What's the home-based travel agent's biggest mistake? What prevents travel agents, even "pretty good ones", from making 6-figure incomes or million-dollar incomes?
The number one reason why the majority of travel agents don't make more than 25, 30 or 40 thousand/year is: they do not specialize.
This drives me crazy because "the power of specialization" is NOT really a secret!
Everyone knows (I would hope) that in any field, and I mean, ANY field - including doctors and lawyers - those who specialize, those who FOCUS on an area or two of their industries make A LOT more than those who are "jacks-of -all-trades" or generalists.
Why? Because true specialists deliver more value, and more value equals higher income. Period.
So, why don't most home-based travel agents (or travel agents in general) specialize in, let's say, one or two destinations, or ONE or two "types of travel" such as cruising or ONE or two "niches" such as "diving", "wine tours", "vacations for families with young children", "golfing trips", etc.?
Because they don't have the guts! That's right!! Most travel agents are paralyzed by fear and by low-quality" questions they ask themselves such as:
"What happens if I specialize in cruises, but my neighbour wants an escorted tour"?
My answer would be: WHO CARES?
Tell your neighbour to go see another agent who specializes in escorted tours, and if you're really smart you've previously set up a mutual-referral program with that other agent, so that you can collect referral fees.
The above makes SO much sense, and yet most travel agents are afraid that - by specializing - they'd be losing "all kinds of business".
If that was true, how come most travel agents are not making "all kinds of money"?
In addition, many travel agents are stuck with OLD ways of thinking. After all, 10 or 15 years ago, travel agents were THE source of "travel-related information" for consumers and therefore, specialization - although it always made sense - was not as crucial as it is today.
So, my friend, if you are planning to become a travel agent, make sure you start thinking about what "specialties" you would like to work with.
Let your passions and your personal interests lead you to lucrative "target markets".
If you already are a travel agent, but are not specializing yet, you must:
- decide what specialty or topic you are passionate about
- let go of your fears
- "passion alone won't cut it", so, research your market (to ensure that there is a large enough group of people with a common need that YOUR business can satisfy)
- add enormous value to your offer (EXPERTISE and superior service)
- add leverage (i.e. use systems to make running your business a lot easier and more efficient)
I have interviewed lots of travel agents about this topic, and "specialization" is THE secret weapon of the industry's top-producing agents.
Of course, becoming a "specialized travel consultant" requires a lot more than just "saying that you are specialized": It requires setting up a separate business for each of your specialties. (You will need a separate "business.educationeasy.net business plan", separate "marketing plan", unique web sites, etc.
But it's all well worth it!!!, because, when you specialize, when you focus, YOU determine:
- The kind of customers you will attract
- The kind of clients you will retain
- How hard you will have to work
- How much money you will need to spend on marketing
- Your brand identity
- How competitive you are
- The marketing strategies that work best
- and best of all, YOU will determine how much money you make.
So, do you understand why, in order to create a super travel business, you must specialize?
Just in case, let me add: As common sense would tell you, ONLY by focusing on a couple of good SPECIALTIES will you be able to accumulate the knowledge and experience required to deliver expertise.
Ask yourself: If I am a travel agent and the information I have and offer my potential clients is the same (or less) than what they can find on the internet by themselves, why would anyone need my services?
The super evident reason to specialize can be summarized with this question:
What travel agent could possibly become an expert (a real expert that is) at everything, every destination, every country, every cruise line, every resort?
The thing is, 10 years ago this was not a big issue because travel agents monopolized travel-related info. If you wanted to travel, you HAD TO go see a travel agent. But, today, any 14-year old can book a cruise while chatting on MSN, and downloading MP3's.
Business and Marketing coach Eddie Rodriguez is president and CEO of Vacations Internationale . He specializes in helping individuals turn their passion for travel into fun and profitable home-based travel businesses.
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