Personal Travel Manager Sue Wright had some doubts when she stepped back into agent life after a three-year hiatus.
On top of her three-year break, she was also making the switch from working in a traditional travel agency to taking on the home-based model.
Now, Wright has managed to not only receive referrals FROM REFERRALS, but she’s also convinced a former colleague to join her at TravelManagers.
Oh, and she managed to notch up $300,000 in sales in her first three months!
Now that’s what we call hitting the ground running.
We caught up with Wright to find out how she managed such a high sales figure.
Travel Weekly: Sue, you managed to generate more than $300,000 in your first three months, What an amazing achievement! How did you manage that?
Sue Wright: I am fortunate to have a very strong network in Mackay and to date, all of my business has come from people I know or referrals from people I know.
I am now starting to get referrals from referrals which has been amazing. I am very grateful and humbled by the support I have received
TW: Do you have any tips for other agents who want to increase their sales?
SW: I sincerely believe it all comes down to relationships and building trust & rapport!
You need to be genuinely interested and take the time to get to understand what’s important to your clients as this in turn enables you to create the right experience for them.
You also have to be excited! Travel is an intangible product, you can’t touch it, you can’t feel it and you can’t take it for a test drive!
It’s an upfront purchase based purely on people’s dreams. Our clients are putting their trust in us to bring this dream to a reality
TW: What role did the TravelManagers business model play in helping you achieve this?
SW: TravelManagers is giving me the opportunity to be as flexible as I need to be with my time to work with my client’s busy lifestyles and I am finding people are really embracing this!
I also love the fact that when I am meeting with clients there are no distractions that you can experience in a traditional agency environment.
Being my own business, I get to do what I love my way and my complete focus is on my clients and ensuring I create a terrific experience for them, not only whilst they are on holiday but also in the lead up to it.
I can’t speak highly enough of the support I have had from not only TravelManagers’ NPO but also other PTMS in the network. It’s a wonderful sense of community even though we are all scattered around the country!
TW: Did you face many challenges transitioning from a traditional travel agency to the TravelManages model?
SW: Given I had been out of the industry for three years I would have to say no.
In my three years “gap” I worked in two other industries which helped me expand my skillset, my network and also made me realise you really can do anything you put your mind to.
My biggest fear in the lead up to returning was what if it isn’t what I remember it to be… what if I return and I don’t love it.
The initial training that was included when I joined TravelManagers certainly reinforced that I had made the right decision in returning to the industry.
I was back to my “language”!
The support and the systems are all there and your business can be whatever you want it to be… it’s completely up to you!
