Last week, the
industry’s most innovative host agency, Avoya
Travel, held its second annual Million
Dollar Showcase, an event to which only its most elite earners—those on
track to sell at least $1 million in travel this year—are invited.
The Showcase
serves several purposes, which include celebrating the remarkable efforts of
these Independent Agencies (IAs) of the Avoya Network, serving as a reward for
their exceptional achievements, and providing a forum for further learning and
network with supplier partners.
Eighty-one IAs
were in attendance, joined by representatives of 43 preferred suppliers, 16
Avoya executives and staff members, and select media members. Programming
consisted of several general sessions, during which suppliers presented,
one-on-one meetings between advisors and vendors and professional development
workshops.
What It Takes
We had the
opportunity to speak with some of Avoya’s most elite producers to discover how
the company sets them up for success and determine what they are doing to reach
their enviable status as some of its most elite sellers.
One of these is
David Locke, who, along with his wife Cindy, owns Seize the Seas, Avoya’s
single highest-producing independent agency, which has accrued $6.4 million in
sales this year so far. We asked him to what he attributes his great success
and what it takes to make it to the very top of his game.
David and Cindy Locke, co-owners of Seize the Seas, part of the Avoya Travel Network. (Photo Credit: Avoya Travel Network)
His surprising
response was, “Nothing special. You take the leads that Avoya works to provide. I've done no marketing.
I can spend all my time selling and servicing because I don't have to spend
time marketing or doing bookkeeping or anything…I've outsourced all the
marketing, all the accounting, all the advertising to Avoya, and I do what I do best—my one thing—selling
and servicing. And, that's the secret to success.”
Locke did
emphasize that any would-be IAs need to have an
aptitude for relationship building. “Understand that they've given you the
customer, you do with it what you will,” he said. “But, if you're if you're good, if you're
consistent and insistent and polite, and you build a rapport…You give them what they ask for,
you give them a good price, you service them well and that's all I do.” He reiterated, “Just do your
job well, and they'll come back…There's no secret, there’s no special sauce.”
He also explained
that you need to be willing to live the lifestyle that the role requires, which
is flexible, but can also be fairly demanding. “You don’t have to work 24 hours
a day, but you have to be responsive 24 hours a day,” Locke said
during an onstage Q&A with Avoya’s Chief Sales Officer, Phil Cappelli. He
later told us, “If someone
says, I want to work nine to five, this is not the job for them.” He
expounded, “There's no
secrets. We take the lead, we work hard, we work long hours, but we don't work
24/7. We're available 24/7, is what we say.
Locke has been in
business for himself for 20 years now and said that, despite the sometimes
unpredictable hours, he wouldn’t trade his job for the world. “I've never stayed
in any job this long, ever in my life…because it just works, it’s perfect.” He enthused, “We work from
home. I work in my pajamas. I have no boss. We're independently owned by
ourselves, and we’re making lots of money and then we get invited on trips.
It's like, what a gig!”
Robyn Jacobs, owner of Orca Travel, part of the Avoya Travel Network. (Photo Credit: Avoya Travel Network)
Someone who hasn’t
been doing the job quite as long, but has risen to the top of the
heap relatively quickly is Robyn Jacobs, owner of Dallas-based Orca Travel. She attributes much of
her success to her personality, which has always lent itself to seeking out
connections and bonding with clientele.
“I think for me,
I've always been in sales. When I was little, I used to make crafts and, like,
sell them around the neighborhood. When I was in high school, I worked for a
telephone marketer,” she said. “I was actually a professional matchmaker for
nine years. So, I used to
set people up with their loved ones, and now I set them up with their perfect
vacation.”
In terms of what
makes for a successful IA, Jacobs said, “I think having a sales mindset,
because just because you get a lead doesn't mean the lead’s going to book. You
have to work at it…you
have to have drive, you have to have a mission.” She added, “You have to build those
relationships. Don't be afraid to ask for the sale.”
Why Avoya?
Jacobs also
credits the Avoya Live Leads program with getting her business off the ground
and helping her now reach a point where she can focus on growing her own client
base. “I started over seven years ago and I didn’t even know what a host agency
was,” she divulged. “I
would not be where I am today without the lead system, because it gives you
confidence.” She added, “If somebody's not in the industry already, it's the best place to dip
your toes in."
Both of these top-earning
IAs emphasized the crucial importance of establishing quality connections—not only with their
clients, but with suppliers, their fellow IAs and Avoya personnel. And, those
were the types of opportunities the Million Dollar Showcase provided in spades.
“It’s about building those relationships…That way you have somebody that you can contact if you
have a client issue,” said Jacobs. “If you've met somebody in person and you need something,
it's really hard for them to say no,” laughed Jacobs, a benefit that
Locke was also quick to point out.
But, the other
component of maintaining their lead when it comes to selling travel is engaging
in ongoing education, another element supplied by Avoya during the Million Dollar
Showcase. Jacobs said she is, “always trying to learn something new. I mean, this business is changing
every day, the rules, the regulations, the policies, the procedures.”
She said that
Avoya really excels in this regard. “If you have a question, there's webinars
that you can watch anytime online, there's trainings—they're always offering
network enrichment to educate ourselves—and support. I mean, you have a
question, and you submit a support request, and it's answered so quickly, or
somebody will get back to you. And then, of course, reaching out, you know, if
I need something. I can reach out to anybody and they'll help me, walk me
through it,” Jacobs enthused.
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