Collette kick-started the summer with a string of events across the U.S. and Canada to celebrate travel advisors, which Kelsie Marchetti, the company's senior manager of virtual events and advisor programs, said was an example of how the tour operator honors its relationship with the trade. Tours editor Brinley Hineman spoke with Marchetti, whose role is focused on bolstering advisor engagement, about how she goes beyond the Collette product to get advisors comfortable with sales strategies or staying up to date on the latest tech.
Kelsie Marchetti
Q: Your role is focused on helping advisors. What does that look like in practice?
A: I manage two travel advisor networks, including a private Facebook group just for advisors to get the inside scoop of what's going on at Collette. It could be alerts on sales or upcoming virtual events, or it could be polls, but I find people respond really well to the things that aren't about Collette but about: How do I help you grow your business?
Is it a social media tip? Is it about destination information? Is it how to overcome objections when selling guided travel, giving them speech that they can use?
Q: What are you teaching them when it comes to non-Collette topics?
A: Back in November, I posted on the travel advisor network asking what it is that they wanted to learn. And the overwhelming answer was: selling strategies. From January through May, I did a selling series. I invited industry experts to come and share their secrets and their tips. I had an advisor who's been in the business for 25 years, and he's really great at marketing. He shared all of his tips. I had a travel lawyer come on and talk about terms and conditions and chargebacks and fraud and the things that advisors might not be thinking about but could do harm in the long run. I had a BDM come talk about groups and how they fuel your retail. Then I did one that was how to use social media and to make your business easier.
Q: What are you hearing are the biggest challenges for advisors right now?
A: I would say tech. It's such a completely different world than it was five years ago, 10 years ago. Before it was emails and mailings, and AI wasn't a thing. There are so many advisors who want to step into the world of using AI and technology and self-service tools, but it's scary.
Q: Are you encouraging them to dip their toes into the AI world?
A: I see a lot of advisors wanting to get into it but not really knowing how, because it seems so overwhelming. There's Gemini and ChatGPT and Claude, and all this different stuff to use. I talk about it a lot. I share my screen, and I say, "Here's a really easy prompt that you can use. Go put in your ideas, make sure you're rereading it. Here's what you should do so it doesn't look like AI wrote it." I'm really urging them to make it sound like them. Eighty percent of my virtual events have a takeaway that shows them something that they can do with AI or social media, or just marketing that will help their business.
Q: Do you have any tools that make it easier for advisors to connect with clients?
A: Collette Connection. You can go on and send a little brochure to any one of your clients, and it has a personalized letter that you can add to it. You can say, "I know you were dying to go to Asia. Take a look at the Kingdoms of Southeast Asia tour," and it sends this beautiful Asia brochure. It is a really great talking point.
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This interview has been edited for length and clarity.