I got a call the other day from one of my oldest friends, asking me
if I knew of a good travel agent. (Now why would she think that?)
My friend’s sister will be celebrating a milestone birthday and
wanted to take her whole family husband and three teenagers to New
York City for a week. After a bit of consideration and honestly,
with some trepidation, I gave her the name of an agent that could
help.
The reason I felt nervous is that I didn’t want to let this
friend down, and while I have complete confidence in this agent, my
friend is unaccustomed to working with travel agents and I really
hoped the experience would be a positive one.
Well, it turns out that my friend’s sister absolutely loves the
agent, and the week is booked, the plans are made and the
excitement is growing as the trip approaches. Because of her
professionalism, this agent made not only her client happy, but
also the client’s family, her sister and me. And you can bet her
name will be offered again to potential clients with
confidence.
I think sometimes agents can forget just how much is riding on
this ripple effect and how many people are impacted by a job well
done. This incident was on my mind as I read this issue’s cover
story, “River Cruising Comes of Age” (page 24). This type of
travel, with the decisions involved between cruise lines,
itineraries, ships and more can be daunting to many consumers,
which is why travel agents are clearly essential to the growth of
this product. The better travel agents are at making customers
happy with this kind of trip, the more successful the river
cruising industry will be as a whole. It’s in the agents’ hands,
plain and simple.
I think the river cruise company executives understand the
importance of agents in this regard. I just hope agents always
understand this power and responsibility as well.
