ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Knowing how to delegate is key to growing and succeeding with an agency business, according to a panel of top-producing agents at Travel Weekly’s LeisureWorld 2010 and Home Based Travel Agent Show and Conference.
"I learned after a few years to stop doing everything myself," said Jason Coleman, president of Jason Coleman Inc.
Coleman said one of the best things he did for his agency business was hiring his first "virtual assistant" — an administrative assistant based in another country — in 2008. Coleman now has three virtual assistants working for him, so that his "primary focus is on talking to the clients."
Coleman said he learned about the process and logistics of outsourcing labor through www.replacemyself.com.
If a certain aspect of your business "isn’t your forte, find someone else who can do it for you," added Amy Caldwell-Hobbins, owner of Journeys Unlimited Travel. But, she cautioned, before hiring someone to do a certain task, "make sure you understand it first."
Panelists compared and contrasted theories for hiring employees and agents to work at their agencies. Some paid through commission, and some paid their employees by the hour.
Jennifer Doncsecz, owner and president of VIP Vacations, advised home-based agents to take their business as seriously as any businessperson would. She said that even though she would work in slippers at home, she always left her house in a business suit to exude professionalism.
She also advised agents just starting out to think about the name of their company. She said the name VIP Vacations has lent itself to numerous mixups and confusion with other similarly named companies, and if she could do it all over again, she would have named her company differently.
