By Mary Brutscher

A few days ago, I was sitting in a restaurant awaiting the arrival of a prominent local physician who, along with his assistant, was joining me for a business luncheon. They were running late and although the restaurant was so noisy I couldn’t even hear my cell phone ring, I was enjoying just sitting and gazing out the window. I started watching the road construction workers busily working on a huge trench where new city plumbing was being laid.
I realized that many would consider this trench nothing more than a ditch, and it was, and these workers as ditch diggers, and they are — but let’s think about it. It may be a ditch, but it is certainly necessary in order for us to enjoy a civilized city with the benefits and privileges of having drinking water, water to bathe in and so forth. The men may be ditch diggers, but let’s look at some things in a different light. If we did not have these men digging these ditches, we would not have this water. If they weren’t skilled at what they do, the ditches would not stay excavated long enough to lay the pipes. The pipes might not hold together. Any number of mishaps could happen that would prevent us from getting our precious water. What if someone neglected to put up the proper “Caution” signage or roadblocks setup, resulting in injuries to pedestrians and drivers alike? With all of this put in perspective, can we really refer to these folks as merely ditch diggers? Where would we be without them?
Likewise it is with the travel community. Some of us refer to ourselves as “being in the trenches” — and we are at times. I’ve known some agents who beat themselves up because they don’t own their businesses and have even talked to a few supplier reservation agents who consider themselves as not important in the scheme of things just because they don’t have the fancy titles or earn as much as some of their counterparts. Yet, if we all stop and view these folks in a different light, we will see how vital the smallest person involved in the distribution of travel really is.
If you are a Home Based agent, you are certainly vital. You are important to the supplier as a channel for selling their product, as well as to your clients, who value your expertise and involvement. If the client does not have a good travel agent down in the trenches with them, they may not have the knowledge to successfully handle their own travel arrangements. Just like the ditch diggers I watched who made sure pedestrians and traffic flowed safely, so as you, the agent, smooth the way to ensure that your clients have a seamless, safe vacation.
If you are a Business Development Manager and are ignoring the newer and smaller agency or the Home Based agent, take a second look at what you are doing. The small agency may, in time, grow to be one of the largest producing agencies in your territory. Or, the Home Based agent may have a lot of high-powered contacts who want vacations. If you ignore them now and don’t consider them to be worth your time, they may think the same thing about you later. They may be digging the ditches now, but could be in charge of the whole project a few years down the road.
That painfully slow reservation agent on the other end of the phone might make you crazy. But, it’s much better than waiting on hold forever because no one answers the phone. This may be his or her first week on the job working alone. They are vital to our ability to have questions answered, payments submitted and so forth.
Just like the ditch digger, we who daily tumble into the trenches with the buying public must be meticulous in planning and initiating our daily projects and go about our business. We need to be mindful of precautions, such as researching so we know our products and are accurate in our business dealings. We must be mindful of safety in our day to day lives and advise our clients of the dangers of traveling without travel insurance. We need to list a disclaimer on our invoices relieving us of liability for supplier default or bankruptcy and have the client sign this agreement.
Each and every person in the travel industry, from the travel agent to the reservation agent to the CEO of the company, is vital to one another’s success. This synergy is what keeps the distribution system humming. So, as you head toward your trench today, realize that you and what you do are important, Take pride in that knowledge — and that pride will reflect a self-confidence to those who are important to your business.

Happy Sales!

Mary Brutscher is the director of corporate sales for Charming Inns. She and her husband Franz are the owners of Brutscher Travel and Consulting and provide consultation to the travel industry, conduct seminars and agent training.