then bid them a pleasant “bye-bye.”

9. I believe you do not say “Thank-you” enough. No supportive text needed here.


Mike Marchev Mike Marchev has plenty of stories, strategies and tactics to keep you on top of your game.
For information on Mike’s 6-Week Online Selling Course, email Mike at mike@mikemarchev.com with the words “sales course” in the subject box.
Mike’s daily column is made possible by AmaWaterways.

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