How can travel advisors spot the red flags of a potentially difficult client? And for those agents who already have a relationship with a bad customer, how do you prevent them from coming back?
Travel Advisors Stephanie Goldberg-Glazer (Live Well, Travel Often), Jennifer Jacob (of brand and systems design studio 'Tique and Explorateur Travel) and Jenn Novotny (Upon A Star Travel & Concierge) have no problem pushing back against problematic clients, whether it’s by screening them early or terminating an existing relationship through the tried-and-true “bless and release” method.
The three advisors — all founders or owners of their respective agencies — were panelists during last week’s Travefy Academy webinar on the subject, titled “Firing Clients and Navigating Problem Customers” and moderated by Stephanie Gries, education manager and marketing coordinator at Travefy.
During the hour-long event (which was held over Zoom and later broadcast via Travefy Academy’s website for on-demand watching), the three advisors swapped stories and offered tips on how their industry peers can gracefully navigate the complex client-advisor relationship.
Here are five tips for screening out, dealing with and firing difficult clients.
1. Get Ahead of Potential Problems by Managing Client Expectations
An informed client is a happy client, agreed the three panelists. In 2022, the travel landscape looks much different than it did in 2019. And although travel demand has almost entirely recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic, the products on-offer may still be lacking in terms of quality and availability.
Making clients understand this from the get-go, despite soaring air and hotel prices, is key to avoiding problems once a client is on vacation, according to Novotny.
“Prices have gone up, there are supply chain issues and people are having a hard time finding employees,” she said.
“Clients have vacation budgets they haven’t been using, and they’re ready to blow it all in one trip rather than in three trips,” added Goldberg-Glazer. “People are looking to have their bucket-list experiences now; they’re saying, ‘we don’t want to wait, because we don’t know what’s going to happen in two years.’ And then we (agents) have to find availability for them."
These conditions are coupled with the clients’ notion that vacations should be the same way they were in 2019 — with new products and offerings to choose from, at a lower cost point. It makes the current state of travel “hard for clients to wrap their heads around,” according to Novotny.
“When you pay a lot for something, you expect to get something in return,” added Goldberg-Glazer. “If you pay Ritz-Carlton prices for a Marriott, you are going to want to get Ritz-Carlton service at that Marriott, and you’re not going to get it."
When you pay a lot for something, you expect to get something to in return. If you pay Ritz-Carlton prices for a Marriott, you are going to want to get Ritz-Carlton service at that Marriott, and you’re not going to get it.
In addition to sky-high prices, clients also have the perception that travel costs are as cheap as they were in 2020 and 2021, right in the middle of the pandemic, when airlines were slashing prices in an attempt to fill seats, and hotels were struggling to keep the lights on.
“At the beginning of the year, people still expected good deals,” she said. “They thought people weren’t traveling. The expectation was that because they weren’t going anywhere, no one else is, either."
The Travefy webinar is available for on-demand watching on YouTube or via Travefy Academy's website.
Credit: 2022 Travefy Academy2. Spot Red Flags During the Screening Process
For 'Tique's Jacob, spotting a difficult client starts at the first meeting. Reflecting on her experience at Explorateur Travel, Jacob said she organized the workflow to allow clients to “self-select out of the process” at the first stage of the business relationship: the general inquiry.
The bottom line? The intake call needs to be a screening process — not a sales pitch, she says.
“I’m huge on boundaries,” Jacob said. “We stopped taking inquiries coming in from Facebook or text; it had to come from our inquiry form, which then incorporates the person into our Customer Relationship Manager (CRM). Otherwise, we didn’t engage.”
After receiving the initial inquiry, Jacob’s team would set up a call through Calendly (a scheduling tool); during that call, which is also when the agency's fee structure is introduced, she can often “see right away if someone is not a fit for our process.”
“I’m a big believer in getting the right clients in the door, and we had to get really comfortable with saying, ‘there are many other options for you, and maybe we’re not the right fit.’ If someone is trying to circumvent a process from day one … it won’t get better after the fee. We have these processes in place so you can have the best experience.”
I’m a big believer in getting the right clients in the door, and we had to get really comfortable with saying, ‘there are many other options for you, and maybe we’re not the right fit.’
3. Charge (or Increase) Fees to Weed Out Bad Clients
In 2022, Live Well, Travel Often’s Goldberg-Glazer implemented a fee structure for her business. Her planning fee is now a line item on a client’s invoice, specifically noting that the fee is trip-specific and nonrefundable.
Fees for Live Well, Travel Often trips start at $295 per person for an all-inclusive vacation; $395 for a 10-day trip (anywhere); $495 for a two-week trip; and up to $895-$995 for trips that are more than two weeks (decided on a case-by-case basis).
Jacob said she shifted toward a fee-based model in October 2021. Rather than a flat fee, hers are based on amenities (including dining reservations, spa bookings, etc.) and service level (does a client just want a sales transaction, or a more personalized approach?). There’s even a flat fee for travelers who simply want a travel advisor consultation before booking direct. Her fees start at $100 per person (for a “fly and flop” trip, aka a beach vacation), but go up to $200 per person (or more) depending on the turnaround time a client needs, the complexity of the route or the amount of customization.
These fees are communicated in the agency's How We Work’ Guide (given to clients upfront) and in the business’ terms and conditions.
Novotny, whose book of business is mostly Disney (50-60%), doesn’t always charge fees; she decides on a case-by-case basis based on the length and complexity of the trip.
For clients who push back against fees, Jacob said she explains to them that supplier-paid commission is the “in-trip component” of the vacation, while a planning fee has nothing to do with the actual travel and is a way to compensate the advisor for the work that goes into a booking prior to the actual vacation.
“Particularly post-COVID-19, there is much more lead up, and more liability on us,” Jacob said. “And with more responsibility, comes greater investment and more time. Our clients are mutually invested in the process. Fees guarantee we are mutually invested, and there’s a respect for time. It doesn’t have to pay your bills. It says to the client: ‘We are both in this together.’ It’s a promise of moving forward together.”
4. Empower Your Team With Problem-Solving and De-Escalation Tactics
If clients get heated, there are several ways these experts de-escalate a situation.
One way to show care to an angry client is to give them multiple points of contact — especially if they are getting snarky in communications with the administration team, Novotny said. At Upon a Star Travel & Concierge, she has given one employee the title of “Client Experience Manager.”
“That title alone gives her the autonomy to go through situations and push back with clients,” she said. “If you have someone you can bring onto the team and call them a Client Experience Manager, people will see her as substitute for ‘owner.’”
Jacob’s team uses an internal Slack channel called “Pushback” for her team to strategize new ways to deal with problematic customers, whether by crafting client emails together or helping each other feel empowered to refute an unreasonable client request.
“Sometimes, you need that push from your community to feel empowered to push back, especially early in your career,” she said. “It’s easy to continue doing the most for the very least [reward], but ultimately, you’re going to burn out, and it won’t ever lead you to the client base you want.”
5. When You Need to Fire a Client, Do the “Bless and Release"
When a client is not the right fit, Jacob said she swears by the “bless and release” method.
But, she cautions, if a client refuses to be fired, travel agents should be prepared to stand their ground.
“I don’t budge,” she said. “I say, ‘I appreciate it, and I’m honored and flattered [you came to me], but this has to be a mutually beneficial relationship. It doesn’t feel that way, and it doesn’t feel we are both going to get what we need out of it.”
But if a client has already been booked on a trip prior to their firing, Jacob recommends that advisors don’t just “walk away and wipe your hands of them.”
She referenced one client who she fired after his trip was booked, but prior to his travel dates. After releasing his itinerary to the wholesaler, the Explorateur team sent the client materials that would empower him with as much information as possible, including new points of contact, emergency numbers and more.
“If you are going to fire [a client], be a professional,” she said. “Do your due diligence, and never leave a situation where you know you didn’t do the most.”
