Who says a midlife crisis has to be a bad thing? Debbie Tucker,
owner of Travel Designs by Debbie in St. Petersburg, Fla. -- a
20-year industry veteran and former agency partner for seven years
-- created her company three years ago as her 50th birthday loomed.
Rather than follow the standard agency format, Tucker opted for
a 100% leisure, home-based, no-air ticket business model.
Tucker credits an Internet conference she attended seven or
eight years ago, along with the commission caps and an increasing
dissatisfaction with her career, as catalysts for change.
"I found myself working for 20 or 30 minutes on an airline
ticket only to have the client call and ask why he could get a
better price on the Internet," Tucker said. "The handwriting was on
the wall."
Partly to find personal fulfillment, she decided to open her
so-called virtual travel agency.
Tucker set up shop at home, but stresses she is an
Iatan-accredited Travel Service Intermediary and has "all the
endorsements you could have."
If Tucker was concerned about losing her preferred-supplier
relationships by going solo, her fears were unfounded, she said,
citing her continued membership on Sonesta's travel agency advisory
board as a case in point.
But while some things stayed the same, her style of doing
business has changed radically.
"My clients have been with me for 20 years, and now I can spend
the extra time necessary to give them personal service, which you
can't do in a large agency where everything is monitored and you
have quotas," Tucker said.
Her clients pour out their travel needs to Tucker over pastries
and coffee or wine and cheese in her scenic location on the Gulf of
Mexico, and she makes a point of creating a social atmosphere.
"In a traditional agency, people are trying to talk to you about
spending $20,000 on a vacation, and meanwhile phones are ringing
and people are putting pink slips on your desk," she said.
"I didn't want that for my clients," Tucker said. "I turn off
the phones."
-- Felicity Long
Adding to her repertoire
What's better than doing well on leisure travel? How about
meeting planning? Debbie Tucker found that one was a natural
progression of the other.
"They go hand in hand; you need the same attitude and
resources," she said.
Because she can work on the road -- anywhere she can take her
cell phone and laptop -- Tucker, based in St. Petersburg, Fla.,
said she now has the time to work on meetings design along with her
other projects.
"This has been very lucrative for me, so much so that I've
opened an office in New York with my daughter," she said.
In addition to providing a new source of income, Tucker said the
arrangement allows her to spend more time with her daughter and
other family members.
As for marketing, "these are the same upscale clients I've met
doing leisure travel. I have the credibility, and they know I will
provide the service," she said.
Tucker bolsters her business with a newsletter and a Web site at
www.meetingdesigns.com.
Free to travel more than she used to, Tucker credits the support
she gets from her back-up travel agency Duggar Travel in St.
Petersburg, through which she sometimes runs business in exchange
for split commissions. So what about that midlife crisis?
"I turned 50 last year, and as a result of the lifestyle change
I've made, I'm having more fun now than I've had in the last 20
years," Tucker said.
The No. 1 industry problem
We are hearing it from every segment of the country: Trained
agents are getting harder and harder to find.
There is a employee shortage epidemic in our industry and it
comes just at a time we are re-engineering our businesses and
trying to redefine the meaning of truly personalized travel
services.
It isn't
practical to suggest that every agency in need of staff ought to
open a travel school. That can be a very costly venture at a time
when so many potential agency employees have the notion that some
industries actually pay more than travel and, perish the thought,
offer better benefits. I mean real benefits like health care, not
an occasional free room in Negril or Cancun.
State laws make it very difficult to open a travel school. But
state laws are nonexistent when it comes to setting up evening or
weekend travel industry "seminars" for those thinking about
entering the travel profession.
You may want to combine your weekend seminar with an inside look
at how the industry really works. You are selling the seminar --
and I do think it should be a profitable endeavor -- on the basis
of providing knowledge that will help attendees save money and
select the right product the next time they travel. But an
important part of your seminar will be a discussion of ways people
can join your firm on a part-time or full-time basis.
Plan the seminar at least six months in advance and produce a
brochure that reflects well on your corporate image. If possible,
include statements of endorsement from suppliers regarding your
production, awards and professionalism.
What I am suggesting is a softer sell to recruit new employees
based on the knowledge you provide in a seminar format.
Richard Turen is an industry consultant and travel agency
president. Contact him at [email protected].