More than five years after commission caps were instituted, Richard
Copland, who is the unopposed candidate to become ASTA president
this fall, sees travel agencies emerging from the shock of that
event.
In a talk to ASTA's Hudson Valley Chapter the other night,
Copland said agencies are emerging from a period of "denial" and
recognizing that they must learn the fundamentals of retail sales
to survive and prosper.
"When I got into the business years ago," he said, "we called
retailers 'travel agents', then they preferred to be called 'travel
professionals', now the appropriate term is 'sellers of
travel.'
The semantic differences may seem unimportant but they symbolize
a significant change. The term 'travel agent' always was
ambiguous.
For whom is the agent an agent, the customer or the supplier?
Most agents will say it's the customer but most of the payment
still comes from the supplier.
The phrase 'travel professional' has a nice ring to it. It was
an attempt to elevate the status of agents in the minds of
suppliers and clients.
But the term 'sellers of travel' is simple, accurate and the
only one to acknowledge the fundamental truth that the agents who
thrive, just as in any field, are those who can sell.
It's not as easy as it may sound for many agencies to accept the
notion of being in sales. In fact, being a salesperson is not held
in as high a regard as it should be by segments of society.
Consider that many sales people carry a title that cloaks what
they do. Advertising salespeople, for example, rarely use the word.
They are more likely to be "account executives."
Salespeople should be proud of the fact that they know how to
sell and have achieved success in that field but they tend to couch
what they do in other terms.
In a conversation with some travel people a while ago, I asked
how many thought travel agents went to their "office," and how many
though they went to their "store."
Overwhelmingly, the group felt they went to the "office." Maybe
that's the right term for people in office buildings doing
corporate travel and never seeing their clients.
But in the brick-and-mortar leisure travel world, the notion of
selling travel in a "store" is a good idea to keep in mind.
Accepting that the business you're in is sales is an important
first step in doing the job well.