The award-winning agent is adept at social media and helping others develop. She spoke to Andrew McQuarrie
Q. What was your first job in travel?
A. I’ve been in travel for 26 years. I was 20 when I started and worked in Going Places in Leeds city at a busy shop. It was near Leeds University, so we had a lot of footfall from that end of town – from young people in groups – and we loved it. We got groups of 20 young people sitting in front of us on a Saturday with their £50 deposits in their hand. We were on the main street. To this day I still work very closely with the girl who sat next to me in that shop. She’s a PTC as well, so when she goes away, I cover her, and when I go away, she covers me.
It was near Leeds University, so we had a lot of footfall from that end of town – from young people in groups – and we loved it
Q. Who are your customers and what type of holidays are they booking?
A. Most are Jet2holidays and easyJet package holidays, mostly to Turkey, the Canary Islands and mainland Spain. Most of my customers are from Yorkshire and they’re not bothered about the weather. Most go away in April or October – they just love cheap trips. And I get a lot of big families who are regular customers and who recommend me to other people. I’ve also got into cruise a lot, and those cruise customers also now book their package holidays. They come to me for gorgeous five-star holidays.
I set up the [Facebook] page in winter 2017, and it led to John Hays making me a little video to say how well I was doing
Q. How much of your business comes through social media?
A. Probably 95%. Word of mouth is the other 5%, I’d say. I try to publish at least five posts a day on Facebook. I’ll publish engaging, humorous ones regularly, which can go like crazy. I’ve got 113,000 followers and around 71,000 likes. They’re all real people – they’re not paid likes. I set up the page in winter 2017, and it led to John Hays making me a little video to say how well I was doing and encouraging others to take the same approach.
Q. What are your hopes for 2024?
A. I’m hoping sales will be 15% higher than last year’s January and February. Last year we did £576,000, so it would be £662,400 if we hit target. From January to the end of November last year, I was probably on about £5m in sales.
My daughter Libby Rodde really wanted to work in a shop as an apprentice, but she couldn’t because of the pandemic
Q. Can you tell us about helping others in travel?
A. My daughter Libby Rodde [born in 2004] really wanted to work in a shop as an apprentice, but she couldn’t because of the pandemic. So she helped me out and I trained her up and Hays Travel did the academy course for her online. After she had done that training, she could sell while I helped at the same time. She’s done it for two or three years now, so doesn’t ask me much these days. She was a Travel Weekly Agent Achievement Award ‘Young Agent of the Year’ finalist in July 2023. I’ve also helped agents by giving them my leads. Michael Hughes, Paul Cooper and Nicola Sutcliffe have all done really well.
You do have to put the hours in – you can’t just sit at your desk and think the bookings are going to come to you
Q. What advice would you give to agents who are new to the trade?
A. Give it a go, but you can’t think it’s going to be easy. You do have to put the hours in – you can’t just sit at your desk and think the bookings are going to come to you. You have to be able to find your market. You can’t look at someone else and think they’re doing well so you’ll do the same as them. You need to find what you’re comfortable with and what would interest you to do every single day of the week.
Q. What social media tips would you give to agents wanting to develop their business?
A. Post something every day. If it’s not a holiday, just post a meme – you can pick them up just from following travel pages. And always communicate quickly on Facebook messenger and be friendly. Don’t open a message at night and then reply in the morning, because it makes the customer feel as if they’re not good enough. If you’re not going to reply until the morning, don’t open it until then. And always reply to Facebook comments. A lot of my colleagues say they can’t reply to comments, but I always reply to comments – even if it’s just to say, ‘Please see post’.
Dame Irene Hays gave me the award and she was nearly crying – she had a lump in her throat
Q. Can you tell us about the awards you’ve won or been nominated for?
A. I was a finalist in Travel Weekly’s Agent Achievement Awards 2022 in the ‘Agent of the Year’ category. And in March 2022, I won the Hays Travel ‘Outstanding Achievement’ award in Tenerife at the homeworking conference. I was awarded it because of my sales and I was helping a lot of people along the way. Dame Irene Hays gave me the award and she was nearly crying – she had a lump in her throat. She said, ‘Whenever we need help, we know who we can call’. Then in 2023, I got the bronze award in the ‘Best Homeworker’ category at the Jet2holidays conference.
Can you tell us how the double-glazing sector helped your travel career?
My family has got a double‑glazing business, set up by dad and now run by my brother. When I worked with my dad, I used to help organise all the overseas trips. We did overseas trips to reward the salespeople for their sales, and we stayed in five-star hotels. Once my dad’s company went bust, I thought I would try being a travel agent. My brother has set up the double-glazing business again and it’s really successful. After I got made redundant from Global Holidays, I did some telecanvassing for him to get the money to do my Hays Travel training, which was £350. When doing the telecanvassing for a few months, I thought, ‘Wow, I can still sell’. I started with Hays Travel in June 2016, working in the lead-supported section of the homeworking division. I did that for two years and since then I’ve been doing the ‘normal’ personal travel consultant homeworking.