Jamie Biesiada
Agents, pick a specialty. It's common, but sound, advice when it comes to a business strategy.
Take Abbey Mopsick, owner of Silver Spring, Md.-based Abbey's World Travel, and Dina Dini, owner of Dina Dini Travel in Wellington, Fla. Both own independent agencies in the Avoya Travel network, both have chosen to specialize in unique products, and both are realizing success from their decisions.
Mopsick, who affiliated with Avoya in 2012 after working in another agency, has chosen to specialize in three products: CIE Tours, the Globus Family of Brands and Uniworld Boutique River Cruises. Last year she nearly hit $2 million in sales with those products.
When she first started with Avoya, Mopsick started booking cruises, but they weren't her top product pick. She had been on a handful of tours, including ones offered by Globus, so she started selling Globus. A lead with CIE Tours led her to that brand, and the same with Uniworld. She spent time learning about each product from product representatives and online courses, and it snowballed from there.
Dini decided to work as an agent after retiring from a career in the airline industry, and she has a similar Avoya story. When she affiliated with Avoya in 2015, she was receiving leads on cruises, but like Mopsick, it wasn't her favorite product to sell. Then she heard about Amtrak Vacations.
She went through Amtrak's online training and quickly made her first booking. She took her time getting to know Amtrak better, down to details like train schedules, and she had visited many of its destinations during her airline career. She also experienced the product firsthand, taking a train from Los Angeles to the Grand Canyon, one of the most popular products she sells. The combination of knowledge and experience helped her build her business around that product.
"First of all, you've got to love what you sell. You've got to believe in it, and you've got to know the product," Dini said. "And if you love it and you believe in it and you know the product, then when the client comes on the line, it's very easy to give a virtual handshake. And that virtual handshake is my immediate connection with that client I reel them in."
Both Mopsick and Dini had similar advice for agents looking to focus on a specific product or specialty: Get to know the product and take advantage of available educational opportunities. Visiting suppliers' websites to complete online courses and participating in webinars are important ways to build product knowledge, but another key is calling the supplier and asking questions of representatives, Mopsick said.
Agents can also take advantage of programs offered by agent networks. For instance, Mopsick and Dini participate in Avoya's Mastermind Program, a business development course offered free of charge that includes one-on-one sales development sessions and small peer groups.
Mopsick said Mastermind helped her narrow down her chosen specialties to the three she has realized success with today. Dini called it "invaluable" to her business. "The quality business coaching and development resources I receive as part of my membership in the Avoya network help me reach my goals and would otherwise cost a lot of money."