Working Smarter using my own Sales Pipeline

Business Improvement

‘I’d worked in retail for many years before changing careers and becoming a bank manager. But travel was always my passion, and when my kids came along, I was looking to work more flexibly. I joined Travel Counsellors via the Return to Travel programme and I’ve never looked back - I absolutely love what I do! The ongoing training and the opportunities to improve and grow your business once you’re established are amazing at Travel Counsellors. I think I’d really underestimated just how useful our online training platform, Coach, is to improving your product knowledge and developing your business. My Business Development Coach is also a godsend in that respect - she is always there to support and motivate me when I need it!

Going for Gold

But three years in, with my business ticking along nicely, I felt I could be doing more. So, with some nervousness, I signed up to our free ‘Going for Gold’ programme, which coaches Travel Counsellors towards attaining the prestigious ‘Gold’ standard - the title we give to our highest-performing Travel Counsellors. I attended a two-day training course where, amongst other things, we got to talk to colleagues who’d already achieved ‘Gold’ about how they did it. Although we are all taught the ‘Golden Habits’ from day one - a kind of blue-print for a successful business - I still felt that company’s Gold Travel Counsellors must have somehow had some hidden secret or knowledge to which only they had access! Over the course of the training, the one thing that really hit home to me was that all the Gold Travel Counsellors were very much closer to their businesses than I was to mine.

The Value of my own Database

So, while my business was well established by now, I was still spending a lot of time networking and prospecting for new customers, just as I did in the early days. I realised that in fact, I had both the tools and the customers I needed to grow my business already available and at my fingertips, right there in my Contact Centre. I just needed to re-engage and connect with them more! So, I learnt to use the detailed information in my database better to get closer to my existing clients - being personal with them, reminding them of the level of service I offered and providing travel ideas and content that was interesting to them. It’s as if the penny suddenly dropped about the opportunity sitting right there my own customer pipeline!

Re-connecting with Customers

Once I started to re-connect with my customers, I moved my sales, margin and my commission up by a couple of percentage points. I now know that I’ve got everything I need to move my business on to the next level already within my grasp. It’s about working smarter with what I’ve already got - there’s no hidden secret to success. Now I’ve got my sights set firmly on Gold!’