Latest / Travel Agency in a Year / Day 110 - Niching: simplify your travel business
Transcript
- Rachel K: Hi, welcome to the travel agency in your podcast. It's day 110. I can't believe we are this far into the year already. It's fine. Don't panic. Don't panic about it. Okay. So yesterday's episode was all about what strategies do you need to develop as a travel advisor? Also, if you don't know me, my name is Rachel K and I'm a travel agency owner as well as ⁓ the fat face I just made. The founder over at ElevateWithRachelK.com, it's full of courses, coaching, mentoring, services for travel advisors to build the business that builds you up. That's who I am. If you're like, why am I listening to this random person? So why are you niching down? You should absolutely niche down. I know this has been said so many times and I actually have a course over at elevate with Rachel K. Dot com called the sweet spot to success. And it's all about like really honing in on what your niche is and why this episode is going to be like a real quick. an easy version of that course when it originally launched in 2025. It was like a five day mini live course thing. However, I've decided to just like you can get the replay and DIY it and figure out your niche. So if you have purchased that course and maybe you haven't taken it or maybe you started it and you're like, I don't have time for this or maybe you've never even heard of it. This episode would be a good companion for it. But why do travel advisors niche as a strategy in their business? Makes your life a billion times easier. If you niche down, you don't have to know everything. Now lot of people will say niche down and it's deeper than that. It's not just, you're romance travel specialist or you're a DW specialist or you're an adventure travel specialist. I highly recommend really, really getting deeper into it and limiting yourself to having super deep knowledge over a narrow range of, I call them products, because I just have that business background. I'm not the CEO of McDonald's. The Sandwich is a great product, spits it out. No, but I don't know what you like to sell, so I can't say resorts, cruise lines, tours. I could. But instead I decided to say products and then have this 30 second explanation. It's fine. So just know I call them products. Like anything you sell and travel is a product. What you do is the service, right? But if you have a very deep knowledge of just a handful of products versus very little knowledge over a wide range of products, you're going to be considered specialized. All right, so in the sweet spot course, the way that I kind of present this idea is you can be a buy here, pay here car dealership and you can sell whatever clunker comes in and you're like, all right, well, whatever, just buy this car, I don't care, I just wanna make money. Or you could partner and I believe most car dealerships like set up sort of like a franchise system with car manufacturers. and they're limited on what they can sell in terms of what's new and in their showroom. And then the used, have a little bit more flexibility, but they primarily sell the used versions of whatever they offer in the new showroom. And that way everyone on their sales team has hopefully taken the training, but like extensive knowledge about the different makes and models of the vehicles that company manufactures. So when people come onto the lot, and they say, I need something for my family. We have three young children and we like to do a lot of road trips or whatever the case may be, then they already have in their mind, these people need one of these three types of vehicles. And as they listen more and more, like we need something that's reliable and what good gas mileage, something that's gonna last a long time, whatever. And we like weather interior. They can filter out from there. That's what they're doing. Like when you filter when you're shopping online, car salesmen and other salesmen who are really specialized in their niche, like filter out what people need as they're listening to their wants and needs. Okay? So that's what I mean by niche specialization. Don't just say I do romance travel and then you're like, well, I got a honeymoon in Ireland. I got an anniversary trip in Greece. I got six all-inclusive resorts. Proposal trips and then I have five destination weddings like that's a lot of different pieces and parts for each of these trips to manage and eventually that's gonna lead to a lot of burnout or Not enough help for people and they're not gonna be satisfied with the services Not that they're not gonna be like we hate you, but they just may not come back So that's why I like specializing and going deep with it. You can be very knowledgeable on a specific destination, like three countries, you can know them inside and out, if that's how you want to niche. You can really, really understand the type of travel, like destination weddings, you can understand how that works deeply. But then you wanna understand like, Destination weddings on a cruise line is different from one on a resort is different from one at a villa. Okay, they are all different types of ⁓ But if you have that understanding, you can be like, ⁓ I specialize in destination weddings specifically at all inclusive resorts. And then you can go even further down from there and be like all inclusive resorts in a specific destination. If you really want to get that highly specialized thing going, you can do that. There was an agent that was ⁓ She's a colleague of mine, she used to be on my team years ago. She's flown the nest or whatever, like she doesn't need me anymore, so she's on her own, which is fine. And she decided to niche in celiac travel. And I think she has like a little dietary, not a little, but like a low cost investment dietary restrictions course for those who want to specialize in dietary restrictions when it comes to traveling to all inclusive resorts. because she has celiac issues, gluten issues. I don't recall if it's full-blown celiac. I'm pretty sure she's full-blown celiac. But when we first started working together, she was actually a photographer and she was like one of my preferred photographers for my destination wedding couples. And then we started booking. our weddings together essentially are referring each other, whatever. And then she's like, by the way, I need gluten free, by the way, need celiac, by the way, how does this? And I was like, ⁓ well, and some of the resorts that I preferred to book back when I was doing weddings, she had already been to them and she's like, I know they're good for celiac, but other resorts, she was like, what's the story with them? And I'm like, honestly, I have no clue. She's like, I'm gonna stay off site because I don't know either and I don't want to get glutened. while I'm shooting this destination wedding. I'm like, okay. So when she started in travel, she decided to get into celiac travel and that is her niche specialization. Like the primary focus of her niche is like you have severe dietary restrictions or food allergies, I'm your gal. Because she really had to do it herself as a destination wedding photographer for years. So she really understands. just because a resort says, we monitor allergies and just because you walk into a restaurant and they're like, any food allergies? And just kind of write it down does not necessarily mean that they are practicing specifically for gluten ⁓ food safety practices because that is apparently super complicated. Like I didn't know how in depth it was. I thought it was just like, ⁓ don't eat bread. But she's like, no, if bread is cut on a cutting board and then the fruit that I'm being served is cut on that cutting board with that same knife and there's bread crumbs still on that cutting board, I could get sick from that. And I was like, whoa, it's intense. Anyway, there's a rambling there. so this is why it's like very, very important not to just be like, ⁓ I do adventure travel, but to go a little bit deeper than that. And you'll want to have an understanding of like, what are your superpowers with that destination or why you're so passionate about that type of travel? Again, your niche can start with a destination or type of travel. it or a very, very, you could get super duper specific and be like, I only book primarily this resort or this one cruise line. Like there are so many successful agents that limit what they sell and what they offer so that they a have deep knowledge of that product, right? B Because they sell so much more volume of it because they're only focused on maybe three different Maybe five different things primarily and that's like 90 % of what they book They build really strong connections with those brands and the management teams and they also get those You know when you log your bookings or whatever they get those additional perks for their clients because of that That's another reason why you want to be highly specialized instead of just doing whatever and piece mailing random stuff together. another reason why you want to be niche down when you have that deep knowledge and limited services, you don't have to have a thousand different workflows in your CRM for every possible type of trip. Okay. ⁓ so it makes your life a lot easier to sort of create that, ⁓ sort of like a rinse and repeat process. Like, you know, it's probably going to be one of four. five max, I recommend no more than five things and we'll talk about that in a second. This episode's gonna run long, it's fine. And then build your workflows based on those five things, products, we're just gonna call them products and I still feel like the McDonald's CEO. That's fine. Anyway, you build your workflows based on just those five products. if that's the majority of what you're selling. And then you can have your general workflows for anything you don't really sell a whole lot of and don't have that deep knowledge. You can create entire like in-depth pre-travel guides for those destinations or products. and then it makes your life so much easier. Another reason, if you have that deep knowledge of said product, again, destination, type of travel, specific brands of types of travel. you will feel a billion times more confident when you are on your consultation calls because you're like, this is who I am, this is what I offer. Whereas when you are not niche down and you're just taking whatever, you will be spending so much more time doing extensive workflows. You will be constantly burnt out on making sure you have the right information. ⁓ you're gonna be working a lot more for the same amount or possibly less commission, right? Now I was gonna say I was gonna get to that, now I forgot what it was because I have zero notes for this episode, I have just the title of the episode. Why was I talking about this? ⁓ yeah, products, no more than five products. All right, let's get back into that. So why would you wanna limit no more than five products? And by products, I want you to sit down and think about what your niche is, okay? ⁓ it could be cruising. That means, are you going to be focusing on only ocean cruises, only river cruises or high end like, like Paul Gauguin? I don't sell cruises and I did the pearls training and someday I dream of being a Paul Gauguin agent. That day is not today. I don't know why I'm like, they're the coolest cruise line ever. Anyway. But you can do both ocean and river, right? You can just be like, I'm a cruise specialist. But from there, if you were to do it that way, how many different cruise lines are you going to have in depth knowledge of? And why are you choosing those cruise lines? ⁓ Why are you choosing those cruise lines? Do they appeal to you or do they appeal to your ICA? probably should appeal to your ICA, right? And I think it's smart if you are like, I'm a cruise specialist. I think it would be very smart for you to have both ocean and river because ocean could be like a good intro to cruising because that's like the more when you think of a cruise, like I'm going on a cruise, you're just floating around in my brain in the Gulf of Mexico, hitting up different islands. Like that's just a cruise to me. Like, ⁓ giant ship floating around the ocean. I'm not a cruise person and I constantly use cruising as a reference. don't know why. ⁓ But I do know river cruises are smaller. Obviously they're on a river. They're not floating around the ocean. ⁓ They have ⁓ more in-depth and immersive stops in port. I think they have a little bit longer time in port on most itineraries. They're kind of like higher end and they include more in the price point. So ocean cruises could be a good like intro to cruising for your new new clients. And as they've done this a few times, three or four cruises with you on the ocean and they're constantly doing like Eastern Caribbean, Western Caribbean, maybe out in the Pacific a little bit. And they're like, you know, I want to see something different. They've already made so much of an investment that they might be willing to pay a higher price point for that European river cruise experience. So if cruising is your niche, you can do that is what I'm saying. What I wouldn't recommend is trying to say, know everything about, I don't even know all the cruise lines, so listen to me try to list them off. I know everything about ocean cruising. I know everything about Norwegian and Royal and Princess and Virgin and Carnival and that's all the brands I got in my head. I'm sure there are many, many more. But think of how much training for all of those different brands you have to do. And then they all have similar yet different offerings and the way they do things and people that they appeal to. So if you do like a lot of like younger people or more people who are like budget friendly, maybe they've got children coming, maybe carnival is something that you should look into for your niche specialization. However, if you have ⁓ people who like to maybe spend a little more or like they want adult only experiences, the Virgin is going to be the one for you. But I even heard recently like hotels are starting to get into really, really high end luxury cruising. Interesting. Anyway, so it all depends what products. So your cruise is like, I'm going to have a car dealership. Okay. Now based on who you want to work with, your ICA, right? From there, what brands resonate with your ICA? So like a car dealership, if they're like, want, I don't want to make any weird statements. I want like a nice family type that's going to come back generation after generation. They're probably going to want to work with like Toyota, Honda, maybe even Ford. and have one of those brands as a dealership. Or if they're like, I want people who really want a luxurious driving experience and they might go into like Mercedes, BMW, or if they're like, I really want to do super high end, then they're going to have the crazy car dealership. Rolls Royce, question mark? Ferrari, I don't know. Clearly I don't fit into that ICA profile. Anyway, so like the car dealership, you should choose products that you know your ideal client avatar would want to book and have deep knowledge of that. Even if they don't know they want to book it, but it's like, they're a family person. They like this stuff. They're going to like these cruise lines. ⁓ yeah, MSC is another cruise line. See, I don't know anything about cruises. ⁓ And same with resorts, like you could do the Hyatt Inclusive collection and you could focus primarily on dreams if you want to do family travel. Me with Destination Weddings, my ICA when I was doing them was always going to have, like they were going to have some children. And so I went, when I first started I wasn't really sure what brands I wanted to work with for weddings because weddings, they're their packages and inclusions and all that fun stuff kind of vary. So if you do destination weddings, be flexible with switching brands over time, the first few years until you really hone in. You're like, I like this brand. I like their team. I like them, right? ⁓ So me personally, I don't ever have a desire to go to a family friendly, all inclusive resort. My son is an adult. I don't have any small children around me. I'm just like, I mean, my friends have kids and stuff, but I don't think about being like, bring your kids. no, that's not me. So it's not what I would want to do is what I'm saying. However, I did book like a ton of like dreams resorts weddings and then I think like Paradisus has like Playa del Carmen and La Perla have exchange rates and things like that. I've done a lot of finest weddings. I've done very few excellence weddings. I think I've only had maybe two adult only weddings because my ideal client avatar, they hadn't guessed that was a child. So. I had to learn a lot about family friendly resorts, even though I had no desire to stay there myself. What I'm telling you is just because you want to go to a specific resort or on a specific cruise line, if it's not aligned with your ideal client avatar, at that time, you probably shouldn't waste a lot of time doing research on it, right? You probably shouldn't sign up for their fam trips unless you know you got the money and the time you do you is what I'm saying. All right. From there, this episode is running over, I don't care anymore, from there you can figure out what your superpowers are. Like why did you become a travel advisor? What does your ideal client avatar need? What are the products that they are going to be like, this fulfills all my needs, thanks for reading my mind. Because that's ⁓ like the luxury is being able to anticipate needs without saying a word. Like how nice would it be if your entire life, like everything was just like, here's what you need, here's what you need, here's, like that's luxury, okay? Luxury is not Ikea furniture that's trending in some room, okay? Like, no, sorry. Or like weirdly plated food. ⁓ So you are providing an additional level of service when you can like sort of read your ICA's mind. Be like, here's what's, you don't have to force them to book it. Be like, this is all I book. Like, you could if you wanted to, but I don't, I think that's a good idea. If they come up with something else and you're like, here's why I wouldn't go with this, then they can make that decision. It's okay, you already advise them. You are an advisor. Andy Hoodle. They will feel so much better. You will spend so much less time on research and managing the trips and all that fun stuff. So you'll get a better return on the investment of your time servicing your clients. And you can create, if you have all this information together, you could start creating specific service packages. I talk about it in depth in the Sweet Spot to Success course. I'm a big fan of having service packages, not just planning fees. and then you can go from there and start really generating revenue without having to know every destination in the world. And also last point, if you made it this far, congrats. But the last point is if you are highly specialized and just a handful of products, you don't have to listen to all the crazy social media posts. or whatever recommendations someone's throwing out there, you gotta do this, you gotta do that, you gotta do this, you gotta do that, then you're gonna be smarter about where you're gonna put your investments in your business. Because you're like, I do not need to take a course on traveling to outer space because I'm never gonna sell that. And when I do wanna sell that, that's when I can take the course. But I don't care about the stupid 75 % off sale right now. you're trying to scare me into because I don't need to worry about this. So yeah, and also the relationships you're going to build with those suppliers and those brands. All right, this episode went over. It's fine. If you know someone that's like starting in travel and they're like, I don't know what to do with my life. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm just booking all these trips and this is driving me nuts. Please share this episode with them. Just send them, send me your, send me their way, send me your way. You're already here. ⁓ Also, if you want, subscribe and we'll be back tomorrow. Tomorrow is gonna be an expansion. So yesterday, I'm doing an episode of Each Point. In case you're like, I need more information on that specific business strategy. So tomorrow is gonna be aligning your online presence. ⁓ My gosh, have fun. That's gonna be a good episode too. It's probably gonna be longer. My goal is 20 minutes. I'm just gonna let this ride out to 25 minutes, I think. Okay, have a good day, bye.