How to Get Clients as a Travel Agent Franchise Owner

As a home-based Dream Vacations Franchise Owner, one of the keys to success is building a reliable and steady network of clients. Because so many people love to travel, it’s easy to figure out how to get clients as a travel agent that fall into your target customer base. There are lots of ways to find clients if you’re willing to put in the work.

One of the best ways to grow your clientele is to reach out to people you know. Even if you don’t feel like you have a huge network, make a list of all your connections — you might be surprised at just how long the list is! These connections could include family members, co-workers, friends and relatives, along with people you know at school, at church or in the community.

When you meet new people, you can engage them by showing them how your travel services can benefit them. Your customer base will grow naturally as people see how Dream Vacations can enhance their vacation planning.  You can also join community groups and use social media to grow your network and generate leads.

Everyone loves talking about a great vacation! People want to share their experiences — the memories they created, the experiences they’ve had, the adventures they’ve enjoyed and all the magical places they’ve seen. Travel is an easy conversation starter just about anywhere, including networking events, the grocery store, a birthday party, the post office or the gym — it can even liven up standing in line at the DMV!

Where to Find Your Customer Base

Start small and find individuals who have influenced your career, including past and current co-workers, customers and mentors. Contacts like these are important to the growth of your business.

Once you’ve identified the most influential people in your “little black book,” expand on that list with people who may have helped you in the past or have the potential to help in the future. Reaching out to contacts you don’t know well can be scary, but you can ask friends or co-workers for introductions. Hopefully, these conversations will allow you to get to know each other better and be more comfortable working together down the road.

You can use email marketing and social media to get the word out. You can also attend events and trade shows in your local area. Creating social media groups is a great way to attract clients looking for travel services who may live further away. Dream Vacations Franchise Owner Julie Schallmann attributes her astounding success to her private Facebook page, where she markets her travel services to her clients.

Another great way to find customers is to join a local business network in your area. Dream Vacations Franchise Owner Connie Ng’s local network opened many doors for her as she figured out how to get clients as a travel agent. You’ll also get the chance to learn from other experienced business owners who can offer clever advice. Most business owners are happy to share their years of experience with you.

You can also partner with other local businesses. A successful partnership might include a joint event or a social media giveaway with a complementary business. Dream Vacations Franchise Owner Laurie Shuss partnered with Royal Caribbean to increase her sales and client base.

Learning how to get clients as a travel agent is easy with a Dream Vacations Franchise. The company helps every franchise owner grow their client list with personalized business development training and weekly phone calls. Your business development manager will learn your unique strengths and help you to put those talents to use in building your client base.

How to Engage New Clients

Engaging new clients is all about getting their attention. It’s important to take an interesting approach when reaching out through email or at a networking event. If you know a potential client’s personality, hobbies and preferences, you can tailor your marketing material to capture their attention.

Don’t just tell them about your business —get to know them and show how you can benefit them! Emphasize how convenient Dream Vacations is compared to other booking methods while maintaining the personal touch they’re looking for. Once people see how you’ll enhance their lives, they’ll be eager to use your services — sales will feel effortless.

How to Improve Travel Agent Business as a Dream Vacations Franchise Owner

Word of mouth travels fast! You can build a solid foundation for your business by providing clients with top-notch service. Satisfied clients won’t hesitate to recommend you to people they know once you’ve exceeded their expectations and planned unforgettable trips.

Still Wondering How to Get Clients as a Travel Agent?

Another way to grow your client base is by using skills from your former career to create a niche market. Franchise Owner Adriana Zak has built her dream career by harnessing her experience as a former event planner. After years of working with brides to plan weddings, she focuses her travel business on destination weddings, honeymoons and romance travel.

Franchise Owner Janette Hankins recommends expanding your business by making friends with other franchise owners. You’ll support each other and learn from your successes.

How Do I Promote Myself as a Travel Agent?

In today’s world, there are countless ways to promote yourself as a Dream Vacations Franchise Owner. You can get your business in front of potential clients worldwide via the internet. Social media is crucial for successful businesses, but you should think beyond Twitter and Facebook! Consider creating digital ads, building an email marketing list and creating a you tube channel to spread the word about your travel business.

Even with all that technology at your fingertips, there’s nothing quite like meeting face-to-face. Take advantage of local marketing opportunities by attending trade shows and conferences. Schedule presentations to show off what you can do for your clients.

How Can a Travel Agent Increase Sales?

For all the marketing methods out there, nothing works as well as positive word of mouth. Loyal, repeat customers bring their own business back to you, and are likely to refer you to their friends and family. You can cultivate loyal customers by nurturing relationships — even with people who are just thinking of a vacation in the future. New clients might need more time and attention than a repeat client, but every successful business should have a steady stream of new customers.

Peak travel seasons are a great time to maximize sales. You’ll earn higher commissions because travel prices are higher and you’ll have an easier time finding clients since more people want to travel. You can seduce customers to book during off-peak seasons by offering special promotions and by highlighting the benefits of travelling during those times. Dream Vacations is the world’s largest cruise agency and includes exclusive promotions that we fund at headquarters expense. These promotions can be combined with special offers from cruise line companies to offer customers incredible prices!

As a Franchise Owner, you’re always welcome to create marketing content for yourself and have the marketing department approve it, but Dream Vacations supplies an unbelievable amount of content and marketing resources. We’ll send out bi-weekly emails from our customer database on your behalf. We also offer auto-social media programs, promotions that automatically update on your personal website and contests for lead generation and customer engagement. You can also create your own marketing campaigns for peak seasons like holidays, spring break or summer vacation.

How to Create a Business Plan for a Travel Agency

The success of your travel business depends directly on the effort you put into marketing yourself and building your clientele. Though you’re running a home based travel agent business, it’s important to build the right habits to keep you on the right track. Here are some tips to consider for building a successful travel business:

• Set mini-goals to keep you on track toward your bigger goals.
• Work during set business hours.
• Write goals down in a visible spot to remind yourself of what you’re working toward.
• Tackle several items on your to-do list before checking email.
• Avoid social media and your email inbox while you’re trying to accomplish a certain task.
• Participate in brainstorming sessions with other franchise owners.
• Send out a newsletter to past and current clients to let them know about special deals or promotions.
• Attend local business networking events.
• Send personalized thank-you cards to your clients after they book a vacation.
• Follow up with clients to see how their trip went.

Should I Buy a Travel Franchise?

Have you ever dreamed of working by a pool in a beautiful destination? With Dream Vacations, that can be your reality. Starting a travel agency from home is a simple process with Dream Vacations Franchise. Simply sign up for a free webinar, become a franchise owner and take our training course, then start building your clientele.

The Dream Vacations Franchise opportunity allows you to work from anywhere in the world with an internet connection and provides access to exclusive resources and travel benefits for yourself.

How Does Dream Vacations Franchise Work?

Dream Vacation Franchises are some of the most flexible and affordable franchises available today. They’re low-cost investments with many opportunities. Dream Vacations Franchise has three different levels of franchise, each of which comes with its own unique incentives and discounts. The franchise fee includes a six-day training course, a Business Development Manager to mentor you, and obtaining your travel agency certification. After that, all you’ll need is a computer with an internet connection and a phone to get your business rolling. With millions of dollars’ worth of marketing materials and flexible on-demand courses at your fingertips, you’ll learn how to get clients as a travel agent in no time.

Dream Vacations is also one of the best franchises for veterans out there, as we offer discounts on franchise fee to military personnel who have served our country.

If you’re interested in becoming a travel professional and connecting people to their dream vacations, download our eBook to learn more about a career in the travel industry.