How to #Win in Life and Business: Thoughts from Avi
Hey there travel agents and hellooooooo world!! How are you today? I'm doing great and have had a really productive day so far!! I've pooped four times today and it's not even 10am!!!
I can't express how happy I am to be outside in the world. In fact, I was so excited to meet everyone, that I decided to surprise Mom with an early visit. Things were getting a little cramped in there.
Back in the day, when I was just a wee lad, I didn’t know much about the world. But now that I’m 3 months old, I’ve acquired a considerable amount of wisdom. I've learned a few things along the way I'd like to share with you. I mean, let's face it: I pretty much have everything figured out! Particularly when it comes to winning people over.
In fact, I've become so good at this that I decided to write a sequel to How to Win Friends and Influence People. It goes like this:
1. Be adorable
Emojis have nothing on me. My spring 2018 emoji collection—as pictured below—was a hit. Sometimes I coo and a smile, and sometimes I just stare in wide-eyed wonder and make cute shapes with my mouth! Whatever you do, when working with your clients, just be adorable. Eye contact is a huge crowd-pleaser. People seem to really respond to this and I think they'd book more trips if you drooled and made eye contact.
If you feel like you want a little help to show people how great and adorable you are, go check this out—it's examples of travel agent elevator pitches! It helps you tell people about how awesome you are. Just be the youist you you can be!
2. But if you’re not getting what you want, be direct
My parents aren’t as sharp as they could be. So they're not always aware of what I need. Sometimes to get through their thick skull, I have to cry and fuss a little. And sometimes I need to scream and holler! This is self-advocacy.
This is also what's called a nightmare client. But fixing this problem is simple! There are four simple things you'll need to do to rectify this situation and get the nightmare client to stop crying:
- Burp them
- Give them milk
- Lay them down for a nap
- D) iaper change
3. Get lots of snuggles
When snuggles happen, everyone is happy. There’s enough love to go around so don’t hold back! Speaking of everyone happy . . .
4. Get soooooo much sleep
You’ll want to sleep approximately 16-20 hours a day so you’re always fresh, but don’t sleep more than 2 hours in a row . . . you don’t want to miss out on anything!
This is where the flexibility of being being your own boss comes in. You get to make your own hours! Oh, and if you can sleep in someone's arms, that's preferable. But if you are an employee, DO NOT ask your boss if you can sleep in their arms. They don't like to coddle people.
Word of Warning: My parents don't listen to my advice. They only sleep about 4 to 6 hours per day. What's the result? They seem like they’re in a fog half the time and they’re constantly drinking cold press just to keep up. Don't be them. Insist on 16-20 hour of sleep every single day.
5. Always have a lucky unicorn blanket on hand
Since you'll be sleeping approximately 20 hours a day, you never know when the urge to snooze might hit you. So you'll want to carry a unicorn blanky everywhere you go.
Not only is it warm and snuggly, it's the national animal of Scotland! And how's that for a conversation starter about a trip to Scotland?! And, I mean, unicorns! What's not to love?
If unicorns aren't your thing, you could try something like a James Bond blanket. That's surely an easy opening to discuss that fact that James Bond wrote quite a few of his spy novels in his Jamaican house named . . . you guessed it, Goldeneye. Oh, and did I mention it's near James Bond Beach and is now a luxury hotel? Ocho Rios, here we come!
6. Make allies
I was skeptical at first about the dog. But Nova is the one in the house who truly understands me. She likes to sleep and eat as much as I do. Sure, sometimes she tries to steal my socks and blankets, but she loves to try and give me almost as many kisses as my parents do. But my parents never let her give me as many kisses as she wants. They also don't let her sit on my lap. Totally unreasonable.
Nova and I are true allies. Everyone needs an ally in business and personal stuff. So who's yours? Make sure you have all the the support you need! Do you want a few ideas how to do that? Well go check out here on how travel agents can build a strong peer community! I personally am also making great friends with Rigel and Tanner as well. You can't have too many dogs in your support system!
8. Sometimes you have to do things you don't like to do
Tummy time. It's a huge downer. I hate it. Sometimes, in order to avoid it I kick and scream. Sometimes, I just sleep through it. But you know what, I understand that it’s important for my development in the long run. Are there tasks that you hate to do too? Paying Taxes (psst, the HAR crew has a few tricks for that)? Updating your CRM? IAR reports? Responding to debit memos? These tasks are not an “ignore it and it will go away situation.” It’s more like, “ignore it and it will snowball until it turns into a terrible avalanche. In the long run, you'll be happy you took care of it promptly.
9. Travel travel travel
Travel agents know all about researching destinations, and I can't reiterate how important this is! So you'll be happy to know that I've already gone on my first vacation to where Mom grew up—Duluth, Minnesota! Minnesotans are suckers for this place, and I can see why. I got to see all the sights and, I even ordered room service—three ounces of milk perfectly temped at 98.6 degrees with a delivery time of every two hours (or more if needed).
Just like any good travel agent, I like to post a lot of pics on social media when I travel. I'll comment on things like great service, how soft a bed is, and the sights I went to! I like to use lots of hashtags. If we put my research and adorableness to good use, neither you or I will have any problem convincing people to travel!!
10. Be adorable!
mentioned this one already, but it bears repeating.
That's all there is to it
Frankly, I don’t know why it takes an entire book to teach people how to win friends and influence people! It’s so easy. I keep amassing fans everywhere I go. Especially my Mom and Baba. Don’t tell them this, but they are the suckers of all suckers (well, maybe except for grandma and grandpa).
It's been a really productive three months so far, and I'm just getting started. If you follow my pointers, I think you'll really thrive personally and professionally.
Ta ta for now!
Avi
