Latest / Travel Agency in a Year / Day 93 - You don't have dream travel clients because you're stuck in your old self
Transcript
- Rachel K: It's day 93 of the Travel Agency in a Year podcast. One day I'll speak eloquently. Today is not that day. I'm your host Rachel K. with elevatewithrachelk.com if you want to learn more about how I help travel advisors. Otherwise, just listen up. I don't even have a title for this episode. I just start ranting in my notes. If you want Dream Client, stop attracting from your old self. Okay? You need to surrender one or all of the following versions of you that we all assume. And it is not your identity. These are just versions of you. We can always adapt and grow and evolve. At a minimum, if you're currently attracting dream clients, like left and right, and you're like, I don't even need this episode today, simply listen. Pay attention. because at some point you're gonna run into struggle. Life is never easy street 100 % of the time. In my case, it's like 30 minutes a year is easy street. I just enjoy all of it. It's fine. Okay, version number one, chasing people who aren't ready. This isn't following up, don't get me wrong. It's like clearly if they have communicated, they are ready to go. and maybe something's come up and so they're delaying on their deposit. Follow up is fine. This isn't dealing with warm leads. This is, and I know 99 % chance you have been this advisor because I was this advisor when I first started because I was told this is how you get good leads. This is the TA in so many travel Facebook groups or travel subreddits. that has no other time, like nothing else to do with their time, than to copy paste the same kind of comments. I'm a sandal specialist and I can totally help you with no fee involved and I'm gonna get you the best pricing. on every single post where someone's like, I want a honeymoon in Mexico. I'm a sandal specialist. Like, you don't even read Sir or Madam. And it's clear that you are not a good listener. Because if you don't read a post and you just copy paste that and spam it everywhere, that's not going to know. you're chasing when you're doing that, you are not magnetizing or attracting because you don't even know who or what you want to attract. And it's OK. It's OK. Like I said, I've done it. I did it when I first started because I was like, ⁓ trips is trips is trips. It doesn't really matter. As long as I'm in here, somebody eventually is going to like me. But this is typically a travel advisor, almost always a new one, and almost always has zero niche. And to me, looking back on myself, I feel like one of the dudes from the night at the Roxbury in the club. And it wasn't even working for me. And then I was like, well, maybe if I run ads and spend a bunch of money, except I don't have any money, so I didn't spend very much money, so the ROI wasn't there. ⁓ man. I've been. If you've done this, like, we're simpatico. We have both been this version. Congratulations. ⁓ Numero version numero dos. Would it be persona? I don't know. I don't know Spanish enough. The advisor who shrinks in order to get business. A few days ago, I talked about the free of I'll discount my fee. That's kind of shrinking. of taking on more than you agreed to, that's shrinking because you aren't following your own policies or boundaries. Discounted fees, not due to a marketing strategy. I'm not saying don't discount your fees if you think it makes sense from a marketing strategy perspective and it's part of your annual plan. Like you can do that and run like a sale at a specific time of year if you want to. I'm saying when you get your first client after like, I'm charging fees, no ifs, ands, or buts. Here's my fee schedule. It's on my website. They have to see it before, da da da da da. And then you get so, it's a version of you that's so scared of actually being who you want to be. You're not quite ready. You're not quite there yet. So when they say, oh, your fee is $2.50, there any way can get me a deal on that? Oh yeah, I'll discount it and buy half. This is the travel agent also who allows clients to control the sale who won't give up a client or lead. five months after the consultation and they still haven't booked anything but they keep stringing them along. It's a waste of time to continue pursuing someone who clearly isn't as invested as they should be in your business. And when you're doing things like discounting your fees or bending over backwards. letting clients take control of the sale, you start to slip into someone who is not advising from a fiduciary mindset or aspect. Fiduciary means in the best interest of the client. So you could be like, oh yeah, I'll discount your fee, because I've never done Bollie before, because you're so desperate for the money, and you have no interest in selling Bollie, but you're like, oh, I might get $1,000 commission or whatever, $500. So you take on all of this. You are not acting from a fiduciary standpoint. Would you trust a financial advisor who would be like, ⁓ yeah, I'll discount my fees for you. And ⁓ yeah, you want to invest in this bond stock, like ETF stock, whatever. When they know full well, they have no well. Or you want to get into crypto? Yeah, I mean, I don't really know crypto, but I'll do it. That's not acting in the fiduciary best interest in a fiduciary mindset If you can't do it just say no Unless you want like you can fully disclose like I've never done this before and I'd be happy to work with you. However When I rented this I'll say like I recommend I can hunt around from for some advisors who could help you I Don't think it's best for me to help you in this case for this trip. I've had multiple friends and family members come to me and be like, ⁓ I wanted this trip here. And I'm like, I don't even know where that country is on the globe. I barely have an idea. You do not want me in charge of this trip. And it's that there is a version. We all go through that. And that's typically tied to a scarcity mindset. And it gets you in trouble down the road because you're chasing, chasing, chasing. You want that money. It's never going to happen. You need the money. You'll take anything on. And then you aren't acting in the best interests of your client. Scary, scary version. Version number three, the people pleaser. Both of these first two ones, I bet you're like, they are already the people pleasers. No, this is the worst people pleaser. not just shrinking, but when you get to the point where you are mothering your clients and leads. All of these, I feel like, can pull you out of acting in the best interest of your client. This can be confused with high-level concierge services, but it is not. It is mothering, it is codependency, it is super-duper toxic. You're not a bad person though. It's fine if you become this version. You can change it. And it often will leave you if you if you're like, well, I am a high level concierge service advisor. But what if I'm also people pleasing? It often leaves you frustrated. overwhelmed and super prone to mistakes and I've seen advisors who are like I'm high level concierge make mistakes because they're so obsessed with making sure that the client likes them. Estenobueno. I can't speak Spanish. Just deal with it. Y'all want a quesadilla? Alright number four. Fourth version. the version who avoids being alone during working hours. The one who, like I get it. I need stimulation to like keep my mind focused on tasks. I have to have like a podcast going or some kind of music going. I can't have the TV on because then I'll just end up watching TV. But some kind of noise I like to have. But being on your phone all day on phone calls, you don't have time to truly focus on your work. It's OK to take a break and have phone calls with people. Don't get me wrong. It's OK to take a break and get on social media. But having that Facebook tab open on your desktop 24-7, that can lead to real big distractions. Because you'd be like, I'm done with this task. Let me see what's going on Facebook. And then spend like 30 minutes. And you're like, I don't have shit done. And now I'm mad. That's how. bad it can get sometimes. ⁓ It's good to have time with colleagues. And there is such a thing as too much time. This was ⁓ back in COVID times, the COVID trauma dump that I do on nearly every episode. I remember there was a colleague that was like, let's meetups and like motivate each other on Google Meet. And I got along really well with this person at first, because I'm like, ⁓ they're so likable and friendly and funny and da-da-da-da-da. And then it turned into daily constant phone calls. And then it turned into, it got to the point where I was humoring it, and I'd just tap them on speaker and I'd do my work. Because I was like, this is taking away my ability to do my job. And then the person would call me. probably once a week with some kind of like huge error they made or they took someone's fee and they're refusing to book and now the person's threatening to sue them or now they're gonna have a course just like weird crazy stuff And that was so energy draining. Love that person to death. And also the chaos while I'm just trying to schedule my content out, answer emails, work on my projects, do my consultations, which my consultations were always phone calls. But anything outside of that, I'd pretty much be on the phone with this person a lot. I have no problem sitting on the phone with a colleague, like, hey, can we have a session where we just don't feel alone? But do you have the ability to really sit down and focus on your work without having distractions of TV or social media constantly going in the background? Some people, and I know it's legal in a lot of states, are like, ⁓ I need to get high first so I can focus and calm down or whatever. Like, none of that is good. I'm not over here judging, just saying, like, there's a version, we've all been there. Or maybe some people struggle with other addictions and they're like, I gotta have a drink to get through this. That is a version of you that you can change. All right, sorry. I was looking at the notes on the next page and I'm like, okay. All right, the last version. The business must be earned at your own detriment. For example, a demanding client oversteps your boundaries, doesn't follow your policies, doesn't follow your procedures, calls you names, is offensive. You have the right to fire them. And this version won't fire them because they're doing it for the business. And they're doing it for the money. And they're like, ⁓ if I get this one client, then I'll be in the president's club of whatever supplier who cares. Whoop-de-de. This version of you cannot fire them. You just like, I'll tolerate it as long as I can. Now I've had some people like turn full, I can't say bridezilla, because it was never the bride or groom, but I've had like wedding guests who were like super nice for like a year via email. they get to the resort and they have a major crash out, like they're four years old and these are adults in their 50s and 60s. I had one a few months ago who did that and called me to fix this imaginary problem that this person created on their own. And I just. sat put him on speakerphone went about my day listened to him screaming at concierge the hotel was emailing me and they're like you told them XYZ and I was like here's the email where I said the exact opposite of that here you go and I'm sorry I'm also on the phone while he screams at your concierge I couldn't fire him at that point because We were already traveled and it was like a room block contract that was all finalized. could, I did say like, I'm not gonna accept this behavior and I'm not gonna speak with you. You can redirect things to your wife, but I couldn't technically fire him, you know? But there is that version of you that would put up with people. Like you can always refund a planning fee. You can always give a trip back to the supplier. Just give it up and be like, that's how you fire them. That's how you fire them. If you have any other questions, I've handed this booking over to Vacation Express, Classic Vacations, ALG. They're going to manage it from now on. In the nicest way possible, you're saying like, cannot deal with you. Good luck, you're on your own. Because suppliers can take over bookings if you are dealing with someone that's just Not a good fit. So know you have the ability to do that. And yeah, you're going to lose your commission on that booking. But I'd rather stick to my own values and lose a little bit of commission than bend over backwards and put up with abuse from people maybe in the hopes of getting validation in the industry. Like hard no. Hard pass. Don't need that. So you do have the right to refuse service. Many states with service industry, like services, businesses in the service industry also allow you to have a right to refuse service. You might want to check your TNCs that your clients sign off on. Why can't I talk? Clients sign off on and maybe update it. Check with your attorney if they can update it and if you can refuse service. Fortunately, I live in a state where I can and I know that and it's in my TNCs All right If you have ever been any of these versions or you feel like you're one of these versions right now, again, it's not permanent. This is not who you are. This is not you. This is you reacting. We've been talking about this the last week, preparing your mindset while you're doing your quarterly review. This is you reacting, not responding. And this all comes from some past experience that wired hardwired into your brain. This is who you are. You can always change it. OK? Once you can overcome these different versions, and they'll probably, I think I had a story for every single time, I was like, yeah, I did that. So you're probably going to hop through the different versions as you continue to grow. And if you are like, I'm perfect in every way, and I don't need to change anything, and how I do things are perfect, and it's the best way ever, you aren't growing. Just know that. If you're really, really struggling, that's you're going through a major growth moment. Think about when you went through puberty. If you were like a late bloomer and like had a growth spurt out of nowhere, you suffered from growing pains. Andy Hoodle, once you can get through these growing pains, you're going to end up being a thousand times more confident. And you're going to be able to attract and magnetize the perfect clients for you. If you are acting in any of these ways, even if it's not in your marketing messaging, the energy speaks through your body language in video content, your tone in written content, and how you're showing up for people. People can subtly detect, ⁓ this person's a mark. I'm not gonna get into too much detail about that, but there are many studies where criminals were interviewed on how they choose victims, and it's their lack of confidence shows through their body language and how they walk throughout the world, you know? And it's the same thing when you're creating stuff in your business, like people can pick up on it. The micro expressions. All right. You're like, I want to watch this video of Rachel now and watch her body language and be like, she's not confident. I don't care. My posture sucks. It's fine. So, okay. Those are the five different versions. If you're not, if you're fine, you're fine. Great. Keep doing a good job. Just kind of pay attention to see if those pop up at any time throughout your career. And I hope you all have a wonderful day.