How do you decide which vendors you choose to work with?
There are thousands of tour operators, hotels, excursion companies, cruiselines and transfer companies all vying for your patronage. Are they equally worthy of your business? Are they equally trustworthy to deliver exactly as promised? Are they equally profitable?
The travel partners you choose reflect your brand, your reputation, your integrity. Your perfectly-designed vacations are meaningless to the client if not executed flawlessly by your contributing vendors.
Assess your own standards for delivery and service. Consider what you demand of yourself in listening to clients' needs and conscientiously fulfilling those needs in the most value-laden way possible, what modes of communication you use for clients, and how quickly you respond to clients' communiques. Expect nothing less from your vendors.
If you respond to all emails within one hour, don't settle for a vendor who replies in six days. If your preferred communication mode is the phone for collaboration and real-time interaction, don't rely on a vendor who requires you to book online to save time/money.
There's a disconnect if you consider yourself a specialist in romance and honeymoons, but you use vendors whose specialties are family-friendly budget offerings. A similar disconnect is when you rate yourself a luxury travel consultant, yet you shop around for the cheapest vendors without regard for the value of their offerings.
Does the vendor give more than lip-service to being your travel partner? Do they listen and respond to your input about your clients' needs and priorities, or do their recommendations reflect their own agenda for personal biases or selling goals?
Is the vendor an expert in the destination who can offer options with rationales to support their recommendations? Or are they keener to push the product or partner or destination of the month? I invest heavily in learning a region and can compare/contrast one option against another. I expect my travel partners to be able to do likewise.
Is the vendor's communication clear with no room for conjecture and misunderstandings? Are their tangible travel documents professional and substantial in appearance, or do they email e-docs to save money on printing/postage?
What is their payment policy? Not only how much commission (gross or net), but when do they pay — Are docs delivered when the clients leave for travel, two months after clients have returned from travel? How much work do you have to do to chase down your commission? I pay my bills promptly, and my travel partners need to pay me promptly, too.
Attend seminars and presentations of vendors that interest you, and make it a point to speak to them personally and initiate a relationship. Try the vendor's product yourself before entrusting any client to them so you have firsthand experiences to judge them. Talk is cheap, but customer service is the true test.
Some years ago I violated this rule. I admit I succumbed to the tour operator's hype on how great they were. My clients' vacation was rife with unacceptable glitches, and when I tried to resolve the grievances with the vendor, I was subjected to nasty, defensive rants from both the tour operator and the hotel that had no interest in customer satisfaction.
Lesson learned: I never use any vendor without first testing their products or service. No exception.
Invest in the effort to create a stable cadre of trusted, dependable vendors. Nurture those relationships instead of jumping from one vendor to another, depending on who's offering the latest incentive or agent perk. Don't minimize the power of a well-balanced partnership when your values and service philosophy are in sync.
