52
focus on
- moving on up - Upselling
H
ere’s a question all agents should ask themselves:
are you an order-taker or a sales agent? Put another way, are you someone who just books the holiday requested by your customer or a person who is determined to make the most fi nancially from every holiday you sell?
Encouraging clients to upgrade, perhaps by booking an upmarket hotel, a better room or adding extras such as airport parking or lounges, should be a no-brainer for anyone who makes their career selling travel. It’s a 'skill' that comes naturally to some but not so readily to others. However, mastering the art of upselling can also be learned by simply following two basic rules: never let a client leave the shop without suggesting enhancements to their holiday and be ready to explain the benefi ts they will enjoy if they can afford to spend just a little more.
Room upgrade Lindsay Garvey-Jones, National Partnerships Manager at Holiday Extras concurs: “Agents
should build a rapport with customers, then put together a package of extras. They can easily add £100pp to each booking and will probably earn more from us than they do from the holiday and the fl ight.” Holiday Extras has an exhaustive list of possible add-ons including, for example, fast- track security passes, priced from £3pp, that get clients through the airport faster so they can have more time for shopping or in a lounge. Garvey-Jones said: “Agents are so focused on airport parking and hotels they often miss out on other selling opportunities. For example, parking and fast-track passes at Luton Airport for two adults and a child earns £44.99 and we pay 10% commission or more depending on the level of business an agent does with us.” Lounge passes cost from £16pp, while prepaid chip and pin cards, which can be preloaded with credit for use in stores and restaurants to avoid carrying cash, cost from £10. If booking an airport hotel for clients, suggest a room upgrade, breakfast and three-course dinner. Also recommend SIM cards – £20 credit for
sellingtravel.co.uk
10% Holiday Extras
commission for selling parking and fast-track passes at Luton
£22.95 – that they can use abroad to avoid a big phone bill when they get home. However, the upselling ethos
should stretch far beyond bundling up a package of optional extras, with
car hire and ferry travel both providing good earning potential for agents who sell clients more than an entry-category rental car or return ferry crossing. Brittany Ferries has historically struggled
to build up a tight core of top-selling agents but Business and Trade Development Manager Dan Joynes said it is in agents' interest to start selling the company’s ferry-based hotel and cottage holidays to villas, chalet camping and resort apartments. “There is such a lot for customers to choose from and the holidays are easy to sell. We offer competitive commission of up to 15% and are happy to support the right marketing initiatives with the right agents.”
A good earner Affordable Car Hire lets agents in on the various tricks of the upselling trade through
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