There is a stereotype that exists in the Canadian travel industry and it’s time we addressed it.

Home-based travel agents are travel agents first – the fact that they do not commute to a retail storefront each morning not only makes zero difference to their effectiveness and success (in fact, quite the contrary), but it means a healthier work/life balance and the opportunity to be there for their customers when it’s convenient to them. The stereotype of a home-based agent joining the industry for the sole purpose of receiving a shiny box of business cards that opens the door to FAM trips, discount hotel stays and free food at supplier trainings is as tired and outdated as its supporters.

If these agents do exist, they certainly aren’t working with us. It is time for a new definition of what it truly means to be a home-based travel agent.

Welcome to Travel Counsellors.

Like you, we believe the customer is king. We allow the customer and not the supplier to determine what’s best for their vacation needs. We love our jobs and we demonstrate it every day by providing personal attention, quality service and customer care. Sound familiar? These are not just buzz words; these are the values we live by.

Anita Emilio - General Manager

Imagine having to explain to your head-office or manager why you booked a certain hotel or supplier for your customer. Imagine having to switch-sell a customer out of the perfect property and into a property you are told to sell. So, the customer books with you once and never again because they’ve ended up in a property or resort that doesn’t suit them. Sounds like a strange way to run a business, but it happens every day.

Not at Travel Counsellors.

Our strategy is to build lasting relationships with our customers. Call us crazy.

Our agents offer unbiased, professional advice and they do this based on the extensive knowledge they have on each and every one of their customers. The relationship Travel Counsellors has with our suppliers is one we value very much, but it is based on many factors which stretch beyond a standard commercial deal. Their commitment to quality and customer service is of equal importance; to treating the customers as we treat them. They are the lifeblood of our business; they are our greatest ambassadors and should be treated that way.

I suppose we do have a ‘preferred agreements’ but it reads more like, Do Right By your Customer.

Anita Emilio - General Manager

I’m often asked to explain the difference between Travel Counsellors and travel agencies. There are a lot of things that set us apart, but the short answer is, it’s like the difference between renting and owning.

We all know about great tenants. They look after yard work, clear the ice from the sidewalk and sometimes give the place a fresh coat of paint. But even the best tenants draw the line at major investments like a new roof, furnace or plumbing. But who can blame them? They’re not owners.

With most home based agencies, important decisions about customers’ travel arrangements such as what tour operator, cruise line or hotel chain to book – the travel agency equivalent to a new roof – those decisions are made by head office.

Not at Travel Counsellors. We are not looking for renters. We’re looking for owners.

We are committed to making you a success. It is a true partnership. That means no non-compete clauses in a contract. Your database is yours. The choices you make for where your customers stay are yours.

Come to Travel Counsellors. Be an owner.

Anita Emilio - General Manager

We’ve all been through the swings of ‘we don’t need you’, ‘we do need you’ strategies from tour operators and airlines. It was not that long ago that our once National carrier publically made a claim that they no longer need Travel Agents to sell their air seats. We all know what happened next.

So, what is your time, knowledge and experience worth to you? What is it worth to your customer? For your customer, for starters, it’s peace of mind. It’s the confidence a traveller has that, even on a Sunday evening, their Agent can make the flight change they need.

I recently received a note from one of our Travel Counsellors whose customer had a travel companion who had booked their portion of the trip online. They both needed changes made to their arrangements (and were in destination). The Travel Counsellor made the change for BOTH customers – despite the fact that one customer had booked elsewhere. Now that’s service. That’s peace of mind. Now, I suspect our Travel Counsellor has won a new customer for life, but that’s what being a professional Travel Agent is about today. That’s the point of difference. And, that’s something to be very proud of.

So, are you proud enough to choose suppliers who care about your customers as much as you do? Who value your commitment enough to pay you what you deserve? Are you confident enough to communicate your value to your customer?

Knowing your value, believing in yourself and creating a trusted friendship with each and every customer – now that’s worth celebrating.

So, what are you worth? We think a professional Agent who continual puts their customer first is worth everything.

Anita Emilio - General Manager

We’ve always heard personal and business don’t mix. Well, as I am flying over the Atlantic writing this column (returning from our International Conference in Liverpool), I’d like to debunk the myth!

I have been with Travel Counsellors now for almost six months and every day I see evidence of kindness, support, achievement, friendship... But that’s what it is. That’s the result of being a partner (not employer/employee) in success, in challenges; in overcoming everyday obstacles; in pushing you to be the best; in being there, night or day for you.

That’s family by any definition.

So when reading through a recent report that deemed Toronto the worst city for commuting among 19 big cities - a report that sent chills down my spine revealing the equivalent of 2.5 weeks each year lost to the daily commute – I can only say one thing: only you can choose your path.

As one Travel Counsellor said to me at Conference, “Working hard is a given, but that doesn’t come at the expense of my family. I put my family first every day and am so proud of the success I’ve had. With Travel Counsellors I don’t have to choose. I have both.”

You can accomplish the ideal work/life balance. You can choose a path that celebrates your knowledge, skill and commitment and rewards you with pride, achievement and above all, family.

Anita Emilio - General Manager

Remember about 10 years ago when reports surfaced claiming the internet would be ‘replacing’ traditional retail travel agents? Not that we ever believed them, but it’s good to know that even the skeptics agree with us – full service, professional travel agents are an integral part of the travel purchase and overall travel experience. Don’t get me wrong, it would be crazy to assume that Canadians will not purchase some travel on the internet. They will and guess what? We’re okay with that. There is room enough for both models to exist.

The evolution of technology (including, but not limited to the internet) has given us tools we could never have imagined. We can research, package, price, unbundle, organize and tailor-make just about anything to anywhere. Who needs a 7-night package, when a 5 or 10 suits our customers better? We can now use technology to better educate our customers about what else exists in the marketplace. The world is truly their oyster and we can provide it. What is your first reaction to a customer who informs you they’ve been looking on the internet? Be honest. Do you get defensive? You shouldn’t. Thank them for their time and effort and use the information they’ve gathered to help establish what’s important to them. Don’t view the internet as a competitor.

So what does that make the internet? Well, it is undoubtedly our friend. It is an incredible tool that puts us in control of every facet of our travellers’ booking. Champagne on arrival? No problem. Welcome to the holiday of your dreams card in their suite? Absolutely.

Full-service has been redefined and now includes endless combinations of wow, unforgettable, super-relational and incredible.

Anita Emilio - General Manager

Would you describe your clients as trusted friends? How about the company you work for? You trust them with your career, so you must consider them family, right? If you are like most people, working for most companies, then the answer is probably no to both questions.

I received a lot of feedback from my last column about mixing family and business. It may be hard for some people to consider the company they work for as family and I understand that. If you have never experienced the trust and loyalty of a company who truly cares about you, then it is difficult to imagine.

So, what does it mean to be the Trusted Friend of a client? It means, quite simply, to care about them. They are more than an email, more than a booking. I recently heard a great definition of friendship, “Friendship isn't a big thing - it's a million little things.” And, isn’t that what we all want?

If it’s true (and I believe it is) that good sales people have customers and great sales people have friends – isn’t it time we all took more time to create more friendships? I’m guessing if companies all started to do this there would be a lot less travel advertising out there.

Raving fans don’t respond to ads, they respond to relationships.

Anita Emilio - General Manager

I have never been one for New Year’s resolutions. I am all about setting goals and making positive changes in my life but I’ve never understood designating one day a year to do it! In fact, you need to evaluate your goals and set the bar higher once you’ve achieved them.

We have 365 days in a year to make a difference, to make ourselves happy, to ensure we and those around us are safe, healthy and prosperous. What a sin to wait until January 1st to make our ‘to-do list.’

In this business, you have no choice but to stay ahead of the curve, to maintain a level of excellence that is the envy of everyone around you, to balance the time you spend in your career and in your family – to be the best, you must dream big, dream often and never, never give up. And, you cannot achieve all this (and more!) by setting goals and resolutions only once a year.

At Travel Counsellors each agent has a business development executive who works with them to develop a personal and professional plan to achieve their goals – and they don’t chat about it once a year. We use tools to track progress and we work together daily, weekly, monthly... whatever it takes to ensure that we are on one road and one road only: the road to success.

Resolution is nothing other than a promise. I see 365 days ahead, full of promise and opportunity.

Know that every day opens like a blank page in a new journal and only you can decide what gets written. Be bold. Throw out your pencils and erasers. Take a page out of Travel Counsellors' journal - it's written in marker. Magic.

Anita Emilio - General Manager

Let’s consider a successful business owner or someone who is a luminary in their respective field, a visionary, someone with passion and exceptional commitment – I’ve been very fortunate in my life to have met many people who fit this description. And I can confidently say that not a single one of these people do what they love ‘part-time’.

When you do something you truly love, you give it 110% effort each and every day. Not when you have time, when you feel like it, when you are finished your other part-time job. The concept of working in the travel industry part-time has always been confusing for me. How can you possibly build long-lasting relationships with your customers part-time?

Well, I don’t believe you can. We have over 1,200 agents in six countries and they dedicate more than full-time hours to doing what they love. Being a Travel Counsellor isn’t easy. It’s hard work. But most really great things in life are.

Last weekend I ran my 21st half-marathon. In addition to running marathons, I also run a busy family and a national travel agency. Rest assured I wouldn’t do any of that, I wouldn’t make it work, if I didn’t absolutely love it. Because I love it, I don’t really see it as work. That’s the great thing about doing what you love.

Could I have just run my 21st half-marathon if I dedicated half the time I do to training. Not on your life. I believe this rule applies to everything in life. My career and my family are no exceptions.

Providing exceptional customer service is not a part-time job.

Anita Emilio - General Manager

By now I think you know where I stand on ‘preferred strategies’ between travel agencies and their suppliers. There is one guaranteed outcome: the customer loses.

But here is the thing that keeps surprising me…In this day and age, where the customer rules, (no matter what business you’re in) the travel industry seems to be the last to catch up.

A national agency chain has just announced a “licensing arrangement” with a tour operator. So, another travel agency, full of great travel agents, has lost control of their service and their customer. Forget giving the customer what is best for them; it’s now all about what is best for the supplier.

Really? Seems like a lose-lose scenario for the agency. Let me put it in terms outside the travel industry:

Imagine typing into Google, “music” and the only organic results returned are for Justin Bieber. The trust you have for a company like Google would dictate that Justin Bieber is the only person making music today. Sound crazy, right?

Well, my sympathies for the great agents who are now forced into the uncomfortable position of explaining why certain destinations or resorts are now unavailable to their customers.

Travel Counsellors selects its partners based on financial stability and customer service. Full stop. Our agents and their customers decide together what is best for their travel arrangements. We would never compromise that. We build trusted relationships with our customers, so offering completely unbiased advice is the only option.

Anita Emilio - General Manager

I was browsing through the Globe & Mail travel section this past weekend and I had to ask, how do travel agencies get away with competing against their own agents? From one particular company (and they weren’t the only ones) I was directed to contact a toll-free number, where I would speak to someone in their call-centre. Lovely. Their independent agents, who work from home, are left on their own to develop their business.

When I tell prospective agents who are interested in joining Travel Counsellors that we don’t compete with our agents, they often give me a funny look. ‘What do you mean,’ they’ll ask. Well, we don’t operate a booking engine on our website, we don’t have retail stores, we don’t run a call-centre. We have one objective: support our home-based agents. Full stop.

I’m not sure what to think of a company who makes it a point to compete with their agents. It seems counter-intuitive to me. Either you support your agents, or you don’t. There is no in between.

Here’s the thing: when you are the best travel agent, looking for the best company, look for one whose business it is to make YOU a success.

Anita Emilio - General Manager

When was the last time someone was kind to you? When was the last time a colleague did something for you that made you stop, think and be thankful? Good companies celebrate these happenings often. At great companies it happens every day.

Our customers are more educated, more informed and more internet and information savvy than ever before. To be an expert and provide the ultimate in personalized care, you must not only stay ahead of the curve, but you must help define it. So what does kindness look like in this age of information?

Sharing your knowledge and experience with colleagues just makes sense. Every good company has a bottom-up, user- generated intranet that allows employees to engage with each other, empowering them to drive progress and development. If your company doesn’t have one, what could you possibly be waiting for?

We have over 1100 agents in six countries that stay connected via the company intranet, message boards and live chatting / video. That means that a colleague in Cape Town can help put a Canadian Travel Counsellor in touch with the sommelier at the best little boutique winery in the Cape Peninsula and arrange for a private tour and tasting, just for their clients.

This is a true story. In fact, we are made up of thousands of heroic, selfless, kind and generous stories. That is where our ethos lives.

So, as it turns out, kindness and sharing in the age of information, is an essential tool and one your customer will thank you for.

Anita Emilio - General Manager

What do you think the cost is of being unhappy? Better question: what is the value of being happy?

Does the company you work for make you happy? If the answer is no, imagine how much more successful you would be if you could answer YES!

I have always believed our customers can see right through us. It doesn’t matter what type of sales person you are; if you wake up with a negative attitude, it could reflect on how you care for your customers.

I learned long ago (after working for a year with a company I didn’t respect) that for most people, it’s not about the money or the title. I had to go through it to believe it myself. For most of us there is a reward beyond the money or the corner office that is universal.

My reward is family. It is the ability to go home at the end of the day and see my son play his heart out in hockey. See my daughter beat her best ever cross-country record or share a coffee with my oldest son and hear about his new job. It is having my whole family around me to laugh and create memories every day. How could I do any of that if my career isn’t fulfilling?

None of us are good at switching our jobs ‘off’. That’s what makes us great at what we do. When a customer needs us at 9pm on a Sunday night because they need to cancel a trip, we are there for them. We treat them like family, too.

Our business has evolved, our lives are busy and that isn’t going to change. So my advice is get happy. And if you’re not, then find a company that you trust, respect and one that respects you back. Find a company that is family.

Anita Emilio - General Manager

I believe the best trait any great friend possesses is the ability to listen. There is nothing I hate more than talking to someone who I know is not listening, doesn’t care or would rather be somewhere else. Shockingly, this happens in business all the time.

Listening and being a friend to our clients is common sense, but it is rare indeed. That makes life pretty great for great sales people. What a differentiator – being a great listener makes you more engaging than someone who is not.

When your customer gives you feedback, you listen (or at least you should). What kind of feedback do you look for? Are you (honestly) ready for what they have to say? Are you open and responsive to their opinion?

We use Net Promoter© as a tool to gauge the loyalty of our customer relationships. It helps us determine how likely a customer is to refer their personal Travel Counsellor to their trusted network of friends, colleagues and relatives. This is a key indicator and snapshot of future business; it reveals how many of your customers are true Promoters.

If our customers aren’t talking about us who will?

The easiest way to give customers a reason to talk about you is to start by listening. Be attentive, ask questions that will offer insight, never make assumptions and ask for their honest feedback. Thank them every chance you get, because you know they have options and make them a Promoter!

Anita Emilio - General Manager

Are you sitting in a travel agency right now, at a desk or maybe in a lunchroom? Perhaps you’re commuting home by transit, or maybe, just maybe, you’re reading this column in the comfort of your own home.

When I was a busy front-line agent, the only time I had to read through my trade publications and get caught up on industry news (if I was able to find time at all) was at home.

Finding time to stay current is so important. Any successful business person will tell you that dedicating time to your craft, whatever that might be, is the greatest investment you can make in yourself and your business. One of the reasons travel agents become Travel Counsellors choosing to have a more mobile business, is it enables them to prioritise their working day better allowing time for professional and personal development.

Where you work, I mean where you physically work, shouldn’t matter. The company you choose to work for matters very much, as does the colleagues you surround yourself with. Choosing to have a more mobile business simply makes life easier for you and your customers. And wouldn’t you want to make life easier if you could?

Well, like most things in life - you can! You can choose to make a change that will keep you current in the industry and turn your personal and professional dreams into reality.

Make the change and give us a call.

Anita Emilio - General Manager

Belief is a word that comes up often at Travel Counsellors. I have always felt that belief, more than any other word, will lead a person to success.

At Travel Counsellors we know that belief gives birth to dreams.

We never forget that we are in the business of changing dreams into reality: dream honeymoons, dream vacations, even that improbable dream of experiencing a seamless and trouble-free business trip.

Qualities that we look for in every agent interested in joining our team include an ability to dream impossible dreams and a belief that they can help their clients achieve their own elusive dream vacation. You cannot deliver dreams without believing in your own.

In 2010 we achieved over $500 million in sales with 1,100 agents who all believe in the same dream and share the same attitude toward life and their travel business. We have to believe in dreams because we make so many come true.

Surround yourself with others who dare to believe as you do, who share your dreams and work hard to make those dreams come true.

Anita Emilio - General Manager