How did Travel Agent Accelerator start?

I started getting calls from other agents with questions.  The thing I noticed after a while was that they were all asking the same kinds of questions.  It was easy for me to find the things that they were struggling with because they were telling me the same things over and over and over again.  They all have the same struggles with their new business.

Travel Agent Struggles

I don’t know that the new travel agent struggles are all that different than anyone else that tries to start their own business.  But, these struggles are very real.  The number one thing is that a new travel agent has to find the dedication to follow through with the new agent training.  Agents have to follow the path that is already laid out for them and take the time and put in the work.

Cash Flow

The second thing that travel agents struggle with is getting a positive cash flow.  A lot of agents think that they should see a return on their initial investment immediately.  NO WAY!  In any new business, you should plan on not seeing a return for the first three years in business.  Can this happen faster?  Totally!  But, you have to follow the path, be patient, be consistent, put yourself out there, invest in marketing, make the calls, do the follow-up and the follow-through, provide the quotes, do more follow-up, then you get a booking, then the client travels and then you get paid.

Niche Down

You can most certainly be a successful travel specialist. (Notice that I changed that agent to specialist?)  You have to specialize to set yourself apart from the other 100,000 travel agents out there. You have to pick a niche!  It’s super important.

Does that mean you cannot work outside your niche?  Heck no!  Just because a doctor does tele health appointments in general practice on the weekend for extra money, does that mean they aren’t a specialist?  Nope! They’re a pediatric orthopedic surgeon in their day job and tele-health is their side hustle!  They’re doing that for the extra money for their new car or their vacation home or yacht payment or whatever.

Right now, your travel business may be your side hustle.  Maybe you have a full time job and you’re selling travel to make extra money to take a vacation.  That’s fine, now pick a niche that you’re passionate about!

How do you pick a niche that your’re passionate about?  You sell what you know.  You sell what you’re comfortable with.  And you kill it in all the expertise you have in that one special thing.  Learn everything you can.  Learn from others.  Take the courses.  Do the things.

 

 

Be Consistent

Staying consistent is another struggle in the life of a travel agent.  Travel agents get all amped up after a sale.  They get all excited after a trip they go on.  But, the excitement dwindles, it trails off, and they trail off.  Staying motivated, staying on point, staying top of their game is a struggle.  The struggle is real too!

The more consistent you are, the more you’ll reach your future raving superfans in the social media world.  Advertising is mostly consistency and attention getting.  So, being consistent goes SO far.

The Coaching Started

I started helping agents with private coaching.  One. Call. At. A. Time.  I asked the questions.  Followed up their questions with answers.  (That’s kind of a start on market research, if you didn’t know the term for it.) This girl was providing private coaching for free.  It was taking up a LOT of my time.  Not everyday answers that they got from other travel peeps in the space.

Agents got my real, everyday, experienced answers to their questions.  Just someone being honest with them is something they wanted.  They wanted the realness of, “you’re fucking this up” or “try this instead”.  Pointing out their struggles that they couldn’t see was essential to this whole thing working.  This is your problem, this is what I did when I had that problem, and this is what you need to do to overcome this situation, problem, questions, whatever.  It worked for them.  And it’s still working for agents.

The Referrals Started

One. By. One. They referred their friends. “here’s Cass’ number, don’t tell her you got it from me!”  I know exactly how this stuff happens.  The Facebook messages requesting calls started.  I started videoing the calls.  Video calls were something that I use for a few reasons:

1. I hate talking on the phone.
2. I don’t remember names if I don’t see a face.
3. I record video calls for whatever purpose I see fit.
4. The thank yous at the end make great testimonials for my new business venture that encompasses helping agents.
5. I form a personal relationship with these people.  My clients like that. I like that. And then I become the person that is recommended to their friends.

 

I make a great impact on people’s lives and I love doing it.  Either I’m helping people have the confidence to try something new and go someplace they’ve never been before.  A lot of my clients are first time international travelers that just need a little hand holding to get where they’ve been dreaming of going.  My agent clients are generally people that just need a little bit of confidence or a serious case of the “I don’t give a fuck what other people think” for the most part.  In general, it’s confidence people lack.

Video Chat via Zoom

Video chat is something I use for a LOT of things these days.  Video is great for client meetings, agent meetings, general phone calls with my parents when they’re out of town and even friends who live a long way away to stay in touch. Video is king, use it to you maximum benefit!  FaceTime is great for personal calls and Zoom for professional calls.  Zoom has a recording feature and you can share your screen and it’s free for up to three people on a call.  (You have to upgrade if you want more than three.)  Just go to zoom.me to sign up for your free account.

Want to schedule an appointment with me?

30 Minute Video Call with Cass – Cost $250, discounted to $100 for a limited time.  Pre-book at this great low rate and take advantage of my time.

You’ll get a 30 minutes video call.  After purchase you’ll get an email with a link to Cass’ calendar to schedule time with her within the next 12 months.

5 – 30 Minute Video Calls with Cass

You get 5 video 1-on-1 calls for $400!  At the regular price of $250 per call, you would spend $1250.  You’re saving $850 on this limited time offer.  After your purchase you’ll get an email with Cass’s calendar link to schedule time with her.  Schedule now, save them for later, whatever you wish!  These are your calls, do whatever you want with them.  You have 12 months from time of purchase to use these purchased calls.

Group Coaching – $60 per call, discounted to $15 per call for a limited time.  So, pre-pay, pre-book and take advantage!

Group coaching calls are pre-scheduled calls where you can ask your questions, so bring the questions with you.  We’ll talk in a group learning setting on Zoom about your struggles and pain points and work through them together.  Sometimes I learn from you too, so this is greatly discounted from 1-on-1 calls!  It’s a great opportunity from everyone!

Email me about group coaching dates.  I do offer group coaching for $15 per session.  This is limited to 5 spots per session.  They are pre-scheduled and roughly an hour long.  It’s great if you just have a couple questions that you would like answered vs a 30 minute call, so e-mail me for more information.

Would you like to hear more about my travel expertise?

Check out my podcast!

On Spotify

On Apple Podcast