I was perusing one of the many travel agent forums on Facebook, when I came across a post (since deleted) by a woman who had joined the industry six months earlier. She was blaming her marketing and host agency because she has yet to make a sale.
It quickly garnered over a hundred comments, many from other “host bashers” who took similar amount of time to make their first sale. While this is unfathomable to me, I understand where they are coming from – sort of.
It’s no secret, most join our industry because they like to travel, and they like to take care of others. I haven’t met too many people who actually got into the business to sell something.
But, that’s what we do. Like it or not, we get paid when and only when we sell something, so doesn’t it make sense to focus on the skills and activities that will produce these repeatable results? If not, you are probably in the wrong business.
Understand, Sales and Marketing are dependent, yet very different, disciplines. Most marketing people (and a few CEOs) I know, would probably starve if they had to actually sell their own product.
Unfortunately, virtually all the industry specific sales training I have experienced throughout my career is just “marketing” training in disguise. That’s because the bulk of the material is created by marketing, not sales professionals and it shows in the resulting programs.
Back to the deleted post. Being a travel adviser is one of the greatest professions on earth, but she and her supporters are clearly frustrated, and her host agency makes for an easy target. While she mentioned that she had attended a few product webinars and host trainings, it was clear she lacked the basic skill set for selling to do the job.
More concerning were all of those who blamed their lack of sales success on their marketing. The industry tends to favor the Field of Dreams approach, “If you build it, they will come.” But, this is where we fail; because it leads advisers, particularly newer ones, to believe that they simply need to market, and the sales will take care of themselves.
Let’s be clear, regardless of what anyone tells you – Marketing does not produce sales. Marketing will produce prospects. Your personal selling skills will convert prospects into clients.
It’s a safe bet that most of us are not trained marketing professionals, I know I am certainly not one – yet we continue to spend considerable time, effort, and money trying to do their job.
I get that you have to do local branding, but I am astonished at the number of advisers who do not participate in the marketing programs offered on their behalf by hosts and consortia. Trust me, if they didn’t work, suppliers would stop funding them.
Let their marketing experts do the heavy lifting, after all that’s why you pay them, and you can concentrate on honing your personal selling skills.
Like the woman who posted in the forum, many will tend to blame someone or something else when they are failing. Instead, they should look in the mirror and learn. It’s your business and it is up to you, not your host or consortia, to take responsibility for its success or failure.
If you are interested in learning more about how to sell, please send me an email and I am happy to provide a list of resources.
Very few achieve success without help from experienced coaches and mentors. If you want to learn more about how we can help you achieve financial freedom and become the Wealthy Travel Agent, visit www.danchappelle.com or send me an email at dan@wealthytravelagent.com
Dan Chappelle is a professional business advisor, sales consultant, author, and speaker. His personal development and consulting firm helps develop sales oriented business leaders and entrepreneurs, His best-selling book, Get Your S.H.I.P. Together: The Wealthy Travel Agent Guide to Sales, is available on Amazon.com.
