Jamie Biesiada
In Stuart Cohen's mind, one of the biggest challenges agents face today is validation: Explaining to potential clients why their services are needed. In fact, the industry consultant and trainer said he believes it's the biggest challenge agents face.
"Their No. 1 task is to convince the consumer that they're going to miss out on a whole lot, they're going to make a whole lot of mistakes, if they don't use them," he said.
Cohen has several pieces of advice for agents to help clients realize their value proposition.
First, he said, agents should not focus on discounts and deals. Instead, they should do their homework as to what's available elsewhere and offer their clients packages with more value.
For instance, Cohen said, if an agent gets a call or email from a client saying that they found a travel deal at a lower price than what the agent quoted, the agent should be ready to explain everything their quote includes -- and what the lower quote doesn't.
"What the agent needs to start saying is that yes, that costs less, but your disappointment costs will be a lot higher," he said. "And then normally, the customer will say, 'Huh? I don't understand what you mean.'
Stuart Cohen
"If the agent has done their homework and they are charging more, then they'll be able to tell that consumer all the things that are going to disappoint them if they book at the other place at the lower cost; all the things they're going to miss."
Put simply, Cohen said, agents will do well to avoid selling "bare-bones, off-the-shelf products" that their clients can find elsewhere. Instead, they should focus on offering a tailored vacation experience filled with things their clients wouldn't be able to find on their own.
"If that's all they sell, the same thing everybody else sells, just that cabin or just that hotel room, then what good are they?" he said. "It's the agent's responsibility to add in the things to make it a higher-value package."
That is especially easy to do with groups, Cohen said, which offer unique opportunities for agents to bundle experiences. "They can make a lot more money and have a lot more freedom to create a higher-value package," he said.
Cohen also advised agents to build a brand around themselves.
"The agent is the brand I'm not buying Royal Caribbean, I'm buying you, and you happen to sell Royal Caribbean," he said. "Don't lead with Royal Caribbean. Great brand; wonderful, terrific, but I can buy Royal Caribbean anywhere. I can't buy you anywhere."
He suggested agents use their website to their advantage when they're branding: Create a page telling potential clients who they are and why they should book a trip with that particular agent.
At the end of the day, consumers want the same thing an agent does, he said: "A loyal relationship."
"Any agent who's still out there barking price and savings and discounts, as far as I'm concerned, they're done," Cohen said. "But the ones who really deliver on that promise, their customers will never book online. They'll never book with anybody else but their travel agent, because their agent won't let them miss out on anything."