Advice from the sharp end
ALWAYS greet the customer in an open and friendly manner. Never hand out brochures unopened. Sell the benefits of the holiday.
No, this is not a summary of the tips to agents offered by Travel Weekly’s Mystery Shopper. They are examples of the practical advice given to participants on the sales training courses offered as part of the Advantage Travel Centres Challenge Programme.
The programme is operated by training consultant Anne Howes, who had a successful career in travel retailing before moving into training. She was the top shop manager for Pickfords Travel – the predecessor of Going Places – so when she offers advice on closing a sale, she speaks from experience earned behind the counter.
For the past three years, Howes’ company has run a training programme exclusively for members of the Advantage Travel network.
The menu of courses is varied, including such headings as ‘The Successful Manager’, ‘The Organised Manager’, ‘The Motivational Manager’, ‘Dealing with Difficult Staff’ and ‘Convincing People to Buy’, as well as a selection of courses which help develop presentation skills.
Howes will also devise training programmes tailored to the particular needs of companies which are not within the Advantage Travel Network.
It is no surprise that the most popular courses she runs for Advantage agents are those that focus on selling skills, and these are continually updated to reflect new trends.
An example is the increased need for directional selling. “Agents need to be able to direct sales towards their preferred suppliers. Obviously they don’t want to sell the customer something unsuitable, but they need to have the confidence to switch-sell.”
Also popular are the courses designed for agency managers, though Howes notes that sometimes there can be a reluctance on the part of shop managers to put themselves forward for a training course because they feel it may look like an admission of weakness.
Equally, a shop owner may be interested in sending one of the branch managers on a management training course, but may be concerned that it will look like an implied criticism of his or her performance.
Howes says the benefits of participating in a course tailored exactly to their needs should outweigh any concerns.
She adds: “There are many managers who have worked up through the ranks without ever receiving any formal training. They may have been a manager for 10 years and think they are doing an OK job. But the idea of training is to make good people better, so there should not be that fear factor about asking to go on courses.”
On the management courses, the programme will look at some of the thornier problems which arise when you find you are now in a position of authority over your colleagues. “The progression to management can be very hard as sometimes a manager will find it hard to put their foot down. For example, what do you say when your friend asks for next Friday off? How do you say Friday is not a good day? The aim of training is to help create business awareness in the manager and give them the confidence to deal with the situation.”
By Christmas, the 2000 Advantage Travel Centres Challenge Programme will have been finalised and the message to agents from Anne Howes Associates is to book training places well in advance.
“We frequently have the situation where we get calls from people interested in doing a particular training course only a few days before it is supposed to run.”
“Also, I have had to cancel a number of courses because of lack of support. I appreciate it can be difficult to release people to go on courses, so the best way to do it is to plan ahead, book the courses six months in advance and then put them in the diary so you can get cover for the staff who are away.”
n Prices for the courses range from around £90 per person for a one-day sales course up to £325 per person for a one-to-one presentation skills course. Anne Howes Associates will also work with companies outside the Advantage Travel Network. For details, call 01277 654172.