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| Scott Koepf, vice president of sales for Avoya Travel |
As part of our ongoing coverage of the 2013 Luxury Travel Exchange International (LTX), Travel Agent sat in on a panel hosted by Scott Koepf, vice president of sales for Avoya Travel, on how to upsell a client.
Koepf kicked off the session by telling the agents in attendance that some advantages they had years ago are no longer considered strengths. For example, a passion for travel and access to information are two things that clients have a lot of now. In fact, there's a chance they have even more information than you, he says.
"Product knowledge is not the answer to success anymore," he says.
Instead the answer is to ask as many questions as possible, he says, jokingly telling the agents in the room to "make an ask of yourself."
"You need to be prepared for everything about this booking before you even pick up the phone," he says.
And what you need to be prepared for, Koepf says, is upselling between products, within products, which usually focuses on the accommodation, and upselling add-on products such as food and beverage packages and shore excursions.
"Infuse your personality into your questions," he says. "Be funny, be yourself. Don't worry about people who might not like you. It happens. But it shouldn't scare you off. Each of you should have about 20-25 questions to get to know the customer. Don't talk about the product unless you have a clue on who you are talking to."
Keep visiting www.travelagentcentral.com for updates from the ongoing 2013 LTX, which runs through Thursday.