Mastering the Budget Conversation That Changes Everything

In this episode of The Travel Agent Guide Podcast, we tackle one of the most important conversations every travel advisor will have with their clients—budget. Discussing money can feel uncomfortable, but understanding your client's priorities, setting realistic expectations, and recommending the right experience is what separates a booking agent from a trusted travel advisor.

Join us as we discuss practical strategies for navigating budget conversations with confidence, building trust, and helping clients get the most value from their investment without making assumptions.

00:00:00 - Welcome to The Travel Agent Guide

00:00:44 - Why Budget Conversations Matter

00:02:04 - How to Start the Budget Conversation

00:02:43 - Understanding Why Your Client Is Traveling

00:03:23 - Why Budget Doesn't Belong on Your Inquiry Form

00:04:03 - Understand the Trip Before Discussing Budget

00:05:25 - The Italy Budget Reality Check

00:06:34 - Build Trust Before Talking About Money

00:07:07 - What Removing the Budget Field Taught Us

00:08:30 - How to Answer "How Much Does It Cost?"

00:09:27 - Setting Realistic Budget Expectations

00:10:14 - Getting Clients to Share Their Budget First

00:12:01 - When Clients Say, "You're the Expert"

00:12:59 - Breaking Down Trip Costs

00:13:52 - Helping Clients Find a Realistic Budget

00:15:03 - What to Do When Clients Say, "I Don't Have a Budget"

00:16:47 - Using Humor to Make Budget Conversations Easier

00:18:30 - How to Decline Unrealistic Budgets Professionally

00:19:36 - Why Specializing Makes You a Better Advisor

00:22:01 - Stretching a Client's Budget

00:22:46 - Finding Your Client's "Scare Point"

00:23:32 - Upselling by Creating More Value

00:25:05 - Respecting Your Client's Budget

00:27:39 - Lessons Learned from Difficult Budget Conversations

00:29:57 - Setting Expectations Beyond the Trip Price

00:30:43 - Learning from Client Feedback

00:31:59 - Final Budget Tips Every Travel Advisor Should Know

00:33:18 - Travel Advisor Coaching with Haley

00:33:59 - Closing Remarks

Whether you're a new travel advisor or an experienced professional, this episode provides practical guidance on confidently navigating budget conversations, educating your clients, and delivering recommendations that truly serve their needs.

Budget conversations don't have to feel uncomfortable—they're an opportunity to build trust, demonstrate your expertise, and create unforgettable travel experiences that keep clients coming back year after year.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

With budget talking, I think it's definitely important to dive right in. And after I understand the overall trip, that's where I'm really understanding how much money they want to spend. If they come back to me and say, Hayley, we love five star, we want white glove service, we want the butler to open the doors for us. That changes my whole mindset going into the costs. Welcome to the travel agent guide, the podcast pulling back the curtain and what it really takes to be a travel agent. We're talking real life, the challenges, the wins, the money, the mistakes, and the growth. Whether you've been in the travel industry for years or are new to it, we're in this together and you're exactly where you need to be. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

All right. This episode is going to be amazing simply because it is the hurdle that travel agents struggle with most. And we are going to dive into budget, but we are not going to teach you how to ask for money. We're going to really help you sit there and work through a budget with your client. I think the worst case scenario is when a client says, How much does it cost to go to Italy? And you go, I don't know. I mean, we could do it for eight grand. Like that's not good. He who speaks first loses. And we're going to teach you how not to speak first. Um, so this episode is really important. Even if you've been doing this in this industry for years and years and years, I hope that you learned something. Um, I have a really unique strategy for stretching my client's budget that I'm going to talk about. Um, and let's just face it and call it what it is. Americans hate talking about money. So we're gonna help you feel a little bit more comfortable with that conversation. Um, Haley, what's your favorite thing about talking about the budget with a client? Do you like this? Do you avoid it like the plague? Like, tell us a little bit about your feelings around that part of the conversation.

SPEAKER_00 1:48

No, it's a conversation that has to be had. So at this point, I know it's part of my process. I have no choice. I will not get off a consultation without talking about budget. So it's, and I'm very comfortable at this point. I lay it on the table, some clients start fumbling, right? And I think that's normal. They don't know what to expect. But I'm pretty good at usually unfolding the layers and diving into it deep with them by simply starting the conversation around budget. I think that's important. You get in and just say, you know, how do you guys have any type of what are you looking to spend on this trip? Do you have a budget in mind or do you have you a bottom line number right now? Is kind of how I started. Some people be like, oh, well, we've done a little bit of research on this and that, and it kind of goes from there. Um so that's kind of the starting point, right? Then I think it's important to really understand why your clients are actually traveling as you're discussing the price. Is it their honeymoon? Is it a 40-year anniversary? Is it a family vacation? And just really understanding the actual trip so you can help not come up with the budget because he who speaks first loses, right? You're you're basically making them understand what's going to be realistic and what's not at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_01 3:09

Yeah, absolutely. And when tell us when you talk about budget, because you kind of mention a little bit of how you breach that subject, but is this early on? Do you have them fill out a form before they even get on a call with you? Tell me about that.

SPEAKER_00 3:23

Yeah, my form doesn't have a budget on it because I have gotten so many intake forms where the budget is a thousand dollars to go to Italy per person. And then we get on a call and they're like, oh no, no, we knew it wasn't gonna be a thousand dollars. It's gonna be, yeah, we're we're expecting to spend like five to seven thousand per person, right? So if your intake form does have a budget on there and you're getting five hundred uh thousand dollars, please do not ignore that lead. Follow up with them, find out is it a mistake, or the reality is they probably just don't know. So they're gonna put whatever the bottom line is until you educate them. So that's my first advice there. On the in the consultation, I always dive into understanding what they want first before I ask them about budget. I think that's important so I can understand are you a luxury traveler? Do you like five-star properties? Are you more into the experiences or do you want to spend a lot of time with the property? Are we diving into doing a spa? With budget talking, I think it's definitely important to dive right in. And after I understand the overall trip, that's where I'm really understanding how much money they want to spend. If they come back to me and say, Haley, we love five star, we want white glove service, we want the butler to open the doors for us. That changes my whole mindset going into the costs. Typically at that point, if they're telling me this, the reality is I don't they don't know the budget, neither do I. So I'm gonna put together and they're not gonna expect to even have a budget in mind, right? If I have a client who tells me, Haley, we don't mind seeing in three-star properties. It's those aren't important to us. We'd rather put the time into, you know, exploring the city or whatever that looks like. I think that's important where you really need to have the budget conversations and also explain I don't book three-star properties for this reason. But but basically that's where you kind of bless and release. Yeah, you kind of dive into okay, how much money, like what was your understanding? I just had a consultation probably about four weeks ago um with clients going to Italy, and I'm not kidding you. It was a referral from a client, honeymoon couple. They got on the call and they were, you know, we went over some details and then they're like, Yeah, so we were thinking between like five and seven thousand dollars, and this was like 10 days to Italy with airfare included. And I sat there and I said, guys, like, you know, that thank you so much. Like, let me just explain to you kind of where we are with costs so you get a good understanding. Typically, I let's look at flights right now. We're looking at about $1,800 per person.

SPEAKER_01 5:59

So that's already let's do the let's do the breakdown in a second. And I only say that because I I think that that's a pretty deep dive. And I think this is the most common aggravation. Only because a lot of Americans don't go to Europe very often. So if you're going to the Caribbean, you probably don't get it as often as people are like, yeah, it costs five grand to go to Europe, right? And it's like in 2005, it did. Yes, that was correct, but it feels very different now. But I I love that you pointed out that that budget conversation is not something that you necessarily get on the call and dive right into. Instead, it needs to be something where you understand their trip, you build trust with them, you get them on your side, you get them excited to work with you, then you can talk budget. Because if you start talking about it too early and you haven't built trust yet, when you push back on their budget, they're gonna shut down. Feels like an insult to tell somebody they don't have enough money to travel, right? So you want to make sure that you have built trust and taken the time. I'll tell you something that was really interesting is my other travel agency. Um, we analyzed the website about six months ago, and it was really, really interesting because we were getting around seven to eight hundred leads a month. We're typing in the form, had first, last name, email, phone number, and then it just had a um describe your trip box and it had a budget box, and then it had a submit button. So seven, eight hundred leads were going in. Um, we lost basically nobody at first name, right? That's how you start the count. Last name, nobody. Uh email, we lost uh it was about 2% phone number. We ended up losing about 5%. The describe your trip was the box where we still had most followers and then the budget. The budget got us at the end of the day, we only ended up driving around 250 leads that month. And I was like, dang, we went from 700, 800 leads to 250 because they didn't know what their budget was and they wanted the guidance, and that's what we do. So what we did was we um took the budget off. We still saw a pretty big drop from first name, last name to describe your trip. We took that off. And what we did is had name, email, phone number, submit, and then we had a second page that said describe your trip, submit, and then they went to schedule their consultation with us. And this was really huge because it showed us that our clients weren't ready to talk about budget. They weren't sure. How many of you guys have gotten on a phone call and the client goes, Well, I don't know how much does it cost to go to France? Like that's I don't know about you, Haley, but I feel like I get that all the time. Like that was a normal conversation to have, right?

SPEAKER_00 8:38

Very much so. Oh, yeah. How much? Well, with your expertise, like what is it gonna cost me to go?

SPEAKER_01 8:44

Yes. Yes. Yep. And that's the hardest one to wiggle out. So maybe we start there. Um, so step one, don't do the budget in the beginning. Step two, do the budget at the end. And what to do when they kind of hold you against a wall, basically. So we'll talk about like when they give you a budget and it's not good enough next. But if they hold you against a wall and they say, Well, I've already told you about my trip. How much does it cost? How do you typically push back on them in kind of like that gentle manner? What does that look like for you?

SPEAKER_00 9:14

First, I tell them, Well, with your dates and what you're really looking for, I'm not gonna know until I actually get in and start doing the research. So I don't, I have no idea, right? And I think that's kind of how I put it out there. I do tell clients, I mean, my bottom line to really starting with a client is about five to six hundred per person per day, just because of the logistics, the moving, the transfer, the full white glove service that we provide. And I do at times put that out there for clients, depending on the budget that they give back to me. And it really changes their mindset. And they're like, okay, I this is based off the information they give me in the actual consultation burn, right? So again, if it's like honeymooners, I know they're not spending tons of money. That conversation is going to be different than, you know, a couple in their 60s who's retiree and they're doing this.

SPEAKER_01 10:07

Um, you know, and also the how much does it cost per person is one that I love answering because it could be so dramatically different. And what I do is I always lean on oh, I've spent two months in Europe and I spent less than two grand because I stayed in hostels the whole time, right? Like what it costs is a really hard question for me to answer because it could absolutely range. And then I explain to the client, what I'd rather do here is I'd rather you tell me what you have in mind and what your gut reaction is, because I never want to make you feel uncomfortable financially. You tell me what you're comfortable with, and I'll tell you what if what you just described fits into that or not. And that's where if they come back with, you know, $3,000 or $5,000 for a two-week trip to Italy, I can easily come back and be like, okay, but what you described to me was four-star hotels and private excursions. That's gonna be da-da-da-da-da. And you can kind of go from there. But you still got them to say a number first. I've had people where in my gut I knew for a fact they were gonna say, you know, five grand for two weeks in Switzerland and they came back and said 30. You know, and I've had people I thought was gonna say 30 and they came back and said five. And I was like, I'm sorry, what? You know, have you had that fantastic client that spends 30, 40 grand and they give you a referral and you're like, it's gonna be just as good. And they come back and they have no money.

SPEAKER_00 11:26

I've even had that fantastic client who has spent 30 or 40, then comes back to me with a completely different budget of 15, right? So I think it's important to notate that just because the client does spend all that money on one big trip doesn't mean the next trip's gonna be the same.

SPEAKER_01 11:43

Yeah, absolutely. Okay, so the how much does it cost is basically you tell me what you're most comfortable with. What kind of number do you have in your head? What I want to do is not make you feel uncomfortable. Tell me where you are, and I'll tell you if what you describe fits that. If they say, I truly, I haven't done any research, you're the expert. I have no clue at all what this costs. I really need you to guide me. Where do you go from there, Haley?

SPEAKER_00 12:09

Yeah, so I immediately start with what we're looking to plan. And I explained to them that I'm a full service travel advisor. So what that means is I'm gonna take care of your flights, I'm gonna take care of your hotels, your transfers, your trains, all the things and the experiences that you're looking for. So the number that you have in mind is that covering all those costs. So I just it's important to make sure that that number they told you, they weren't just expecting hotels. I've had clients who have been like, yeah, so hotels in this is 3,000. Then for tours, we'll spend like two grand. And they're like picking it apart from the beginning. So I just make sure I understand what they're all in, all in is, right? Aside from food or whatever that looks like. Then from there, I set, you know, I basically set expectations. I'll go right to Google Flights and be like, okay, so we talked about flights. It's gonna be $1,800 to get to Greece this summer per person. So we're already at half of the budget that you mentioned. And that's gonna leave us with, you know, $150 per person per day. That's not even enough for a hotel room for a night in Athens, right? And setting expectations along that line, they're like, oh, okay, well, that makes sense. So I guess we're gonna have to spend more money, and then we kind of go from there. And it's other, oh, we're gonna need time to talk about this. Maybe we just don't have the money right now, or yeah, let's figure out what the costs are really gonna be so we can go from there. Then I'll dive into typically, I always say between five and six hundred per person per day is is where is a good starting, but that's without flights, right? So it's kind of my general understanding if they truly don't know.

SPEAKER_01 13:51

Yeah, okay. I I always push back at least one more time. I think one of my favorite things to explain to them is okay, but let's take Italy or France or whatever the destination is completely out of the picture because you know your financial state. And if I give you a number and it doesn't match your financial state, this is going to be a more awkward conversation. What I think is most realistic is you tell me telling me what you kind of have budgeted, regardless of where we go. Because if you say a number that's very unrealistic for this trip to Italy we've been talking about, maybe I could pivot and say, well, we can't do that, but we could do X. And then we can have that conversation. So I really need to know where you are financially and where you're comfortable for. Um, because again, I think throwing out the five and six hundred dollars, I mean, if they keep pushing and your back's against the wall, it is what it is. But I would say try to push back at least twice. And the reason that I'm saying that is because that second time has never once failed me. The second time where I say, take the country out of it, take the trip out of it, what do you have budgeted this year for travel? Like it's we have to have the conversation. I have to know. And when you kind of say, take the vacation out of it, what do you feel most comfortable with? I think people start to say, like, oh, okay, well, yeah, I guess I do have to give her a number. The worst though, do you have the clients that go, I don't have a budget?

SPEAKER_00 15:09

You have those guys? I don't have a budget. And they absolutely do have a budget because they do have a budget.

unknown 15:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:16

Okay, so what do you do with I don't have a budget? Tell me about those guys.

SPEAKER_00 15:20

Yeah. So I, you know, in the past couple of years, I've changed it. I used to say, okay, no budget, fantastic. And then I realize quickly it's gonna be a problem. And what I do is basically say, okay, so there's no budget. I mean, I tell them that I have done trips for this destination where people are spending 40,000 per person, right? Is that the type of trip that you're really looking for? Do you want me to go that above and beyond? And then all of a sudden you throw that number, it's gonna change everything. Like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, 40 grand. No, no, no. I I maybe like 10,000 per person. Oh, okay. So you do have a budget. Let's go from there, right? And I think getting them to turn around that conversation of, you know, you need to really know to what you're gonna build for them and the the trip you're gonna create, you need a number to get in there and understand it. So you don't spend all the time going back and forth. I have lost clients who told me that they don't have a budget. Yeah. Because I was not, you know, I was just not transparent about it. And I'm like, okay, I'll look at this as a trip that I could sell and we're gonna spend 40 grand. Granted, it was Italy, and I felt like for five people it was gonna be close to that, anyways, with what they described, but it was a huge issue, and the client was extremely offended, ended up booking everything on their own. So it was it was a mistake that I learned kind of the hard way. So I think it is important to get that number from the client.

SPEAKER_01 16:47

So one of my favorite things to say, I take a very similar approach of like I plan trips for a hundred thousand plus dollars to this destination all the time. Is that what you're looking for? But the way that I phrase it is I explain, uh, I explain. So you know, you do understand my job, right? My job is actually to spend people's money. That's what I do for a living. And I need to tell you that when you tell me you have no budget, that I need to explain to you that I am really good at my job. So if you want me to spend your money and you want me to go crazy and all out over the top, crazy yachts, private everything, I can do that. But I need to understand is that what you're really looking for here? Or, you know, I'm not really asking how much money is in your bank account. What I'm really asking is what you feel like you want to invest in this particular experience. And it's probably not a million dollars, right? Is it? And then they always go, no, it's not. Like, absolutely not.

SPEAKER_00 17:40

I love that. That is amazing.

SPEAKER_01 17:42

But I love that that moment of like being silly with the client because budget feels very heavy for people and it feels very overwhelming. And again, Americans really, really hate to talk about it. So if you can find some levity and make jokes about spending their money and how good you are at it and how much fun you have. I love spending other people's money. How much money I got? Like that makes people kind of giggle a little bit and it does help kind of alleviate where it is. Um, we do have people we have to turn down every now and then. And really at the end of the day, what you are explaining to them is they don't have enough money to work with you. That is what you're really explaining. However, I'd recommend you don't use those words. So, Kaylee, how do you tell someone they don't have enough money to work with you?

SPEAKER_00 18:30

It's a hard one. There's my silence for a minute. Um, it's definitely a hard one. I basically will just come back and tell them that with what they're describing to me, I feel like I'm gonna let them down on my execution because I am gonna fall short of the money of what they're looking for. And that's kind of how I explain it. I mean, depending on how unrealistic the budget is, I always say there could be a travel agent who could maybe do the cheap, uh, the trip cheaper than I and could really give them the three-star. Every time I accommodated a client's three-star property to get their budget, I heard so much crap about their hotels in Europe, right? I got a lot of negative feedback, and that's when I decided, okay, I'm not doing this anymore. I'm gonna stick with the properties I know best. I'm gonna make sure my clients are taken care of. So I make sure the client just knows that, right? That unfortunately for this specific trip, I just don't think my business aligns with what you're looking for. And that's fine. Um, I'm happy to see if I can find an advisor and refer you. If not, then I wish you all the best, right?

SPEAKER_01 19:36

Oh, you're better than me. I do not refer out. Um, but I do take a similar approach. Um, I explain a little bit more to them because I want to educate them on what I'm looking for because just because they don't have that money doesn't mean their parents don't or their uncle doesn't. And I want them to leave with kind of a good taste about me in their mind, you know, to be realistic. So I kind of explain like, look, there is an unlimited number of hotels in the world for me to get to know and explore. And it's it's really unrealistic for me to be an expert in everything. What I've decided to do with my career is I have decided to be the expert at five-star hotels in Europe. And then I also explore a handful of very, very trusted four-star hotels for clients that do need some flexibility in their budget. But I have to be honest, I know nothing and I do zero research about three, two, and three-star hotels. And the reality is what you're asking for, while it's gonna be an amazing trip, and I'm super excited for you guys. I am not the travel agent to book this trip. I I really would not do a great job at this. So I'm gonna recommend that you go elsewhere and find another agent that can work within that budget. Um, but I will tell you this is an amazing trip. And then what I try to do is I try to give them like a little insight. Like just so you know, one of my favorite things to save money, instead of trying to take like a private transfer from the airport in Rome out to the the rail station. Did you know that there's the Leonardo Express? So it's a it's a rail that you could take just from the airport, it'll take you right to the train station, you can hit the ground running, it'll be a great day. Whatever it is, whatever BS kind of thing that you can think of to give them value in that moment. Um, so if you have this is almost start pulling from like your knowledge of pre-departure. So if in pre-departure you would warn clients about something specific, whatever that looks like, that's it's a really good time to give value. So let them down, tell them, educate them on what it is you do do, and then go ahead and give them some value on like you know, I'm not gonna help you, but here's some things you should know and take into account if you're gonna do this on your own. This is what you need to know. Um, and I think that kind of helps ease the conversation. And and it is a bit awkward, it's not like it's not, but helping them understand that I'm an expert and five star, and I'm not going to be the best person makes it feel a little easier on both sides. And that way I'm also not saying like you need more money. Okay, so we've worked with budgets a little bit when they won't give you one. We've worked with budgets when they don't have one. Uh we've worked with budgets when it's not enough and kind of breaking down. I I love Haley's approach of taking out the flights first and then kind of breaking it down per day. And that gives you a good idea of what it really is and shows them it's not enough money. Um but what we haven't done is talked about stretching a client's budget. Um Haley, do you have kind of a technique that you use to kind of understand is 10 grand 10 grand or is 10 grand actually 15 if I show you the right thing? Like, how do I get them to come around to let's indulge, let's play?

SPEAKER_00 22:46

I think in the budget conversation, having uh, okay, so we're invested 10 grand. Thank you for that number. Now, if I come back and show you something just absolutely gonna knock your socks off, what is your scare point? What is the highest amount of money that you're willing to really invest? Then, you know, people can jump five grand all of a sudden, right? Like, okay, so if you're gonna get me that private tour of sipping wine with the best views in Greece, on the island, whatever, then okay, maybe we're willing to pay for that and it can definitely change things. So I think that's one way to see if they do have more money. I always think, too, while you're presenting your trip and you're in a proposal. Again, Bert and I in our company do very hands-on Zoom approaches. So we're telling a story when we're proposing to a client. That for me is a great time to upsell, right? To come in and say, listen, I want to show you this one property. It's gonna be X amount of more to the package price that I'm showing you, but this is why I want to show it to you. It's gonna be prime location, it's giving you everything that you want and more. And there's a rooftop bar, whatever that looks like for you to put it there for the client to see. And you just basically explain to them this is gonna be, you know, $1,500 more or $2,000 more, they're probably gonna go with it, right? When they see the side-by-side comparison and the different experience that they could possibly have. And same with the tour, right? It here's a shared tour, but if we upgrade to the private tour and you spend another $2,000, you have the chef who is drinking wine with you and cutting your truffles up that you just hunted, or whatever that looks like, right? And it's how you depict it and how you tell the story to the clients where they're gonna all of a sudden say, Oh, that sounds amazing, and I don't want to pass it up.

SPEAKER_01 24:38

Yeah, I definitely want to indulge. I find that so I also use the word scare point. Um, I don't say the highest amount of money because I think that actually scares people. I say like, what's the maximum investment we want to make in this experience? And I think that subtle twist might help people feel a little more confident in it. But I absolutely say, like, what's your scare point? What's the maximum of investment here? But before I get to that, I always explain to them how I work. And I think part of that for me is really, really helping them understand that respect is huge for me. So I say, like, hey, I need you to know that I will always respect your budget. I am not gonna be someone that's going to push you even a dime. If I am putting this package together and it comes in at, we're gonna use $10,000 because it's easy, but if I'm putting this package together and it comes in at $10,000 and one penny, I'm going to cut something. Like, period. I will never make you uncomfortable because the last thing I want is for you to be sitting in the airport, headed out to this beautiful experience. And your wife goes, Hey, do you want that second glass of wine? And you're like, No, because we spent way too much on this trip already. Like, that's not a great experience for me. So I'm aggressive about respecting your budget. So I'm wanting to know is 10,000, 10,000, or if I find something that's like this really special experience and it pushes us over a little bit. Like, what does that look like for you? So, what's kind of your maximum investment that we want to make in this particular trip? And I will come back with options targeting what we talked about. And then I'm gonna come back with if I were to indulge, this is where I would do it. So then you guys can make that educated decision yourself. What do you think? What's your scare point here? And they'll come back. And like Haley said, it is almost always a $5,000 difference. It's shocking. I had a lady one time, it still knocks my socks off because she went from 15 to 25. She ended up booking at 23.5. And I just like, I will always remember this lady because I'm like a $25,000 trip is dynamically different from start to finish than a $15,000 trip. And it was, it was just an interesting concept to me because I was like, so $10,000 just does that's those are the same numbers to you. Got it, got it. We live in different worlds, right? 10 grand is not a different number is a big number to me. Um, but I thought that was really interesting. And I think if you take the extra moment and explain to them, I respect your budget, I will not push it, I'm only doing something you're comfortable with, and I'm still gonna target your budget, but show you extras, you're gonna get a lot more out of it. And Haley, chime in here. Uh, what nine out of 10 times they go with their scare point, they do the indulgence once they see it.

SPEAKER_00 27:14

Yeah. Yeah. And if not, it's completely fine, right? You still gave them that option and there's that. But I think at the end of the day, the clients want to see that you're educating them and showing them other options and not just saying, hey, this is what 10 grand gets you, and that's it, right? So yeah, dive in a little deeper and figure out how you can make the best of what you're putting together for your client.

SPEAKER_01 27:39

I love everything about that. Has there ever been a time where a client truly made you uncomfortable talking about budget, really pushed you too far, anything like that that you want to kind of bring up, hey, I learned X from this experience?

SPEAKER_00 27:51

I think we could go back to that Italy um one I mentioned shortly ago, where it was the I have no budget. And, you know, I think what is important too when you think a client has money off your conversation, it doesn't mean that they necessarily have money or vice versa, right? Or don't look at somebody and be like, oh, they must not have money.

SPEAKER_01 28:13

Or it doesn't mean that they're willing to spend it. I know a lot of people that have a lot of money and they will not spend their money. That's why they have a lot of money. It's because they won't spend it.

SPEAKER_00 28:22

Exactly. And they have a budget and that's what it is. And regardless of what they say, I think it's just important to have the conversations with the clients. For me, this one client, I pushed him. I used the astronomical number. He got extremely offended and I lost the sale. And I sat there and instead of being like, oh, well, F him, I didn't want to work with him anyways, I looked at it like a learning opportunity, right? What did I do wrong? What could I have done differently? Maybe if I sat back and was very clear with him about this budget expectation and getting these numbers out of him, then it would have been much different, right? If I knew the budget wasn't gonna line, I should have blessed and released in a professional manner instead of letting it get to this because I truly offended him off of throwing out this crazy number, right?

SPEAKER_01 29:13

So I think I want to add in there, like whatever the budget is that they give you, you really do need to respect it. Like I think it's really inappropriate when agents are like, just throw it out, even if it's a couple grand more. Like they'll go for it. They may, but if you didn't ask permission for that, that's rude and it's not okay. And it's not a great way to build a relationship because they may go for it now, but they probably are gonna think twice about using you again in the future because they're gonna be like, well, I'm gonna tell her 10 and she's gonna spend 15, or even she's gonna spend 12. Like it's a it's a break of trust, and I think it's really important to respect people when they do give you a budget. If you ask permission, that's a whole different ballgame. Take the time and ask permission.

SPEAKER_00 29:54

I think on that note, Bird, it's it's important as well in your consultation to make sure you're setting other expenses and expectations in mind for them, right? Like insurance is probably gonna be 5% plus um based off of what your package price is. That's not included in the budget you're giving me. Or if it is, then you need to take that into consideration because nothing's worse than when you come back to a client and then they're like, wait, insurance is gonna cost me $2,000 because they're in their 60s and it's a lot. So definitely set those expectations and make it clear to them this is what we can kind of expect. Um, because you don't want to go in and be like, okay, so you have all these taxes on property, here's your insurance. Um, what else can we possibly add on? Because then they just look at it for a sales experience. I had a client once that she went to Napa Valley um before Hawaii. So they spent like four or five days in Napa Valley. And I was setting up wine experiences for them. And I sat there and the feedback that I got, she kept saying, like, here is a website. We were looking at private wine tours. It was my understanding of what she wanted. When she came back, she said to me, She goes, I felt like Haley was just upselling me on private wine tours the whole time. And I'm like, okay, but so what did I do wrong? Right. From that experience, I sat there and said, What, like, I guess I misread exactly what she was looking for. Number one. Number two, all those effing wine tours were non-commissionable. So I made absolutely no money off of your wine tours at all. They were all booked direct. So I sat there and said, okay, how could I pivot in my sales approach and what am I doing differently? And maybe I didn't give her enough um alternatives, right? Here's the share group versus the private. I just truly thought that's what she wanted. So yeah, ask for feedback from your clients too, right? They'll give it to you, I promise.

SPEAKER_01 31:51

I love that. I absolutely do. And I think those honest, candid conversations with clients make your relationships deeper and better at the end of the day. All right. Key takeaways here are make sure to always ask for a budget and do not be the first to give up a number. If they will not give you a number, push back at least twice. That second pushback is absolutely going to get something out of them and it can at least start the conversation. I think one of the, you know, when I listen to sales calls for our travel agents, one of the biggest mistakes I hear is they throw out a number. And, you know, if you throw out 15 grand because you thought that's what the client wanted to spend, but they had 10 in their head, well, now you've stressed them out because now they have to find five grand. But if you throw out 15 grand and they had 20 in their head, well, now you just lost on five grand commission. So it's not a game you win. Let them speak first. So biggest takeaway is ask for the budget and make sure that they speak first. Make sure to push back at least twice. Make sure to ask for a scare point so you know kind of the range that you can play in. Um, and then last but not least, respect it when they give it to you. If they've given you a hard stop, please make a hard stop. We don't want to lose respect in our industry. It's already very hard-earned as it is. Um, so respect the client. Haley, any other last thoughts here about budgets?

SPEAKER_00 33:09

No, just get comfortable talking about it. Don't be afraid to talk about money. It's part of the industry, it's part of our job. Do it.

SPEAKER_01 33:18

One of the things I want to mention as we wrap up here is um Haley does personal one-on-one coaching. She is incredible at what she does. I've got literally a laundry list of advisors who have worked with her, given her amazing feedback. This is something that we absolutely work on. So we will listen to your sales calls, either if you're on the phone or if you're on Zoom, whatever it is, we'll listen to your sales calls. We'll tell you exactly where you went wrong, what you need to ask, where you need to push harder, where you need to push softer, and help you understand what it is that's not working in your business and why you're not closing the sale. Um, we also help you just talk about different ways to get more business and strategize and hold you accountable. So if that's something that's interesting to you, please email Haley at savatravel.com. All right, guys, until next week, we will talk to you very soon.

SPEAKER_00 34:01

Bye bye bye. Well, that's a wrap for this week's episode of the Travel Agent Guide Podcast. If you got value from today's conversation, do me a favor, hit subscribe, leave a review, and share it with another travel advisor. Your support helps us reach more advisors and continue growing this amazing community. Don't forget to join our Facebook group, the Travel Agent Guide. And until next Wednesday, keep taking action, keep growing, and keep chasing those big goals. See you in the next episode.