| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 24/07/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 10 |
| Copyright: Other |
It’s time for a new perspective on sales
I read with disappointment the comments in Travel Weekly July 10 about the training session conducted by Nolan Burris.We have used Mr Burris on a few occasions to work with our franchisees and we have found him to be exceptional in his vision of where this industry is going and also in his creative ideas for travel agencies for the future.
I attended his fee programme and his so called whacky ideas were nothing more than a way to get the audience involved and to broaden their horizons.
Unfortunately, there are a few travel agents who still have a very narrow view of their world.
Now is the time to change our perspectives. That requires thinking and acting in a different way than we have previously done.
Hiring dog walkers may not be the answer but it should raise agencies’ awareness to think about how they can be more of the agent for their clients and not just act instead as slaves of the suppliers.
It is not BA’s responsibility to encourage the customer to use travel agents, it is ours – if we cannot do that, then we should pack our bags and go home.
I applaud Mr Burris for his ability to throw out the old and look with fresh eyes at our relationship with our customers, because they are our customers more than they can ever be the customer of any supplier.
Maybe your headline would have been more appropriate if it had been written ‘You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.’
Michael Levy, managing director, Uniglobe Travel (Great Britain and Ireland), Tunbridge Wells, Kent