Last week, TRO held the first in a planned series of webinars. We have titled the series “No Limits” to emphasize that there are no limits to what a dedicated travel consultant, willing to do what it takes, can accomplish. We kicked off the series with Nolan Burris speaking on the topics of fees and social media. Over 600 travel agents registered for the webinar, a record. Several agents told me it was the best webinar they ever attended. Certainly Nolan was at the top of his game. For those of you who could not attend, TRO recorded the webinar. It is hosted in the TRO Community and you can register there and watch it at your convenience.
No Limits. The idea is simple. Travel professionals and their industry have been under assault for so many years that we have started believing in the limitation myths more than we believe in ourselves. You know the limitation myths: there is a limited amount of money to be made as a travel agent. There are a limited number of clients willing to use agents, or who will pay fees. The internet is an unstoppable force, direct bookings are growing and agents dying. These are all limitation myths, and they are smothering your dreams.
Stop believing in limits. Stop believing that you can make only a very limited amount of money as a travel consultant. Stop believing that “your clients” are different and won’t pay fees. Stop believing that you cannot compete with the internet. The first No Limits webinar took up each of these issues and crushed the myth.
I have a question for those who watch the webinar: will it make a difference in your professional life? Only if you make it so.
It is a common phenomenon: we go to a seminar, to a trade show or a course in sales and marketing. We listen to the speakers, we agree with them and we enthusiastically head home filled with inspiration and determination. Then we promptly settle back into our old habits and put almost none of the advice we have heard into practice.
Old habits die hard, and not of old age – they must be euthanized.
Here is a challenge to each of you. Listen to the No Limits webinar #1. Stop and start it as you will and take notes. Leave questions in the TRO Community about any issue the webinar presents. Then, begin to put the ideas into practice. One at a time. Roll-play the ideas, practice them until you develop a muscle memory, until asking for a fee from your clients is completely second nature, a matter of deep seated belief in your own value.
It’s not enough simply to agree with an idea, you must make it real by adopting it at a deep, gut level. You must take action. That takes study, it demands practice.
The next No Limits webinar will be in September and will feature Mr. Mike Marchev. Again, the information presented will be an opportunity to take your travel practice, (note the word “practice”) to a new level. In every profession there are people who operate at the top of their field, who make outstanding incomes and who squeeze every drop of enjoyment from their choice of occupation.
We want you to be one of those top few.
No Limits.
Richard Earls is the Publisher of Travel Research Online, an online travel industry resource dedicated to enhancing the professional lives of travel agents.
