Why Actually Traveling Is a Game Changer for Your Business

In this episode of The Travel Agent Guide Podcast, we tackle a fundamental truth about running a successful travel business, the undeniable power of firsthand experience. You can read every brochure and attend every webinar, but nothing transforms your authority like getting out from behind your laptop and seeing the world.

00:00:00 - Why travel matters as a travel advisor

00:01:24 - Travel where your clients want to go

00:02:29 - Creating "wow" moments that generate inquiries

00:03:33 - Christmas Markets: Ireland vs. Munich experience

00:06:07 - How to choose the right FAM trip strategically

00:08:18 - Why traveling less can grow your business more

00:08:58 - Haley's annual travel strategy

00:11:05 - Taking top advisors to Machu Picchu

00:12:14 - Understanding the true cost of FAM trips

00:13:01 - Turning travel experiences into sales

00:14:12 - Using your trips in email marketing and client communication

00:15:14 - You don't have to travel somewhere to sell it

00:16:08 - Confidence through research vs. personal experience

00:17:35 - The biggest value of traveling as an advisor

00:19:42 - What FAM trips are really like

00:20:59 - Supplier relationships and why they matter

00:24:07 - FAM Trip Do's & Don'ts

00:25:09 - Don't spend your FAM trip working

00:27:19 - Maintain professionalism and represent suppliers well

00:28:05 - Always come prepared with thoughtful questions

00:29:19 - Take notes, photos, and videos for future marketing

00:30:14 - Create social media content while you're in destination

00:31:24 - Track expenses and understand tax deductions

00:32:56 - Final advice: Book a FAM for 2027

00:33:09 - Choose trips your clients actually want to buy

00:34:33 - Balancing strategy with passion

00:35:35 - Travel Agent Guide Live Workshop announcement

00:36:25 - Closing remarks

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:04

Welcome to this week of the travel agent guide. I'm super excited to dive in because this is one of those episodes where it is the best part of what we do. We are going to talk about traveling as a travel agent and how to leverage it in your business. So by the end of the podcast, I promise you that you are going to be able to figure out exactly how much you should be traveling, when you should be traveling, what your investment should look like, all of those things to make you feel really, really good about traveling the world. That's why we're all in this business, right? Um, so Haley, I want to just start off with have you had just like a favorite fam experience that you feel like's impacted your business?

SPEAKER_00 0:43

I mean, I've done quite a few fams um in retreats, which I think overall, every time you get out and travel, it is going to impact your business significantly. I feel like every time I start posting about my personal travel, I do start getting leads coming in the door. Um, so yeah, it's it's important to do. As far as my favorite fam trip, I don't know. I feel like every new destination is a favorite destination. Um, I've done a great Costa Rica trip, I've done an Alaska trip, I did a Christmas market to Munich last year. So yeah, I think overall diving into what you're truly selling is like you said, it's you're gonna leverage in your business.

SPEAKER_01 1:23

I think the ones that tend to get some like, oh wow, look at that moments. If you could find a couple of those moments on your trip, it tends to make your network feel like they can trust you more. Um, but that being said, when you're thinking about where should I travel, it needs to be where you want your clients to travel. So if you're selling a ton of Carnival Cruise line and you're like, oh, I just got this fam on Canard, well, that's probably not the jump to make, right? Now, if you want to go from like a contemporary line to like a premium line and try to talk some of your people into making that jump, that can make sense. So I think a small jump is okay and you can be a bit aspirational, but don't jump too far out of your network's comfort area. Um, so let's say most of your business and you're selling a million dollars, it's in the Caribbean, it's probably not gonna make sense for you to book a trip to go down to Antarctica. That's probably not what your people love. Now you know your people a hell of a lot better than I do. So I may be wrong. If you think that you have that demand, start looking at that thing, or you think you can develop that demand in those people. Um, but one of my favorite is um also in Alaska, you mentioned, but it was my favorite because we did one of those flight seeing tours. So the little tiny airplane holds three people in it, or I think four people in it. Um, we flew around Denali and came back, and it was just such a jaw-dropping experience. And I took all these little videos and selfies of us in the plane and all the things. I had like a dozen people reach out to me after that and they're like, oh wow, I've been to Alaska a ton. Where were you? What did you do this? What fender did you use? Like they wanted to know. And I think that's the key. It's like, what can you show them that maybe they hadn't thought of? So don't do the standard. I mean, if you want to do the standard because you want to go crazy, but try to do something that's like a little bit different. Hey, this is me eating dinner in a chef's home that I met. Do you want to have dinner with this guy? He's great, whatever that looks like for you. Um, Haley, do you have any other examples of kind of how that played out for you?

SPEAKER_00 3:32

Yeah, for sure. I last year I finally decided after selling a tremendous amount of Christmas markets that I was going to indulge in Christmas markets. And I felt like me diving into it to understanding the logistics, how do Christmas markets really work? And where are those authentic experiences helped me understand Christmas markets overall? Um, so fun fact, I did go to um Ireland at the beginning of November with my husband for a personal trip. And when we got to Galway, the Christmas markets actually opened that day. And I did I had no idea. So this is I didn't do the research for my own trip. Travel eager really sucks. I know when I got to when I got to the hotel, I was like, no, I was so excited. Long story short, we went down, we did the I I sat and looked at my husband, and I'm like, is this really the Christmas markets? Like I was so disappointed. It was, you know, it was a cute little area in Galway that, you know, they had them set up, but to me, it wasn't that authentic experience I was expecting. If, and I would love to hear if you've done the Christmas markets in Galway, let me know. Maybe I got there day one and it wasn't what I was expecting. So, anyways, I already had this trip planned to Munich in December. So now I was like, I don't even want to go anymore. Like, I'm so, anyways, I get to Munich and it was night and day. Like the Christmas markets were truly that authentic Bavarian German experience where you know you're outside with the mold wine and you're eating the pretzels right on the it's it was just such a different experience. So, with that said, I would have never known unless I dove into it to learn it for my business and understand it. And I promise you, when my clients say, Hey, we want to go to Galway to do the Christmas markets, I'm like, No, you don't. You want to go to, yeah, let's go to other Christmas markets. So I think it's always good to throw yourself into what you're selling. Um, to an extent, your clients are going to see that you're doing it. You're gonna come home and save all of your social media and marketing materials, your videos. I still am posting pictures now because I want to market for this coming season that were for last year. So I use marketing material or the videos um throughout the entire year and it starts conversations exactly like you said, Bird. You may not get a lead coming in, but you get somebody who sees that Haley was just in Ireland and then she went to Munich. And okay, she must know about Christmas markets. Then two, three months later, they're gonna reach out to me, right?

SPEAKER_01 6:07

Yeah, absolutely. So I I want to highlight, though, the strategy behind how to decide on a fam because so many people get into this industry. And if you're listening to this podcast, you're probably not one of those people that's just in it for the travel. You probably genuinely love being organized and helping people plan and doing the research and the strategy behind a vacation. However, I think that it's very easy to get dreamy-eyed in the in the industry because so much tends to fly at you in the beginning. And when you're not used to getting offered trips, you tend to believe that that opportunity is gonna be gone, right? Like if I don't go on this Croatia yacht cruise, I'll never get the opportunity again. I've got news for you, they're gonna offer it again next year. It's going to be just fine. And it's now that, you know, I've been in the industry so long, I don't have the FOMO the way I did in the very beginning. But if you are finding yourself like, I've got to go on all the things, I've got to do everything, I will tell you I the years that I have done less, I have tend to grow my business significantly more. What I would say is sit back and be strategic about the year, choose one, maybe two trips and plan a ton around those trips. So plan a ton of social media, plan to talk about it. Um, I love making posts before I leave. That's like, hey guys, I know I'm a travel agent, but I'm gonna ask for advice anyway. Who's been to Galway recently? And have you ever done this? Right. And see what they say about it. And I've noticed my network chimes in all the time because people want to talk about experiences they have. And they're like, oh yeah, last time I went to Galway, I did the Christmas markets and it sucked, right?

unknown 7:50

Whatever it is.

SPEAKER_01 7:51

But people do love chiming into it. So I love asking, like before the trip, asking advice from my network. I love posting fun facts like, oh, I'm I'm going to Alaska soon. Did you know? Da-da-da. I'm doing this. Did you know? Right. Like I love those kind of getting ready for it posts. And that will last weeks before I actually travel. And then the content from when I'm travel will obviously last weeks afterward. But I'm at home in front of my computer being strategic, making sales, making money. The travel agents that you are seeing that are out there on a different vacation every single week. And yes, I use the word vacation strategically in that moment, they're probably not the ones selling millions of dollars. So, so decide for yourself. Like, are you in it for the I'll take every fam trip that comes my way? Are you in it because you want to make a real career out of this? And if that's the case, I think you need to be very strategic in what you're going on and what you're taking time away from the office to do. I mean, Haley, how do you think about it when you decide on a fam?

SPEAKER_00 8:58

Yeah, I think that's that's really you nailed it, Bird, right? I I spend, I actually have my travel set up really weird. And I was thinking going into next year, I should probably fix it. But I go like gung ho work from January to September, October. And then I start traveling September, I do a trip, October, November, I do another trip. And I really just base it off of you know where my clients go. It's typically Europe. So every year I'm diving into a new European country, but I'm only doing one. Unfortunately, I can't get to Europe three or four times a year in a perfect world, right? But I am spending seven, eight months out of the year where I am truly just working, working, working and selling and doing what I need to do. Then I take that and I'll even roll it into the next year. So that's kind of my strategy. I do two trips a year. Um, you know, this year is Machu Picchu, right? So we're gonna be doing that where we highlight, you know, this amazing bucket list trip that I've already been highlighting and talking to my social media about it for now six to eight months and getting them ready because they know the content's coming. They know, okay, here goes Haley again, right? And they're excited and they're gonna be like, Oh, how did you do that? Like, I want to go to Machu Picchu, and that's what I want. I really want people to say, Haley is the true expert. I, you know, I want to send people to her and I'm gonna lean on her for any big trip that I have. So that's how it works. And then, you know, my Europe, I just determine the countries that I usually sell. Like you said, I'm not gonna go do a fam trip to somewhere I'm not selling. So I have another fam trip that I'm gonna do in Switzerland. I've sold a lot of Switzerland, I've never been to Switzerland. I want to see how the train system works. I feel like I'm so excited to see how it goes and and what happens. So now I just come back and I have that true Switzerland experience that I can just continue to sell and make these amazing trips for my clients.

SPEAKER_01 11:05

I love that. Um, Haley mentioned we are taking our top advisors to Machu Picchu this year to Peru. Um, and I'm super, super excited to bring them. So we have chosen instead of going on traditional fams, um, that we typically will take our top producers on a really nice experience where it is truly experiential. Um, but part of that, instead of having suppliers come in and talk to us, because I hate a vendor pitch. Oh, there's nothing I hate more than a vendor pitch. Um, instead of doing that, we do four-hour chunks of classroom time where we strategize and have workshops for our advisors that are very hands-on and it's an exciting opportunity. So we really, really love doing that. Um, and I know that a lot of my advisors have grown because of that. Um, now the people on the trip, again, it's they're usually the type of people that are selling these bigger bucket list trips. So Machu Picchu aligned really well with what we're looking for. Um, I've already started planning 27, Haley, and I can't wait to tell you about it. I'm not telling you yet though. So one of the one of the things I would say though is when you're thinking about, okay, what is it that I want to do? You also have to consider the cost of the trip. Um, I've seen fams for free. I've seen fams for a couple hundred bucks, and I have seen fams for like five grand. Uh, rarely do they include your flight. Uh, every now and then I've gotten a flight paid for, but it's it seems pretty few and far between. Um, so you have to consider the cost of an international flight, you have to consider your meals, you have to consider whatever the cost of the fam is. And oftentimes I've seen it literally cost like thousands of dollars to go in these experiences. And it's funny because we've all seen like travel the world for free, become a travel agent. It's like, all right, that's not how it works. Um, so if I'm thinking about investing thousands of dollars, I need to be able to point to a handful of clients that I think would book that exact trip with me so I can make that money back. And what I typically do is I come home and I, you know, I've already got the clients pointed out because I've I've made that decision before I signed up for the fam. And I have these clients pointed out and I make very specifical, specific, purposeful ask to them. Hey, I just got back from Alaska. I did this amazing flight seeing adventure. It just really felt like something you guys would love. Have you ever thought about Alaska? So then I'm taking my experience and turning it into dollars. That is the piece that most travel agents miss. They think because they post on social media that they're selling their experience, the direct ask makes all the difference. And it's also an easy excuse to be like, I was thinking about you. Like, keep me top of mind. Because even if they say no, not interested in Alaska, you say, Oh, that's fine. No worries. How are the kids? How's the dog? How's the leg? Whatever they got going on in their life. Yeah. Um, so it's just a great excuse to kind of make that next step with them. Haley, do you usually reach out to clients and suggest trips? How do you handle that?

SPEAKER_00 14:12

Yeah, I think I mean, a lot of my repeat clients I know are Europe-based. So I definitely will highlight my trips when I come home. I will even send an email blast. I always make sure when I'm traveling, I let clients know in my email reply that I am in Germany and I'm doing an in-depth, you know, training and trip to better educate myself for when you travel. Um, so yeah, for example, when I came back from Germany, I had multiple clients. I did quite a few Danube River cruises this year. Um they disembarked in Germany and they went down to Munich and spent some time in Old Town and Marenplatz and enjoyed it because I suggested it. They've all come home and given me rave reviews on how much they love Munich. So I think it adds a piece to it because now I comfortably know how to help my clients reroute their trips, right? And I know the experience they're going to get and receive. So yeah, it all goes hand in hand, but absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 15:13

I want to take a step back from the conversation for a second and point out that you do not have to travel to a place to sell it. You absolutely don't. You need to do a ton of research and you need to put in the hours. Um, but I stand by that statement very strongly. And I have sold lots of places I've never been, and they were wonderful, very well planned trips, if I do say so myself. However, I think that the travel, uh, Haley, you kind of mentioned like the value of travel. And when I think about it, it's like there's this value that just comes in the confidence. And and you mentioned like noticing certain things and like seeing things that the client would see. Like that to me is really interesting. And that's a value that we don't always consider. Just as you were talking to those clients that were interested in a Danube cruise, it was so much easier for you to say, oh, well, when I was there, dot, dot, dot, dot, dot, right. And you kind of can pick up those things and that just naturally builds confidence. So I would say to be really good at sales, you absolutely have to have confidence. It can come to you in two different ways. It can come to you because you took the time and the effort to dig deep and research and really know a destination. That absolutely can give you confidence. Or it could come from actual experiences as well. You often can't do all of the things. You have to pick one. So I don't want anybody listening to this saying, well, I don't have money to travel, therefore, I'm never going to be a great travel agent. I don't think that's necessarily true. I think you can build up your business without traveling. Um, in fact, I started my business in November of 2019. So I didn't get a chance to travel for a good year, a year and a half after that, before you know the world opened up again. So I sold a million dollars that year. And it's crazy to think of people booking a million dollars in travel in 2020. But the reality was people they knew they weren't ready to go then, but they wanted something on the books and they wanted it so badly. And it's interesting because again, I wasn't going to a lot of the locations that we knew would open up. I am not a big Caribbean traveler. I'm I'm Europe all day, every day. That's my love language. It's European travel. But all we could sell was the Caribbean. So I'm just Googling the hell out of Mexico over here, and that built my confidence. Um, what other kind of value do you think travel advisors get out of being in destination?

SPEAKER_00 17:35

The I think the the more value is just really understanding it. Not only that, you go on these trips and it just like fuels you, right? You come home, you have this whole different mindset, you're like, okay, that's it. I I'm working harder, I'm gonna find these leads, I'm gonna get my clients to Germany or Ireland or Italy. It's what I truly love. And I think it's it really is just part of the business. If you're not traveling, it's at some point you have to get out there and do it because we're building these experiences for clients and you should you should experience it yourself, right? Um, so I think the value is really putting yourself out there, going to learn, but it's just it's exciting, right? It's I feel like it comes with a job. Um, make it happen. But just to reiterate, Bird, on your previous comment, I did not try I traveled to two Caribbean islands prior to becoming a travel agent and a lot of domestic. And I did not, I have never been to Europe prior to that. I was a mom at 19, right? So that was how I spent my 20s. And when I came into this, I just I never truly thought in two years I would be taking these amazing trips and getting this opportunity to live this life, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 18:54

So guys, Haley absolutely sold millions in travel to Europe before she ever stepped foot in Europe. Now the woman knows how to research and she knows the strategy behind all the logistics. And I will tell you, I've reviewed all of her itineraries in the beginning and very impressive, but never step foot on the continent. Not even like, oh, I haven't been to Switzerland, like hadn't been to Europe. I thought that was genuinely impressive. And it just showed how much you really love the the strategy and the research behind what it is to make this job fantastic.

SPEAKER_00 19:28

Yeah. I, you know, when I think about it, I'm like, I don't even know if before I c became a travel agent, I had this desire to travel. Um I don't know. I obviously life changes, but it's it just do it. I the best advice I can give. When I talk to newer advisors coming in, I do tell them all the time, I get a lot of questions about the fam trips. And again, you look at it as an opportunity of oh, becoming a travel agent and people aren't understanding. I think it's important to notate that a fam trip is truly diving in and educating yourself. You're doing a lot of site visits, they're usually a go, go, go experience. So if you're looking for a more relaxed vacation, it's not going to be a fam trip, right? Yes. It's definitely, hey, we're gonna go check out four hotels in a day. And of course, you get wine and nine at each hotel. It's a great experience. You meet other travel advisors in the industry. It's it's fantastic. It it truly is um a great experience. But again, you need to understand the value and what you're paying for it. I last year I did in a Europe Express fam. It was $800 out of pocket plus flights. So it wasn't cheap. It was about $1,500. And I think for me, it was worth it because I knew I wanted to get there and do it. And I said to myself, if I flew myself, my husband, my kids, it was gonna cost me triple, quadruple that, right? So a quick five-day trip to understand something and dive in, it was worth the money for me. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 20:59

I love it. And and part of that is I want to highlight um, not the one that you plan for yourself, but when you've been on other fams, there's also that added benefit if you do go with a supplier. Um, not all suppliers do them, not all DMCs do them. It's but if you do go on one and you get to experience kind of a deeper, longer relationship with them, I find it very valuable. Um, some of the fams that you will find when you're brand new and you haven't sold anything is you'll find a lot to the Caribbean. So I'll shout out Vacation Express because they do fams all day, every day. And what they do is they'll bring you down there, they'll pay for your hotel, they'll whine and dine you the whole time, but you're gonna see five plus resorts every single day for two or three days, and it's gonna be exhausting. And like Haley said, it's very go, go, go. Um, but you're gonna know Vacation Express and cite it out at the end of the day. You're gonna see a ton of resorts and get a ton of marketing material. And if you're brand new and the Caribbean's what you want to sell, it's a fantastic support. It's honestly. A great way to get into this and kind of understand things. Let's say a couple years down the road, you've pivoted, you want to do Europe now. Great, fantastic. I know Europe Express, for instance, does a lot of fam. There's a bunch that'll do them around Europe, but I'll just call them out for a second. When you spend, you know, five plus days with your BDM, you better believe Chad's going to answer the phone when you call, right? Like we know that that's how it works. So I just think it's important when you think about the value you're getting out of it, you're getting confidence, but you're also getting the supplier relationships in a different way than you're ever going to get on a Zoom call. You know, I zoom with my suppliers all day long, um, but I have a six and a three-year-old. So the times I leave my home are very few and far between, especially because, like I said, we take our top producers every year on some big fancy fun retreat. Well, that's my trip. Like I usually don't have another, I might go to one conference, but usually there's not a lot on top of that. So for me, I need that to be the highest uh value that it can possibly be. And at the end of the day, that's how I kind of evaluate things. But if you're really looking to get closer to a particular supplier, number one, start selling them. Number two, try to see if you can be in a room with them. This does not have to be a fam. This could also be, hey, are you going to be at X, Y, and Z conference? I'd really like to meet you. Can we get coffee? Can we go to dinner one night? Can we whatever? Just so you're spending more strategic time. Uh, I hate this industry does like these speed dating things. I've I come from real estate. We would never in a million years do it that way. I'm like, travel loves it for some reason. Speed dating is a shitty way to get to know people. Like, it just isn't good. And I really hate it. Um, but get that that BDMs information and say, can we speak later? You're also more likely going to be invited to more fans when you have those deeper relationships with BDMs. Um, so maybe focus on that a little bit as well. Um, Haley, let's talk about the do's and the don'ts on fams. Are there is there anything that I need to like have in my mind of like this is frowned upon in the industry?

SPEAKER_00 24:16

I think it's important to really hold yourself to a professional level, right? Like indulge and of course have a drink with dinner, maybe a drink after that, but maintain yourself, right? Don't go getting sloshed with the BDM and making a scene. Um, I've looked at this one time.

SPEAKER_01 24:34

I don't need you to call me out like that.

SPEAKER_00 24:37

Yeah, I mean, it it it depending on the fam, right? Um, obviously, all inclusives, a little different, but I think really just showing that you're truly there to learn and you're diving into the product and the destination is obviously helpful. Be professional. Um yeah, that's kind of my feedback.

SPEAKER_01 24:59

Can I add one? Yes, don't get sloshed. Come on, keep it together, people. We're adults here. This is a real career. Um, but I want to add something that we don't often talk about, and that's getting out from behind the laptop. So I have been on a couple of these trips where there's one specifically I'm thinking of, and I remember one of the other travel agents that was with me, she was like, Oh, I stayed up till three in the morning last night booking trips, and she was just kind of like out of it all day. And I was like, Well, wait, the point of being here, and I understand we can't all just like let things go, but you really should be strategic about trying to block that time to network with the other advisors. The reason that Haley and I think it's so important to bring our top advisors on a retreat together, like, do I just want to spend tens of thousands of dollars for fun? No, I could go to Machu Picchu for a lot cheaper than I'm going with my entire team. But the reality to me is that their networking with other agents helps them immensely. So if you're going to spend time, money, and investing in a fam experience, don't bring your laptop. Try really hard to not spend time on it. Try really hard to see if can someone else cover your trips? You know, we have what we call as our emergency support channel, where basically someone can post and say, hey, I'm you know at a funeral, at my kids play, whatever it is I can't get to my computer right now. Can someone get in and help me with X, Y, and Z emergency? If you don't have that at your agency, what you need to be doing is you need to find a friend and say, Hey, do you want to go on vacation at some point this year? How about I cover your trips and you cover mine? You need to have that strategic relationship because if you go on a fam, you invest all this money and you spend the whole time working or answering client calls, it doesn't make you look professional. It honestly makes you look messy and sloppy and kind of like you don't have your shit together. So my two cents on kind of one of the big don'ts. Any other big don'ts you can think of on the on the trip?

SPEAKER_00 27:00

I well, on that note, I bring my laptop every time and I probably I usually never open it. So I travel with my laptop, but I definitely disconnect on all the trips that I take.

SPEAKER_01 27:09

It's it's called a comfort blanket, Haley. Just admit just in case, yeah, absolutely. Um that is fine.

SPEAKER_00 27:17

Yeah, it's can I live without it? I don't know, but I proved to myself I can. So there's that. Um, but any other don'ts is I guess just putting down the supplier itself, right? If you're there, you should be believing in the partnership, you should be believing in the BDM, and you should be saying good things to each other um about this, whoever's putting on um and hosting you guys. I think that's really important. I have I have seen, you know, advisors get together and kind of bash and talk badly about maybe the not BDM, but the supplier and all the problems come together and you know, figure it out and just enjoy the moment, right? I think that's important.

SPEAKER_01 28:01

I I completely agree. Um, I have a do. I have a do that I don't see a lot of people do. Um, this is coming from me sitting in the seat of interviewing people pretty consistently when I hire them to my agency. And the reality is if you come to an interview and you don't have questions, I will not hire you. Period. Dot. I I think it's a lack of uh, you know, being ready for it. I think it's a lack of initiative. I think it shows that you're not proactive. And I'm not excited to have those people on my team. So even if I love the interview, I don't hire those people. So I have seen this in fams where people show up with a lot of questions about the vendors, a lot of questions about the experience, the destination. And my challenge to you and my do is do show up with thought-out questions. You want to be thoughtful. You want to be purposeful. You want, what can my client get out of this? I have a client that's, you know, is this area handicap accessible? Whatever it is that you need to ask, just make sure you come with questions. I think you're really missing out on part of the experience if you don't pack a really deep sense of curiosity. I think that makes you a much, much better advisor when you're thinking about it, not just from your perspective, but from your client's perspective as well. Any other do's you can think of? We do want to do what?

SPEAKER_00 29:19

Yeah, I think what we do want to do is when we go to all the site visits, you want to dive in, you want to take some notes on the properties. You're gonna get handed a lot of brochures, pamphlets, all of that. I think it's important to take that information, house it somewhere, create some type of running document that you have all the information um easily accessible, share it with your team, whoever you know your team looks like. And yeah, just really educate yourself. Bring a pen and paper. Don't be like me day one. Um, and I was trying to use my phone and your battery dies. So I think just have some type of pen and paper. If you're gonna use your notes on your phone, make sure you have your backup charger. That's kind of my advice. But be ready to take a lot of videos, take a lot of pictures, and use that to your advantage to go back and sell with it, right?

SPEAKER_01 30:14

You're stealing my my other do. I have one more do. I will say, especially if you're in a group, feels a little awkward. Um, but I have made it a point that as they're touring us around, as they're doing whatever, remember, social media videos should be less than 30 seconds. You can't really do like a five-minute social media video. It's not how that works. So I will, as they're kind of doing a discussion or as they're doing whatever, um, if there's some in-between time, maybe everyone's going to the bathroom, whatever that looks like, just kind of go to the side and take a quick little selfie video saying, like, hey, right now I'm at the I'm in the Amalfi coast and this is a really cool thing I just learned. Did you know you could do this? And then kind of go from there. Um, and I think it's just nice because the information's typically fresh in your head. You're excited to talk about it. And it's just really easy to be able to say, you know, here it is, and then you're done. You're in destination. Even if you look like hot and sweaty, like I think that's part of the fun of it. It's like, you guys, I have looked at 17 resorts today and I'm about to die, but let me tell you about my favorite, right? Like, that's part of the authenticity that makes you trustworthy, that makes them like you, that makes them want to work with you.

SPEAKER_00 31:22

Yeah, I love that.

SPEAKER_01 31:24

I have one more do. Do track all of your expenses. So um, we always say, like, this is not an investment or not an expense, it's absolutely an investment. However, you can expense it. Um, so a fam trip, a proper fam, can be expensed. Um, even if you don't have an LLC, you can expense these um these expenses. And basically, what you need is you need to have uh receipts of everything that you're doing. So your flight over can be expensed, your food, things like that. Obviously, meet with your accountant. I am not an accountant, um, but I have been doing this for years, and this is what my accountant says. This is different than if you create your own fam. That doesn't count. That's called a vacation that you just couldn't let go of work. So you got in and did things yourself. Uh that you cannot expense. Um, if a significant other comes with you on the fam, you cannot expense their portion of anything either. So you do have to be very strategic and purposeful. Um, I will also on that note say that if it's a fam on a cruise, um, I forget what they're called. They're they're seminar at sea. There we go. If it's a seminar at sea, there are very strict limits on the amount uh that you can expense for that on an annual basis. So please keep all of that in mind. But this is travel for work, and you genuinely are investing in yourself to create a more confident, better travel advisor. Um, Haley, any big points about fams that we've missed?

SPEAKER_00 32:56

No, just do one. If you don't have one in the books for 2027, start diving in, figure out what you want to see that you haven't seen yet and what's gonna excite you and connect. Connect with somebody to get it done.

SPEAKER_01 33:09

I I would say be strategic too. Like really sit down and think, what are my clients going to want to do? Again, if you're selling carnival and for some reason you get offered a fam on Regent, probably not the best use of your time. So please don't get in the mindset of what do I want to do? Because what do I want to do does not always make you more money. Really try to be in the mindset with these of what can I sell? What can I sell to my current network? And even if it's a little aspirational, that's probably good. Um, but what can I sell to my current network? What would they be interested in? What do they want to see and do that travel? So if you are a travel agent that's starting to get into luxury, it works the flip side too. You don't want to go on a Norwegian cruise if you're trying to only sell region and you have clients that can afford that. Um, again, if it's truly just aspirational and you're not there, like be strategic. But if you're trying to sell luxury, you need to travel luxury. You need to stay in those hotels, you need to use the private transfers, you need to learn from the experience. You need to learn that, oh, first class cars could be quiet cars. Well, my clients want first class, but they want to talk. Like, we need to be able to know these different things, and you're not going to if uh if you're not doing enough research or if you're not experiencing yourself. Um so invest. Invest in the right market that that makes sense for your clients.

SPEAKER_00 34:33

I love it. Aspirational, I think aspirational piece for advisors who don't who are building their business in the first couple years, definitely figure out what excites you. Because if you do figure out from that piece, then you can take that and make your clients or your potential network really love what you're doing. So I that's for advisors, but yes, you're right on every other aspect. But for advisors building, keep that in mind.

SPEAKER_01 35:02

That's a that's a really good point. Because the reality is if you're excited about it, you're more likely to sell it, right? I know if I'm really excited to go somewhere. Um, like I can tell you right now, I'm gonna sell an absolute ton of Peru over the next year. I there's zero doubt in my mind that this is what's gonna happen because I'm going in a couple weeks and it's exciting and we're all we're all happy for it. Um, if I'm like, oh, that was an okay experience, it's not gonna sell in the same way. Um, so make sure it's something that lights your fire and gets you excited. All right, guys, we are going to wrap up. I want to remind you guys, because we're super, super excited about this, that we are officially launching our first um travel agent guide in-person live podcast recording, and we are spinning it into a full-day hands-on workshop with you guys. This is not something where vendors are gonna come pitch to you. This is something where you are going to get out notebooks, pen and paper, and strategize about your business. And it's gonna be amazing. Um, I'm very, very excited. So please block off the day of November 6th. That's a Friday, and it's gonna be held in Charlotte, North Carolina. We will have more information as well as the registration open within the next week or so. So we will be um dropping that link for you guys very soon. And we cannot wait to see all of our amazing listeners. There's over a thousand each week. Um, we cannot wait to see you in person in Charlotte soon. All right, have a great week, everyone.