talking shop WISE COUNSEL Secrets, safaris and surprises It’s almost a tradition in my family to
make birthdays and special anniversaries a surprise and finally I can talk about one I sorted for my dad – who I anoint The King of Surprises! My parents have just celebrated their
50th wedding anniversary and about a year ago I booked for them to go to Vienna, to spend five days seeing the beautiful Spanish Riding School horses, with dinner at the top of the revolving Danube Tower and time to experience all the beautiful city has to offer. This involved many a secret chat with
my dad and, come the moment, mum thought she was simply coming to stay with me, meet up with all the family and enjoy a nice a meal. Well, the meal was true, but on the day
of the trip I had to get them to Heathrow without her having a clue where she was going. As we approached, I was to let it ‘slip’ that I was going to the coach station so she would think they were heading somewhere in the UK. I dropped them there and then my
Dad got some poor unsuspecting National Express assistant to come over and say that the Hereford Coach was cancelled. He then went into meltdown at the afore-warned assistant, about how his plans had gone to pot, and took my poor mum, who was embarrassed by his outrage, into the terminal to get a coffee. There, he finally told her their true destination, and I could finally breathe a sigh of relief! They had an amazing trip.
Safari Sales It’s not usual for me to have to travel to meet with clients to discuss holiday plans, but I do if I need to. Last month I had two such requests, which came through within half an hour of each other and for exactly the same destination! I met the first couple – honeymooners
in their 50s – at a local restaurant. They were new clients who had found me on the internet. I chatted with them for about an hour, got to know what sort of travellers they were, and what would tick all their boxes and Becca at Africa Collection transferred the ideas into a
Above: Africa helped produce Barbara's operator winner this month Right: Matt from Inside Japan, a previous worthy winner
62 June 2012 •
www.sellinglonghaul.com CONGRATS!
Well done to Becca Spurgeon, at Africa Collection, whose patience and follow- up service won her my Most Helpful Tour Operator award this month. Make a note of your
Most Helpful Operator during May and send me an email by June 8.
great quote. Later the same day I headed to an existing client and put together a very similar itinerary on a slightly higher budget. Again, Becca put it into a quote, with upgraded hotel and flight options as well. Becca was so helpful, she was immediately on my list as a contender for Most Helpful Tour Operator.
Nominations Bruce Cairns (Travel Counsellor) had a nomination too. Rita Rahman, the ticketing manager at Kirker Holidays, helped him with information required for a South African client’s visa application, with a lot of red tape involved. “She has been simply superb in getting letters from the hotel and providing the e-tickets in advance. She’s a true ambassador for her company," he said. Martin Littlemore (Travel Counsellors) nominated Lucy at Cathy Matos Mexican Tours. He had a client who wanted to travel to Mexico. The enquiry started in December 2011 but they chopped and changed many times before they finally agreed on a hotel and dates. Then, almost at the last moment in
March, they added another person to the booking! Martin said: “All the while Cathy and Lucy were courteous and patient and when I thanked Lucy for all they had done she simply said: “That’s what we’re here for.”
“Be not afraid of growing slowly; be afraid only of
standing still” — CHINESE PROVERB
These were strong contenders but this month I am awarding the certificate to Becca at Africa Collection, not just because she had the patience of a saint with my two enquiries but because this week I also received a lovely card from a client she helped me book a year ago. They’d wanted something special for
their 10th wedding anniversary and after the usual to-ing and fro-ing prior to booking, they asked for restaurant recommendations in the Winelands and Cape Town. Again Becca came to the rescue, we booked them and all the hotels and restaurants were advised of the special anniversary. The card they sent was more than a
mere ‘Thank You’. It said the trip had been better than their honeymoon (not booked by me), and that the champagne and flowers they had received at each hotel had been a lovely surprise. They have now booked a Lapland trip with the children as well.
Happy Selling! Contact Details
BARBARA CHARLTON Travel Counsellors UK 0845 0587 290
Barbara.charlton@
travelcounsellors.com www.travelcounsellors.co.uk/ barbara.charlton
SALES SUCCESS This month has brought in a good mix of enquiries for me with two South African ones, a couple of New York city breaks, and an interesting road trip to include Yel- lowstone NP, which is a lovely one to work on. The rest of the month’s work has been late family summer sun sales and extra short breaks.
YOU WON’T BELIEVE IT BUT...
My eldest son got married to a wonderful girl at a Surrey stately home this month so I had to head off for a spa weekend ‘hen do’, which was wonderful. I’ve been at Slimming World for six weeks and have lost a stone!
BARBARA CHARLTON
Regular columnist Barbara was voted Most Helpful Travel Counsellor of the Year for two consecutive years.
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