Tripologists, not only is AMAWATERWAYS offering you DOUBLE lead credit reimbursements if you book its products through 12/31/10, it’s also featuring the following amazing trips for your clients:

SAVE $1000 PER STATEROOM* IN 2011 - Valid until 12/31/10

Contact AMAWATERWAYS at (800) 626-0126 to make reservations or to inquire about sailings.

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*Suppliers who participate in the Tripology Travel Industry Supporter Program commit to reimburse Tripologists for the cost of their leads if bookings are made with those suppliers. Click here for complete program details.

Travel Specialist Paula

Here is my favorite Tripology client feedback of the week.

Read what happy client Cynthia of Georgia had to say about Travel Specialist Paula regarding her Australia vacation: “Paula was absolutely awesome! From trip planning, to trip follow-up, her expertise and enthusiasm made for a FABULOUS travel adventure! We already plan to request Paula to book our next trip! THANKS PAULA!!!”

Not only did agent Paula plan the perfect Australia trip for this mom and teen daughter, but she’s secured a referral for future travel.

Not seeing these kinds of results? Let us help you: 800-924-0722. Have great stories about your clients, please let us know: contact@tripology.com.

Happy selling,

Veronique

The topic of this month is luxury travel.  In running our quarterly reports and researching other data points, two things are abundantly clear; A) luxury travel does well irrespective of economy and B) even the luxury market is looking for values these days.  These two points would seem to be contradictory, but let me explain.

As you research “luxury travel”, what becomes evident, is the term “luxury” has many definitions.  Ask a dozen people what “luxury” means to them and you’re likely to get at least six different answers.  You’ll also find the “luxury” customer is looking to get a deal.  Notice I didn’t say “cheap” but rather, upscale customers are looking for value-added items like upgrades, reward discounts, extra services and other special niceties.  So, how do you identify a luxury lead?  You’d think the answer rests solely in the trip budget, which happens to be the most scrutinized field in the Tripology form. 

Having spoken to many of our most successful Tripologists, I can tell you relying solely on the budget field as criteria of whether you’ll buy the lead or not is a big mistake.  Some of our most successful Tripologists ignore the budget field entirely, because they know two things:

1)    People don’t know what travel costs.

2)    People are not going to “quote high” when it comes to telling you how much they have to spend. 

Some of the best case studies of luxury bookings have come from modest trip requests.  At Tripology, many of our leads are for luxury travel, but don’t expect luxury customers to flaunt large budgets, rather look to the free-form fields for clues and hints about past travel experiences. 

Happy selling,

John    

Here is my favorite Tripology client feedback of the week.

Read what client Theresa of Virginia had to say about Travel Specialist Mary regarding her 2 ½ week vacation through Italy: “Mary got to know us and put together a wonderful 2.5 week trip to Italy for us to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. Every one of her hotel, restaurant, and tour recommendations was great. Her expertise was invaluable. She provided a personal touch and helped us feel very comfortable and well prepared for our trip and stayed in touch with us during the trip. If you are looking for a personable expert in everything Italy, Mary’s the agent for you!”

Not only is the client happy with her dream vacation, travel specialist Mary provided the type of expert knowledge and guidance that make her a favorite of Tripology clients.

Not seeing these kinds of results? Let us help you: 800-924-0722. Have great stories about your clients, please let us know: contact@tripology.com.

Happy selling,

Veronique

Last week I attended the Home-Based Travel Agent Forum in Miami. The event was hosted by OSSN and was very well attended by both newer and more established agents. I attend my fair share of travel tradeshows every year, but thought the agents who came out to this event were particularly engaged.

On Monday morning, I spoke on a panel focusing on Business Tools to Build Success. I was joined by Darla Garber of Client Ease and Liz Badras of CCRA. This panel was early on the first day of the conference so I wasn’t certain how the attendance would be, but to my delight, we had a packed, standing room-only house. There was no free cruise to win for attending - the agents who came to listen were there to learn how to expand their business, period. The session was very interactive and the agents had tons of questions for us, which was an indicator of how passionate they are about their business.

Over a two-day period, and with Tropical Storm Nicole blowing through Miami, I got to meet and speak with hundreds of agents at the Tripology booth who were either registered Tripologists who wanted to share their success stories or agents who’d been at my panel and were interested in Tripology. I even had an agent whose business is sustained solely by the Tripology program who wanted to join me behind the booth to help spread the Tripology gospel – how great is that!?

Some key takeaways:

· Yes, attending travel conferences is expensive but the agents I met looked at this expense as an opportunity to learn how to grow their business, not simply a nice-to-do activity.

· I met zero agents who were down in the dumps about the economy or the travel business – how refreshing! The mood was very positive and OSSN did a great job presenting informative sessions.

· Being affiliated with a good, supportive, technology-savvy host agency is crucial, or so I was told dozens of times by agents.

· Home-based agents who’ll make it in the industry are constantly learning about new products, hot destinations and new ways to be more efficient, shouldn’t you be?

· Using a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool to interact with clients and keep track of sold trips is essential – only about 40% of the agents who attended my panel were using one.

Attending this conference was invigorating for me and I urge you to attend some travel events before the end of the year, whether it is a local event backed by a travel association or a larger, an online event / webinar or an out-of-town conference – get out there and absorb as much as you can because other agents are.

Happy selling,

Veronique