Scott Koepf: Ask as many questions as possible.
A panel at LTX hosted by Scott Koepf, vice president of sales for Avoya Travel, focused 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.”
RELATED: Experts Offer Perspective On Gen-X, Gen-Y Travelers at LTX
“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.
RELATED: Sales Best Practices - Learning From Your Peers at LTX
“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 client. Don’t talk about the product unless you have a clue about who you are talking to.”