Luxury Travel Advisor - August 2007 - (Page 61) MCCABE WORLD TRAVEL’S LUXURY ADVISORS: Left photo, left to right: Bahar Makinaci, Birgit Navarre, Lynne Zelvin, Damian McCabe and Jessica Griscavage. Right photo, left to right: Katie McCormack, Abby Lewis, Anita Becker, Cristina Gifuni and Gabriela Wilson (not all agents are present). ADVISOR INSIGHT: Anne Morgan Scully says that “If you are going to be a great agent, you need to develop good clients who you want to dance with. A good dance is when you are leading and you and your client want to put your arms around each other. You learn from each other and you are comfortable around each other.” In this dance, however, it’s vital that the agent always take the lead, she says. “I know that an agent is in trouble when she is not leading and the client is doing all the talking and directing. If they are doing that they don’t think you are worth anything.” Scully says that over the years she has become more confident telling clients what they should and should not do. “It could be a risk, but sometimes you have to be very honest with clients; agents lose clients because they are afraid to be honest with them.” Air Force to celebrate a special anniversary. While McCabe World Travel’s clients are affluent, they still want value for their money, says Scully. “They want to know that for $200 more per person per day they can get a stateroom that’s one-third larger.” Additionally, they want to be recognized. “They want to be introduced not just at hotels but also at the restaurant and to be recognized on arrival. They like to hear their name and they like to know they’re expected,” she says. They also want to experience consistency in every booking, she adds. In Scully’s mind, knowing what the client wants to do not only next, but in the coming years, is vital to making their dreams come true. “When I am training an agent I always say, ‘Think of yourself as a financial planner. You have to know who your clients are and you have to know their pasts. You should be focusing on where they are now, but your eye should always be on what do they want to really do.’” For this reason, Scully always determines what her clients’ top dream destinations are and records them a file so that she’ll always have talking points for them. For example, she had notes on a client who had once revealed that she had always wanted see the French Open. When Scully booked her on a cruise that disembarked at Dover, England, she made sure that the next stop was over to Paris to see the matches. “That is what being a lifestyle planner is about and that is what I am trying to pass onto our agents,” says Scully, who gets her information based on the fact that “people love to talk about themselves.” If a client is not open during an initial conversation, Scully will ask to follow up with them at a time when they are more able to discuss their needs. Scully says that when her clients return from a trip she calls them to get the details of how it went. If they claim that everything was wonderful, she insists they answer one question: “If there is one thing you could have changed, what would it be?” “People tend to like travel agents so they don’t want to hurt their feelings because they know they’ve worked hard for them. As a result, they don’t always want to tell them the truth. You have to dig,” says Scully. Another hint: “I always call upon [a client’s] arrival. If there’s a problem, you can always fix it then.” For Scully, maintaining a client’s excitement about a trip begins in full force after the deposit is taken for a trip. While many agents may wait to contact the client again only when it’s time for final payment, she believes in keeping the selling process going up until departure. For example, if a client has booked a cruise with six ports, she’ll send them insider destination tips every few weeks. To further engage her clients, Scully will send them postcards from the road, as she did recently on a trip to Paris, where she attended the Starwood Luxury Advisory Board (see page six). A large part of Scully’s time these days is spent bringing new clients into the agency. “I am the rainmaker. I am very comfortable about asking for the business,” she says. In fact, Scully says that McCabe World Travel could grow from 30 to 50 employees eventually and she looks forward to growing potential new agents while fostering those she currently works with. She feels that it’s her responsibility to bring the next generation of agents along. “I strongly believe that with proper mentoring, a young agent can be a great agent in under five years,” says Scully, who is also a regular trainer at Virtuoso’s annual Travel Mart. Right now, Scully is perfectly happy where she is. “I love walking into my office and being with the staff. The travel is the icing on the cake, but the day-to-day work is really where I am most happy and where I know I belong,” she says. “On my journey here I left a lot of good places because they still weren’t the right fit. And this is a great fit.” www.luxuryta.com August 2007 | LUXURY TRAVEL ADVISOR 61 http://www.luxuryta.com
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