How do I start?

[Host CMLA]

Hi!  I've thought about being a travel agent over the years but I don't have a big rolodex (showing my age) of people to call on to be clients.  One barrier for me would be starting from nothing and trying to find clients.  How do I build clientele?  

 

Also, any idea about the volume of sales that's needed to be able to make a living as a travel agent?  Would I have to book 100k a month just to eek out a living?  

 

Thanks so much!

[Avoya Network]

Thank you for the great question. No doubt that marketing today can be tricky, and without that large rolodex, it can be difficult to find enough clients. Building a clientele comes down to marketing (generating traveler demand), technology (working smarter, not harder) and service (exclusive promotions and high-touch expertise).

 

On Marketing, there are two ways Avoya helps here:

· Leads Avoya Generates: One of the most significant differences about Avoya is our industry-exclusive, patented Live Leads™ program. Every year, we spend millions of advertising dollars to generate traveler interest – which we send exclusively to our affiliated independent travel advisors.

· Leads You Generate: Our Marketing Resource Center™ provides tremendous pre-made collateral (digital and physical) so you can start to build your own book of business.

 

For Technology, Avoya built its own web-based software to simplify the vacation planning and booking process for agents. Travelers know the immense details that go into a great trip, so our software helps make that process efficient and effective.

 

As it relates to Service, every traveler wants to get a great deal and to be taken care of personally. Avoya’s model isn’t to just dump travelers to a random call center agent each time a traveler calls in for support. Instead, we route travelers right back to their travel advisor so they don’t have to explain the same things to a new person and so that the travel advisor can really get to know the travelers to make the right recommendations.

 

As far as your second question, it depends on what your financial goals are. We have agents who are happy with selling $50k per month and others that sell $250k per month, or more. Selling $100k per month is very possible and many of our affiliates generate that level of sales. As with any new business, it will take a reasonable amount of time to build. Like most things in life, if you want to be great at what you do, it’ll take time, energy and passion. The Network Expansion team at Avoya Travel is happy to engage with you and discuss this in detail. Our contact information can be found in the linked PDFs.

Edited May 6, 2023 by Avoya Network