It’s Time for a Change

By Zigmund Sepanski
General Manager, AuthorizedAgents

Something a travel agent said at a recent travel show gave me nightmares. Some of you might think that what she said was very benign. To me, it was just another example of why some agents are in a downward spiral.
What was it that she said? Hold on for a minute and I’ll tell you about the nightmare first.
It was January 2006. Old Travel had closed its brick-and-mortar location last year and owner Agent Oldway transformed her business into a Home Based agency. Her clients were very loyal, mostly older who relied on her for years.
Debbie called Agent Oldway on Monday. Debbie was a customer for over 15 years and was planning a big cruise or Hawaii trip. Agent Oldway called her favorite supplier from whom she gets the best commission, just as she has been doing for the last 20 years, and quoted Debbie the full price, as usual. She took Debbie’s deposit.
A day later Agent Oldway received a not-so-cordial
call from Debbie.
“Agent, I’ve been doing business with you for 15 years and always thought you were looking out for me,” she said. “But you gave me a price that was $500 more than the price quoted by my next-door neighbor, who just became a travel agent. She is a hairdresser, you know, and some organization made her a Home Based agent because she has a business license. I also just got this newfangled computer and saw a price online for $600 less. Moreover, Disloyal Crab Cruise Line sent me a direct offer that’s so much better than yours. What is going on?”
Agent Oldway was in a pickle. She’s been doing this for so many years and this was the fourth client this month who questioned her pricing.
“This did not happen five years ago,” she lamented. “This $%#% Internet. Now, this client thinks that for all these years I was overcharging her. I wish those Internet companies would go away. It’s all the airlines’ fault. They started it. Oh...the good old days when clients had to come to us for everything. Maybe I should get a Web site. No, I know nothing about the Internet, and could not compete, anyway. Most of my clients are older and hopefully will not check the prices on the Internet.”
I woke up in a sweat. I was so glad this was only a nightmare. What did the agent say on that travel show that started the nightmare? Then I remembered: “I only call my one favorite supplier for a quote. My clients trust me, are on the older side and don’t go on the Web to check prices. I don’t need to get two quotes.”
What’s the point of this article? Simple. If you haven’t already, you’d better change or get out of the business. Harsh, I know. Change and reality hurt.
We resist change for several reasons. Everything we have been doing for years has become a habit. Changing habits means getting out of the comfort zone — which is not an easy task. We have to abandon the things we know well and try things we know nothing about.

That causes discomfort, occasional failures and the longing for the “good old days.”
Each change has four learning stages:
Stage I is the (HH) Happy Habit stage. We do what we do well and have done it for so long that it became so strong a habit that we shut out other options. We are not even aware that other options may be available. This can also be called the (BI) Blissful Ignorance stage where people such as travel agents purposely ignore the changes going on around them and hope that when they wake up one morning, everything will be back the way it was.

Stage II is the Oh, Shoot (OS) stage. That is when we are starting to realize that we need to do something else and that unless we do it, our business will suffer. However, we are not sure how and what we can do and whether we even want to get off our duffs to do it. We realize that we need to compete with the travel information available to almost every consumer via the Internet or directly from the supplier. But, this will take effort and doing things in different ways — and I am just too set in my ways to change.
This is the hardest stage to move out of. To go to the next stage requires serious effort, commitment, the willingness to try something entirely new, an open mind and the knowledge that you might fail a couple of times before you get it right.

Stage III. This is the Before Kitty Hawk (BKH) stage. This is also known as “This is too tough and I am ready to quit” stage). Remember that the Wright Brothers failed many times before their plane took off. In this stage, the agent is asked to change most of his or her habits. Here is where you need to realize that the consumer no longer has to rely on you for most of the travel information. You know that information is power — and that you no longer have an exclusive on it. Information is at the fingertips of every consumer with a computer and every wholesaler and cruise line. Now that the power has shifted, you have to pick up new habits of serving your clients before they realize that they have to change their habits. Suppliers are certainly changing how they market to YOUR clients.
You, too, can have a Web site. You, too, can find better pricing. You, too, can stop selling to everyone and focus on specialty and vertical markets that are not serviced by the mega Web players. You, too, can use different suppliers or belong to a marketing organization that will help you get that sale at a better price. You, too, can charge for your consulting services as a professional. (If a lawyer gives you either good or bad advice, he/she charges. So why shouldn’t you charge for your expertise?) Separate your consulting knowledge from the travel products that became a commodity and are price driven. This stage is scary because you have to move out of the comfort zone. You will fail in some things. But, that is a part of change.

Stage IV. This is where the new things you tried in Stage III have become a habit. So you are actually back to the first HH stage. And, guess what? New marketing strategies will develop and you will have to start the change cycle once again. Next time. we will look at some other solutions.