Nicole O’Sullivan, managing director of Birds Eye View Consulting, has a blunt message for travel advisors right now: stop waiting.
The Strait of Hormuz is blocked. Cruise itineraries are being redrawn. Flights are rerouting overnight. And somewhere right now, one of your clients is lying awake, deep in a ChatGPT spiral, wondering why they have not heard from you.
Are you calling them, or waiting until you have all the answers?
That hesitation, says O’Sullivan, is the real threat to your business right now – not the geopolitical crisis itself.
“The crisis isn’t killing the sale. It’s the hesitation of not having a plan,” she told Travel Weekly.
Silence is the worst thing you can do
When advisors do not reach out, clients do not sit still. They Google. They ask ChatGPT. They scroll the news.
“When they don’t hear anything, they go and explore and try to find the answers and this actually creates a worse scenario,” O’Sullivan said.
The solution is simple: contact them first.
“Just say: I know you’re not travelling until May, but I want you to know you’re on my radar. If there are any updates, you’ll be the first to hear.”
She said that one call can shift a client from panic to reassurance.
The coffee shop test
O’Sullivan encourages advisors to ask themselves one question.
“Imagine two clients at a coffee shop. Both booked on a Mediterranean cruise in June. One hasn’t heard a word from their agent and is terrified. The other says, ‘My agent called me – she’s all over it, keeping me updated and already looking at options.’ Which agent do you want to be?”
She said moments like this can define reputations in a referral-driven industry.
Value is a feeling, not a price
O’Sullivan said many in the industry instinctively reach for discounts or credits during times of disruption but argued that misses the bigger issue.
“Value is a feeling. It’s whether someone believes something is valuable to them – and when someone’s dream trip is at risk, what’s the cost to them of not going?”
She said proactive communication and calm guidance often matter more than price.
“The advisor who says, ‘I’ve got you’ before being asked is delivering something no booking engine can replicate.”
Advisors are feeling it too
O’Sullivan said many advisors are also carrying stress from the Covid years, making current uncertainty feel familiar.
“You’re focusing on something completely out of your control. And when that happens, your brain loops and catastrophises.”
Her advice is to focus on what can be controlled: the client call made today, the reassurance given this afternoon, the options presented this week.
She also urged advisors to be mindful of what they post publicly.
“Your personal brand is your new Yellow Pages. What you put out there right now tells people everything about how you handle turbulence.”
Change your state before the call
O’Sullivan said mindset matters before any client conversation begins.
“Physiology is key to changing your state. Move your body, reset your energy and remind yourself that you can handle what is in front of you.”
She said fear often shapes difficult calls before they even happen.
“If you go into a call expecting anger and stress, that’s often what you receive back. But if you show up grounded and confident, clients feel that too.”
The bottom line
No one knows exactly how the Strait of Hormuz situation will play out. Airline and cruise line policies are still evolving and uncertainty remains.
But O’Sullivan believes the advisors who come through strongest will be those who act before certainty arrives.
“Connection trumps anything else. Your client doesn’t need you to have all the answers right now. They need to know you’re there.”
That is something no chatbot, comparison site or online booking engine can offer.
