{"id":940,"date":"2023-07-25T00:54:22","date_gmt":"2023-07-25T00:54:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dt.com\/discover\/?p=940"},"modified":"2024-04-02T13:59:03","modified_gmt":"2024-04-02T13:59:03","slug":"dont-worry-not-every-client-is-a-perfect-fit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dt.com\/discover\/dont-worry-not-every-client-is-a-perfect-fit\/","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Worry – Not Every Client is a Perfect Fit"},"content":{"rendered":"

As featured in Sphere on travelweek.ca<\/a><\/p>\n

In travel, we interact with customers in a different way from almost every other retailer. We spend more time with our clients and learn more about them (sometimes it can even get really personal).<\/p>\n

Which is why it\u2019s a pleasure to have great clients.\u00a0 And awful to have ones that don\u2019t click with us.<\/p>\n

The truth is, not every client is going to be a good fit. And if you\u2019ve been in the business a while, you probably have more than a handful of these. Remember, we cannot be everything to everyone, no matter how hard we try.<\/p>\n

This is your business, and it\u2019s so important to understand and prioritize what is best for it \u2013 and for you.<\/p>\n

An existing or potential good client may be a timewaster (AKA a tire-kicker): asking for everything and purchasing nothing, or worse, going straight to the supplier to purchase after you\u2019ve done all the research. Are they taking so much of your time that the ROI isn\u2019t worth it? Are they constantly negotiating with you, changing plans, dates, destinations?<\/p>\n

Having a lot of clients does not always mean a lot of revenue. Being the business owners you are, take some time to review all of your clients for the past few years. How many do you have? How much have they spent with you? And most importantly, how much revenue are they bringing in? Do you have too many clients that you\u2019re not earning enough from, and how much time are you spending on those bookings? This is important to understand. You can have 15 clients that bring you more money than 100!<\/p>\n

For new clients, introduce your service fees early in the conversation (I\u2019ve said this before). This alone will give you insight into whether they\u2019re a potential valuable client. If you get push-back or if you don\u2019t think it\u2019s going to be a good fit, there are a few diplomatic phrases you can use from the get-go:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u201cMy fees are part of my service, and I don\u2019t waive those.\u201d And don\u2019t apologize for charging fees!<\/li>\n
  2. \u201cIf you feel you can get it cheaper elsewhere that may be the best way for you to book.\u201d<\/li>\n
  3. \u201cI don\u2019t believe I\u2019m the best person to help you with this.\u201d And, if you are feeling well-disposed to them: \u201cI may be able to recommend a different travel advisor you can work with.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    If this is an existing client you\u2019ve been working with for some time and you\u2019re sure it\u2019s not in your best interest to continue working with them, here are some stronger messages:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. \u201cI am unable to assist you with your trips, but I have a colleague whom I\u2019ve brought up to speed and they\u2019d be more than happy to work with you going forward.\u201d If you don\u2019t have a back up for them, you can absolutely feel comfortable simply breaking up with them! It\u2019s hard and may be uncomfortable, but it\u2019ll be worth it.<\/li>\n
    2. \u201cIf we don\u2019t find something that works for you within the next day, I\u2019m afraid I\u2019m going to have to give up this search.\u201d<\/li>\n
    3. If they become abusive or rude, try, \u201cThis is not a conversation I am prepared to have.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Yes, you may lose a few clients, and maybe even referrals, but it is more important you recognize your own value, feel comfortable about your profession, and who you work with.<\/p>\n

      Sometimes firing a client can be the most rewarding thing you do all day!<\/p>\n

      Joelle Goldman is the Vice President of Host Services & Luxury Hotel Programs for Direct Travel in North America. She can be reached at jgoldman@dt.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      As featured in Sphere on travelweek.ca In travel, we interact with customers in a different<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":594,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,5,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advisors","category-culture","category-latest"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.dt.com\/discover\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Joelle-Goldman.png",600,600,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.dt.com\/discover\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Joelle-Goldman-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.dt.com\/discover\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Joelle-Goldman-300x300.png",300,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.dt.com\/discover\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Joelle-Goldman.png",600,600,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.dt.com\/discover\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Joelle-Goldman.png",600,600,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.dt.com\/discover\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Joelle-Goldman.png",600,600,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.dt.com\/discover\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Joelle-Goldman.png",600,600,false],"elegant-magazine-featured":["https:\/\/www.dt.com\/discover\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Joelle-Goldman.png",600,600,false],"elegant-magazine-medium":["https:\/\/www.dt.com\/discover\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Joelle-Goldman-600x380.png",600,380,true],"elegant-magazine-medium-small":["https:\/\/www.dt.com\/discover\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Joelle-Goldman-300x200.png",300,200,true],"elegant-magazine-thumbnail-small":["https:\/\/www.dt.com\/discover\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Joelle-Goldman-50x50.png",50,50,true]},"author_info":{"info":["Joelle Goldman"]},"category_info":"Advisors<\/a> Culture<\/a> Latest<\/a>","tag_info":"Latest","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dt.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dt.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dt.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dt.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dt.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=940"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.dt.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/940\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":943,"href":"https:\/\/www.dt.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/940\/revisions\/943"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dt.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dt.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dt.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dt.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}