30

Veranda Adkins, Travel Legacy

[00:01:05] Steph: You're listening to Travel Agent Chatter, volume 30. Travel Agent Chatter is an audio series produced by the team here at Host Agency Reviews each and every quarter.

Today's guest got her start in the industry with the Inside Sales team at Travel Impressions. After a reorg, Veranda Adkins decided to start her own agency, Travel Legacy. She gave herself six months to see if she could make things work. And she's yet to look back!

Having been in the shoes of a supplier, Veranda tells us how advisors, even those of you just starting out, can strengthen supplier relationships and how that can help you grow your agency.

And celebrating 10 years of business this year, Veranda has grown her agency to an impressive 1. 5 million in annual sales. And during this past decade, she's evolved from selling mainly cruises to now doing destination weddings, as well as escorting eight to 10 groups a year around the world.

She's a firm believer in the saying, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. And as such, she focuses her destination wedding business with one supplier resulting in an elite status that helps to ensure her clients have an amazing stay. And makes it so that she has a client satisfaction rate of 99%.

And for those of you that feel like your work encroaches on your personal life way more often than you would like, I'm there with you. Our guest has managed to find the work life balance that eludes many entrepreneurs. She shares with us how avoiding FIT bookings is actually part of her strategy to ensure that she continues to love her job and has the downtime she needs to rejuvenate.

You'll hear how to avoid losing your business Facebook page after a hack. From firsthand experience, Veranda gives us two simple fail safes that you can do to avoid the heartache and hassle that she experienced.

So join us as we dig into groups with our globe trotting guest today!

Without further ado, let's get on to the show!

Intro

[00:03:10] Steph: Hello, hello! I am Steph Lee, the founder of Host Agency Reviews, and I am the lucky lady that gets to be your host for today's episode!

We've got a great guest booked and waiting in the wings, but before I bring her out, let me tell you a little bit more about Veranda. So before she even had her driver's license, today's guest was flying solo to Alaska and hanging out in Germany while her dad was in the military.

We'll be hearing about an amazing gift idea for your travel loving clients that will keep them calling you in the years ahead. And if you're exploring the idea of the come with me trips, Miranda is the advisor to inspire you to see the world with your clients. She has been to South Africa five times and has hit 43 countries up so far with India and Bali on the top of her future destinations.

Links or resources for today's show, anything we talk about you can find by going to hostagencyreviews. com slash TAC and clicking on episode 30. Now, please sit down, fasten your seatbelts and stow any luggage under your seats. We are expecting clear skies and smooth sailing today. Our itinerary includes beginnings, we'll talk about sales, groups, we'll move into wisdom, and then we'll end things up with our indispensable segment.

As always, you ready to take off? All right.

Beginnings

[00:04:37] Steph: Well, Veranda, welcome to Travel Agent Chatter!

[00:04:41] Veranda Adkins: Thank you so much for having me today, Steph. I really appreciate it.

[00:04:44] Steph: Well, let's start by kind of jumping back in time because I am always curious to hear about an advisor's upbringing and how that influenced their career. Because sometimes we have guests on that, who are like me, that didn't really travel when they were younger.

And then we have other guests, um, I think last Courtnie Nichols. She was flying solo by the time she turned 10 or something insane.

So, so what's your story?

Like, um, was traveling something you were exposed to when you were younger?

[00:05:14] Veranda Adkins: Yeah, believe it or not. Um, I always say my, my, my parents were always travelers.

My mom was kind of like a nomad and would jump us in the car and. Go places. And I think kind of like Courtnie you said Courtnie had it— I know Courtnie— Um, I took my first solo flight, I think at nine, I flew from, uh, LA to Alaska by myself at nine. So, um, and then also my dad was military and he got stationed in, uh, Germany when I was 11.

So my first, uh, out of the country was going over to Germany. I got my first passport at 11. And have just kept one ever since then and try to fill it up with as many stamps as I can.

Yeah, well, was your goal then, like, you got the travel bug early, so was your goal to always work and travel, or how did you end up in the travel industry?

No, I did not. I did not plan on working in travel. Ironically enough, my degree is in human resources management. And so, uh, one of my first jobs out of college was as the HR generalist for travel impressions. Um, just got that job on a, you know, just a hope and a prayer and, um, ended up working in the travel industry that way.

And it was kind of like dream job. I get to do what I thought I was going to love as far as HR went. And then it was a travel company. So like all the perks that came with it. With that part of it. So I was like, yeah, I hit the jackpot and then slowly the HR part faded away and the travel stuck.

[00:06:48] Steph: So, So at Travel Impressions, you did HR, but then you moved into like, um, sales there.

[00:06:55] Veranda Adkins: I did. So there was a brief, uh, there was a brief portion where I actually left Travel Impressions. A lot of people don't know that there used to be an Atlanta call center. And that's where I was living at the time. And so that call center closed right after nine 11 and took a couple of years break from TI happened to call someone.

Cause I was planning the trip and, um, having to call someone and they were like, Hey, you know, are this person just got up, um, promoted to VP and they're looking for somebody to be this manager of the inside sales team and handle all this stuff. And I, Called her. Her name is Barbie Groves. I know a lot of people know her in the industry and she kind of called me and she's like, it's like, you know, I won't be offended if you throw my resume in the trash cause I know nothing about sales.

And she's like, well, I think I can teach you the sales stuff, but it's kind of good that you already know the company. Cause you worked here, you know, a couple of people, she's like, come in and let's talk. And we kind of went in and we just kind of figured it out and.

You know, she was doing her new VP stuff. Cause she, you know, was new to that role and figuring out all the stuff she had to do. And I was like new, cause this was the first time this role had been in the Atlanta office.

So we were trying to figure it out. So we just, she gave me a shot. And that was just like great because obviously that just changed the whole trajectory of how I stayed in the travel industry.

[00:08:20] Steph: So how long were you in that position then?

[00:08:22] Veranda Adkins: I was there for nine and a half years.

[00:08:24] Steph: Oh, wow. And then you started, you decided to go off on your own?

[00:08:30] Veranda Adkins: Yeah. So, uh, in 2014, um, I decided to, Travel Impressions was going through, that's when the whole merger thing came with ALG and all of that stuff that was happening at that time.

And so they did some reorgs and things like that. And I was trying to figure out what I was going to do. And I told my husband, I said, you know, I've been helping travel agents as my position at travel impressions was manager of the inside sales team. So whenever we had agents that had issues with hotels or you know, hey, I'm trying to figure this out Let's you know, my clients transfers didn't show up like all of that investigative type stuff was what my team handled. And so I kind of got a feel of things to do and not do and so I told my husband in 2014 I said give me six months if I don't see anything materializing from this travel agent thing I'll go, you know, look for a job.

I don't know what I'm gonna do at this point, but I'll go look for a job, you know, a real job and he's like, okay, go, you know, just go for it.

And that was March, 2014. I haven't looked back since.

[00:09:36] Steph: Wow. Yeah. Cause you, you picked up pretty quickly, right? Once you opened Travel Legacy's doors,

[00:09:41] Veranda Adkins: It did, you know what?

It was, it was kind of crazy because I was invited to, um, a Love Mexico show down in Cancun and it was my first as a travel agent on that side of the business. I had been, of course, to events, travel impressions and behind the counter and, um, I went there and while I was there, I got certified with Hard Rock weddings, their Wow wedding certification to do destination weddings.

And at the time, they used to give you a certificate for like a free wedding to kind of help you market and do stuff. So I got home and was like, hey who wants to have a destination wedding? I got a great deal for you.

And it was crazy because I never thought I wanted to do destination weddings at all and From that I just started getting calls for destination weddings and thankfully they just they haven't stopped so

[00:10:35] Steph: That's amazing.

Um, we're gonna we're gonna link to uh, Love Mexico's website. They do an annual event that specializes in destination weddings that's, that's really great.

Sales

[00:10:45] Steph: let's jump into our next section. I want to talk about sales and this is, if I'm remembering correctly, the 10th anniversary of your agency.

[00:10:54] Veranda Adkins: Yeah.

[00:10:56] Steph: So big congrats.

Um, but when we spoke earlier, Over time, what you sell and how your, And how you specifically travel yourself has kind of evolved. So you started with a focus on cruises and now you're specializing in planned groups, like come with me groups and destination weddings. So was this like a deliberate switch in your mind?

Like I'm going to change niches or how did this happen?

[00:11:25] Veranda Adkins: It was. So it became kind of like an evolution of just, um, you know, everybody sees you traveling on social media and stuff like that. And everybody's like, oh, take me with you. Take me with you. And so I started doing these escorted groups and it was kind of like a vacation with Veranda type thing.

So come, come vacation with me. You've been saying you want it to go here, the opportunities, here's what I'm doing. And then it also was like a personal thing for me. Yeah. Because I came from the tour operator side and it was travel impressions. Of course, they're heavy Mexico, Caribbean, since then, of course, their portfolio has expanded.

But when I was there, we were heavy Mexico and Caribbean. So that was a lot of places that I had gone. So I just wanted to say like, hey, I want to see more of the world and I'm sure there's other people.

And even my clients, as they were like, Okay, I've been to Mexico. I've done, you know, the Cabo Puerto Vallarta, you know, cancun a couple times. Where else can I go?

So it was great to be able to say, hey, I put together these trips. They're a little bit more intimate. We're going out. We're going to see the different cultures and just go to some places off the beaten path a little bit.

[00:12:36] Steph: Yeah, and not abnormal at all for people to evolve as they go on.

And I feel like with clients, like you said, over time, most people don't want to go on the exact same. And you also switched because you started with, with cruises, um, and then you kind of had a stronger focus on Mexico and the Caribbean. And was that planned?

[00:12:58] Veranda Adkins: Um, yeah, you know what? So because I started with cruises, it was funny.

I talked about how my dad lived in Europe. So I had done a lot of Europe, but my first time actually going to Mexico or Caribbean was on my honeymoon. And so I took a seven day cruise on my honeymoon.

Um, and so I kind of knew that I knew cruises, right? And so I was, that's what I was selling the most of.

And then I just realized people started to, Want to do something else like I, you know, something more with like drinks included or just a little bit more. I don't like the pack, you know, um, having to get off and get on every day. I just want to go somewhere and stay.

And so I realized the prices were really similar between, you know, some cruises and some all inclusive stays.

And so when clients were calling me, I was like, Hey, I know you called me about a cruise, but let's think about. XYZ, you know, you could go down for three or four days and still spend the same amount of money.

And so that was kind of how it just transitioned to from cruises to Caribbean and Mexico. It was just a natural type evolution.

Um there so I don't know if it was necessarily a plan. It was just kind of organic.

[00:14:07] Steph: Yeah, and one of the tips that we've spoken about previously is clients continue to book through you and one of the things you've done is you've successfully kind of helped them elevate their experience from cruises to all inclusives and then to kind of these planned groups.

Um, then that one of the things you do is you give them an upgraded option. And then you, because when you look at two numbers and you see, oh, 4, 000 and 5, 000, people will be like 4, 000... or most people .But you break it down in a way that really resonates with the travelers so that they often choose the enhanced trip.

So instead of like, if you were giving a quote of 5, 000 and 4, 000. Um, and you say 5, 000 is the upgraded five star experience. How would you pitch that? How do you pitch that a thousand dollar jump to your clients in a way that they embrace it?

[00:15:03] Veranda Adkins: Yeah, so one of the one of the big things that um, I think people people have an expectation of what they want They may not know the price or what things cost but in their mind They're looking at everybody on social media and that's kind of the expectation that they want when they travel.

And I know as travel advisors we're fortunate enough to be able to travel several times a year, but most of my clients Take one, maybe two, you know, big vacations a year.

And so I'm always like, I want to maximize your dollars. I want to make sure that you leave here with this phenomenal experience. If you're only going to take this one vacation. So I just kind of asked them general questions like, Hey, are you, you know, like a bad, I'm a bathroom person when I travel, like a shower is a huge thing to me.

Like if you give me a great shower, I will stay in there all day. But so like, that's important. Like what does the bathrooms look like? What, you know, what is the food dining experience about? Like people are foodies.

I'm, I'm not a foodie. I'm a chicken finger and French fry type girl. It's fine. But, um, but people are foodies when they travel so hey, do you want to be able to have a la carte reservation type restaurants?

Are you okay with going to a buffet and most people are like, well, I don't eat buffets Okay, well that takes out that part of that,.

You know, and then also i'm not a huge huge drinker I don't know a lot about alcohol and things like that But people who are drinkers want to know like hey if I drink this brand at home, that's the brand I want to have so it's like okay.

Well, that hotel doesn't have the premium top shelf brands that you're talking about, but this one does. And so you, most of my clients are planning their vacations, you know, about 10 to 12 months in advance. And so when you show them like, you know, the cost difference may just be a hundred or two hundred dollars a person to have that elevated experience that they want. They're like, Oh, well, that's only gonna cost me an extra, you know, 25, 30 bucks a month. And I'm going to have this great experience. Then they're more willing to pay it when you show them that instead of just showing them a picture and a price, because of course pictures can be deceiving.

You don't know what the experience is going to be like, and when you can break it down and actually tell them the difference, that is what makes them say, okay, I'm going to pay that money to get what I want.

[00:17:23] Steph: Yeah. So it sounds like, first of all, uh, asking the client and seeing what's important to them, because I would never, alcohol isn't important to me, but, um, I would, even if it was important to me, I would never think to, to ask about it to my travel advisor and so asking those questions and qualifying them and then also breaking it down.

Like, you know It's only gonna be an extra 25 bucks a month that you have to pay over the next eight months for a five star experience.

Well, I know that you won the best in sales and service for eight years in a row when you were at Travel Impressions Which now that I know you've been there nine years is really impressive.

[00:18:05] Veranda Adkins: Well, it was our sales team collectively. It wasn't just me. It was, it was our entire sales team.

[00:18:11] Steph: So really impressive. That's because you guys were, uh, like a new team, right? Like it hadn't been in Georgia before.

[00:18:18] Veranda Adkins: Um, so no, it was our national, it was, uh, it was the, by our national sales team won that award.

So all of our BDMs all over. So we were kind of a mixture. Our inside sales team was was kind of new because I hired most of those people that were on our team I think there were like two when I started and we expanded to like five other members Um, or five total team members

But yeah So we were just really like that and I think that foundation of just the things that we got like customer service wise at travel impressions and just Going above and beyond for our travel advisor partners was really instrumental in what I wanted to give.

I kind of wanted to transfer that to the consumer side. So that's where all of those questions and things come from with qualifying the client and making sure like, Hey, if you were home, And you were deciding to go, you know, just on a weekend getaway, what type of hotel are you looking for? Are you staying at a four seasons for the weekend? Are you okay with the Hilton Garden Inn?

You know, just those types of questions and just provide wanting to provide that level of service to my clients came from just having that foundation of being best in sales and service at TI. It was, it was really something that we were really proud of at that time.

[00:19:30] Steph: Yeah. And I, I hadn't thought about this, but that's a great— cause people are always looking for other ways they can get into the travel industry and, you know, working for a supplier is one of them.

And it actually, in many ways preps you because especially what you are doing, because you essentially, I'm sure whenever an advisor made a mistake ,you were the one they call.

So you knew all the mistakes people made, didn't have to learn them yourself. And you found out like all the things that could unexpectedly go wrong and how to fix them.

[00:19:59] Veranda Adkins: Yep.

Yep. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. And it's really good to see it from that side. I tell people all the time that had I not had that experience from TI I would have been lost as a travel advisor because I started out completely independent. I've never had like a host agency or anything like that, under, and it was because I had that foundation already.

So I kind of knew how to navigate things and talk to suppliers and, you know, just, just all of that stuff that comes on the back end side that people don't really think about.

A lot of people get in the industry and think, Oh, I'm going to put up, you know, You know this website and tell people I sell travel and all these bookings are going to come in and while we wish it was that easy

[00:20:43] Steph: Yeah, it's definitely not the case It's all the little stuff behind the scenes that helps make make everything so successful.

And one of those things is uh, the relationships with the supplier so it's it's interesting because you have that supplier perspective.

So what did you see advisors doing that were kind of beloved by the travel impressions teams? What did they do that strengthened and built that relationship with you?

[00:21:11] Veranda Adkins: I think just staying like, uh, front of mind with your agents and then just the way you, sorry, with your supplier partners, just staying like front of mind with them and making sure that they know who you are.

And it's even, it's not just a, you know, Call when I need help. It's like, Hey, I just wanted to let you know, you guys did a great job with my clients. They went, you know, down to Jamaica and everything was perfect. I really appreciate it.

Um, letting, letting your supplier partners know, like what your business goals are is really important too, because then that way they can help you reach those goals.

I know, you know, just, I've, I've had some, I've had, Conversations with new supplier partners. Like, Hey, I've never sold you before, but I have sold a similar product. I'm trying to figure out how I can apply or get my clients to now like yours.

And I found that those supplier partners are like, Oh, that's great. You want to start selling me? Well, let me tell you about this training that I have, or even, Hey, if you're going to be in the area of our property, I would love to like have you stop by for the day and do a site inspection. Let me know if I can, you know, do anything to set that up.

And those supplier partners I've found the ones that I work the best with are really there and really responsive because I feel like we have those relationships and just getting to kind of know them out at industry events so they can put a face to, to the name when they see you.

I think it's like super, super important to just get to know them on that personal level because they, I mean, we, we work in a very fun industry. So for the most part, barring any, you know, like super bad problems with the supplier, It's really a great industry to work in.

Cause everybody's pretty friendly and wants to help you, especially your BDM. Who's, you know, that's their job is to, is to help you. So building those supplier relationships to me is like super important.

[00:23:03] Steph: I agreed. And it's, it's easy to overlook. Um, and it's, it's something that takes, I think, conscious effort because the BDMs Even if they're really great, they have a lot of advisors that are in their territory.

And so it's, it's really up to you to build that relationship and stand out. Um, you know, you can either, it's harder if you don't have a lot of sales and that's why you have to make more of a conscious effort.

[00:23:29] Veranda Adkins: Um, yeah, well,

people are always like, Oh, I don't want to bother my BDM. And I was like, They have a job because of you so bother them. Like it's not, it's usually not a bother, but yeah.

Okay, you were going to ask me something else. I'm sorry.

[00:23:45] Steph: That's okay. That's a great tip.

Well, I was going to, I was going to do a little mini bragging for you. You mentioned that your complaint rate is less than 1%. And that's really, really impressive considering you've been doing this for 10 years and you're, you're doing groups and destination weddings.

So you're doing large volumes. Um, what do you find is your secret sauce to closing sales and having happy clients that don't complain?

[00:24:13] Veranda Adkins: My biggest thing is I try not to sell anything that I have not seen or experienced myself.

[00:24:20] Steph: Mm.

[00:24:20] Veranda Adkins: and for me, it's just really helped. Like I remember when I first started my agency, I took, um, I took a week and I just, I literally probably saw about 30 properties during that week in Cancun to say like, Hey, I want to sell this. Nope. I don't want to sell that.

And I didn't know what I wanted to sell. Right. Cause I hadn't seen a lot of properties at that time, but it, to me, It helps me to be able to tell that client, Hey, you know, so at the Italian restaurant, they were a little slow, but the food was amazing. Make sure you get this one with, you know, the lasagna or whatever it is that you're getting.

Like, all of that stuff kind of helps the client and that, and it, and it, Especially when I'm traveling with somebody and I'm going back to a place that I've been before, it just gives me such credibility because my clients are like, Oh my God, like I got off the plane and we had like meet and greet service in Dubai with one of my suppliers and he hugged me.

Like he'd only met me one time, but he hugged me and it was like, Oh my God, it's so good to see you. And my clients were like, Whoa, like she comes that often that he knows her.

So I think just having that insider information and just having experience what I sell. Makes a difference, um, with clients because then that way you can, again, with asking those qualifying questions of your client, you know where to put them because you've already experienced it yourself.

You can tell them this is what's going to happen. And I think it just helps avoid complaints at the, at the end of the day.

[00:25:52] Steph: And you do have those really strong relationships because you're so cognizant of, um, You know, some people book with multi multi different vendors and you try to be really specific on who you're booking with because you're building those relationships.

You really know those properties.

[00:26:12] Veranda Adkins: Yeah. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm a, if it's not broke, don't fix it type of girl.

And so a lot of the properties that— it's funny, I told you way back when, when I started 10 years ago, I took the wow certification. Um, I promise you about 90 percent of the weddings I do to this day are still with, with Hard Rock.

So I'm one, I'm always like at Hard Rock showstoppers and all that kind of stuff, because that's the brand. That I know it works and it's been consistent with my clients that they've loved it. Um, so that's like really one of the good like go tos that I have in mexico.

Um So yeah So I think just just keeping all of those relationships and just making sure that i'm using properties that I know has been like really Really important.

[00:26:58] Steph: Yeah, and then you can you have the connections if something goes awry.

[00:27:02] Veranda Adkins: Yeah. Yeah

Groups

[00:27:04] Steph: Well, we normally do quite a few segments in our show, but because you've got such a great group business, um, I think we're going to spend most of our time talking about groups.

Um, so next segment: groups.

 I was talking with you about how you structure your planned groups and it was really eyeopening for me because I don't think I realized how specializing in these come with me groups and being really thoughtful about the calendar, how it can help with that work life balance.

, like you use it as a great way to make sure you have downtime, your daughter's wedding.

[00:27:43] Veranda Adkins: Yeah.

[00:27:43] Steph: Is it next July?

[00:27:44] Veranda Adkins: Yeah, July. Yep.

[00:27:46] Steph: Yeah. And you've been like waiting to plan your 2025 groups until you got that time down. You take what, what month do you take a month off?

[00:27:55] Veranda Adkins: I try to take like July and August to just Have some downtime a little bit and then start up and it's just, it's just a carry over from when I only have one daughter.

It's a carry over from when she was in school. She was usually out of school for the summer and I wanted to be able to hang out with her and do stuff. So, uh, you know, was usually not doing much during that those months anyway. And so I've kind of structured my schedule to be The same way and it is great because you can, you know, plan to be in places in the right seasons.

And you know, when you want to go and just kind of even planning as far as like when payments are due, like, I'll know if, you know, if I'm going to be out of the office that day, like, Oh wait, don't schedule, even even my hair appointments, like don't schedule a hair appointment this Friday because payments are going to be due.

You're going to have clients call in, you're going to do, you know, have things to do. So, um, You can be really flexible in your schedule that way. So it's just been great to be able to just plan out those escorted trips. I put them out about a year to maybe a year and a half, some destinations that may be a little bit more pricey.

I put those out and just let people know, Hey, this is where I'm going next year. Hop on one and let's get our passport stamped.

[00:29:13] Steph: Yeah. Well, it's funny because our last episode with Courtnie um, she does destination weddings and she only does, You know, one destination, she's also very, I don't know why I didn't think of this with her, but she only does one destination wedding a month, like that's traveling that month.

Um, and she takes all of December off. Uh, so like these groups are a great way to do that. I think it's important for advisors to like think outside the box. You can put limitations on it so that you have the lifestyle you want.

[00:29:43] Veranda Adkins: Yeah, I like I like it's funny you keep mentioning Courtnie and I told you I know Courtnie. I laugh at Courtnie though because she She was a speaker at a conference and she's very detailed about her schedule like she's probably more so than me. So she's serious about her schedule and she made a joke, she's like I don't care if you're president Obama, if you don't have an appointment on my calendar, we are not talking that day.

[00:30:07] Steph: I'm glad I got an appointment with her.

[00:30:09] Veranda Adkins: If you make an appointment, you're fine. She's going to show up. She's going to be there. Everything's going to be great. But she's really, even like her email, her reply email is like very detailed about everything.

So I especially, I aspire to be Like Courtnie

[00:30:24] Steph: In her episode, it made very clear that she's like into the details and SOPs and yeah, I got that.

[00:30:34] Veranda Adkins: Absolutely. So yeah, but it's, it's those, and it's funny because it just goes back to your question. When you do those types of trips and you plan out your schedule like that, it does give you that freedom.

And I think that's one of the things, you know, wanting to be your own boss and own your own company, um, I personally did it to have control of my time and that's why I don't feel I'm as effective as an FIT travel agent because you are going on vacation and it's the same time that I wanna be on vacation and it's not gonna work like I, 'cause I gotta worry about your stuff now and all this other thing versus with my group travel.

Like I said, I know, like, I know what your payment dates are going to be. I know when I need to get documents done. I have the whole schedule out of when I need to get names to the supplier so I can like plan out my life for advance. And that is important to me. Now, of course, other things come up and people contact me for other one off birthday groups and stuff like that, but that's not anything that I have to be at or be so, you know, meticulous about.

And so that kind of helps me just like plan my life better.

[00:31:43] Steph: Well, you know, there's a lot of arguments people would say back to you, I think in the industry or like with other owners and they would say, oh, but you can just hire an assistant to take care of all that and do the bookings. And what's your thought on that?

[00:31:57] Veranda Adkins: So I definitely need. An assistant or maybe assistants with an s.

I definitely agree with that But I also believe that one of the great things about Um working with me at Travel Legacy is actually working with me. I I firmly believe that I could tell you everything that I do you could go start your travel agency And steph's travel agent is going to be way different Like even having, you know, going back to Courtnie the conversation that she, you know, the way she does things in the way I do things, we kind of do similar with the groups and the weddings and all of that, but it's just a different sauce.

And so I think even having assistance to handle stuff. I still think people want me and I know there's ways, you know, definitely processes and procedures where people actually can get you and not your assistant to handle things.

So it's a balance. And I'm just, I'm trying to figure out how to, how to do that. Cause I definitely need, like, like I said, probably assistants with an S.

[00:32:59] Steph: You know, I think the takeaway from this is that, It's your business. Like I always tell people, like everyone's going to run their business differently. You're going to get all sorts of different opinions on how to run it. But like you said you started your business so that you can have control of your life and do what works for you

[00:33:21] Veranda Adkins: It's funny because my family will probably say a lot of it, but I'm a little bit of a control freak and so I Have to like know what's going on.

And I just feel like I probably need therapy to let go of some stuff

 I like doing it, you know, it's, it's one of those things too, where I actually like doing what I do. It's not, you know, the great thing is we can take days where it's like, you know, what? I'm gonna say I'm a crime TV buff.

So it's like some days I'm gonna sit here and watch all the crime TV that I can, um, cause I don't feel like doing anything today,. But then, you know, there's other days where I know I gotta get, you know, gotta get stuff done. And so I just like being in the, in the mix with, with everything and knowing that it's done.

So, yeah.

[00:34:06] Steph: The, the key word I hear there is that you like what you do.

And I think that's It's easy as an entrepreneur to get caught up in the hype of grow bigger, better, like do this optimize. Um, and I think people can lose sight. Um, it's one thing if you're very motivated by money and you want like more and more money coming in, but you know, at some point, like, I've had friends do this.

I had a friend, actually, they started a company together and they grew, um, they grew it to like 50 people. And one of them, like one of the partners was just like, this is not what I wanted in my life. Like I wanted a small boutique firm. And, and so he ended up leaving, um, because it just wasn't fulfilling.

And that's the most important thing I think for entrepreneurs to remember is your job should make you happy and you're the one in charge of it. So if it's not, you have the power to change it.

[00:35:04] Veranda Adkins: Yeah. I learned a lesson, uh, very early on in my career that I would not take a job because of money. I needed to make sure it made me happy.

I left a job that I liked for more money. And I got to that job and I actually hated it. I hate it. So it was good that I got that lesson very early on.

I mean, obviously we all need money to survive and to pay our bills. And you know, it's funny because you talked about, Oh, you know, if I hired assistants, if I decided to scale my business, obviously I could, I think we talked about before where I said, I've never really done much marketing like any marketing really most of it is just like word of mouth.

And people say oh You should market because imagine how much more business you could have and it's like, you know what i'm i'm Okay, like— not that I don't have aspirations and dreams to you know, Every everybody should aspire to improve or do better than they've done in the past— but Again, I'm not motivated by the money per se.

So it's not like, Oh, I got to be on this grind to get more money, more money. So, and I kind of like that. I think that's what makes, um, what I do so enjoyable too.

[00:36:16] Steph: Yeah, exactly. Cause they, you know, they, after a certain amount, after your needs are met, there's not like money's not going to bring you much more happiness.

I think like the studies say like, you know, above 80, 000 or something, people like their happiness level pretty much. Yeah. Tops out there. So...

[00:36:34] Veranda Adkins: yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:36:34] Steph: We'll be back in a moment after a quick word from our

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[00:37:29] Steph: Well, let's, okay. So we, you chatted on a little bit of marketing. So what's the largest group that you have booked so far?

[00:37:38] Veranda Adkins: So I do have a, I have a wedding coming up in October.

It's almost like 180 guests. So that's probably like the largest, like one time group. But I have a group that I've been booking for years that's consistently about 90 to 120 people and they travel every year that I escort. So that's probably the largest, like consistent group that I've had.

[00:38:04] Steph: And how did this one plop on your lap, uh, without marketing?

[00:38:08] Veranda Adkins: Actually, funny story. The person that, uh, leads this group or is my Pied Piper for this group, uh, was a club promoter in Chicago. And back when we started doing this group, he had like over 5, 000 followers that was like unheard at the time, cause this was probably 10 or 11 years ago, even before I had my own agency.

And I was like, you have all these, you know, People on Facebook for us to market to, I don't have anybody to market to. Um, cause I was just starting out and I was like, what if we put this trip together? And so he and I have been doing this trip now for years and we just take people to different countries.

When we first started, we had a lot of first time travelers. Actually, it was his first time out of the country. When we did the trip, it was his first time out of the country. And, um, now he's like world traveler, but, but yeah, so that was, that was actually how that group, I just called him and, you know, I was like, Hey, if I put this trip together, will you put it out on social media? Let's see who we can get to go. And, and it stuck.

So we've just, you know, again, like I said, if it's not broke, don't fix it. So we've just been doing it consistently year after year. Yeah.

[00:39:17] Steph: And with him, you kind of worked out that with the markup that happens with this group, because there's things on the, these group trips that are added that you can't get anywhere else, like going to a club where he's going to DJ and, and other things.

So you, you've worked it out where you get, you split a markup or something along those lines.

[00:39:38] Veranda Adkins: We kind of put in you know, we add in excursions and of course transfers But we'll have like an excursion that the whole group does he brings different DJs will have events at the At the venue or at the hotel.

Um, like you said, he even goes, he'll go down a couple of weeks before the trip and talk to like club owners in the local market or just different places for us to go.

He found last year we went down to, Tulum. And he found this little like cenote spot, like hidden off the beaten path. And we had, he had the DJ in there and it was like, we had our own little private cenote with a restaurant.

Like it was crazy. So, cause he doesn't meet any strangers. So he talks to everybody and found the spot.

So just those experiences. So we're able to put the markup in there. So that, um, we're able to put that mark up in there and people can't really price match it because you can't price match an experience.

And that's what I try to tell, tell other agents, like build an experience for your clients so that when they're looking at apples to apples, There's no apple to compare it to, right? Like this is a bright, shiny red apple that I'm giving you. And you're looking at a little dull, yellow,

[00:40:49] Steph: — A crab apple!

[00:40:52] Veranda Adkins: So yeah. And that, and that building, that experience has also helped that group because they're literally like, while we're on one trip, well, where are we going next year? Because they, they want to see. So that group has been, we've been to, Everywhere you can think. We just left Columbia this year. That was, that was the first time we had been to Columbia.

So, yeah.

[00:41:11] Steph: Um, well with these, like, um, the escorted groups that you do, like the come with me groups, um, you, you do about seven or eight a year right now. You're hoping to get up to 10. Um, and some of those destinations are repeat and some are new. So how do you, how do you pick the destinations, um, for every year?

[00:41:31] Veranda Adkins: It's really based on where I want to go. I love it. I love it. I just want, it's destinations that I want to go to. And so I may go like scout out something before. I do have an experience, uh, experimental group that I take some places with me. So they know that like, uh, Okay. Veranda doesn't know anything about this. She's never been, let's figure it out.

So I'll take them to say, okay, what pieces of this? And literally we have these conversations, like we'll take some tours and they'll tell me like, yeah, don't bring anybody else back to this tour, but make sure they do that to her, make sure, you know, and so they're, they've been really great with that.

And that's kind of how I just, Figure out if I want to go, you know, go some places and what I want to do in those destinations. And just things I like taking people to places um that they don't think were possible to go to. Like one of my things on my list, like I went to, I've been to South Africa now five times.

As a kid, I never thought I would have gone to South Africa once, let alone five times. So I like giving people those what I say, no destination is a once in a lifetime destination because you may get there and you realize like, Oh my gosh, I didn't get to do everything I wanted to. When I was here, I have to come back.

And so I like giving people those experiences of what they thought were once in a lifetime destinations. And that, that kind of drives where, where I do my escorted trips as well.

Yeah.

[00:43:00] Steph: And how many, you told me this the other day, but how many countries have you been to now?

[00:43:05] Veranda Adkins: I think it's a, it's over 40. I know. So maybe about 45, 46 different countries.

[00:43:11] Steph: Oh my gosh. Okay. So, uh, those of you that are listening to the audio version will describe this to you, but Veranda, can you show like your back wall?

[00:43:21] Veranda Adkins: Yeah. So I'll move, I'll move this a little bit.

Okay. Okay. Um, this wall on the back there, you can see in the middle, there's a map and it is a scratch off map that my daughter actually gave me for Mother's Day so that I can scratch off all the places that I've been and the pictures around it are pictures of me.

And some of the people that were with me in just all the different destinations that I've been to. So that is like my, my wall of fame, uh, behind me of just like all the countries I've been to and pictures and just the people that mean a lot to me that were there with me. So, yeah.

What a great talking point.

But also when, when she was telling me about it, maybe other people know about these and I don't, but I was like, that is such a cool gift to give your clients, like repeat clients that travel with you. Um, like the scratch off map. I told Veranda, I'm going to get it for my parents. Cause they'll really like it.

Yeah,

I love it. Cause I actually took it down. I, um, I added. I hadn't updated it in a couple of months. And so I added a couple countries. I just got back from Ghana So I took it down and I scratched off, uh ghana So it's kind of cool to see and I it's gold is what you scratch off and I actually say all the time I don't have very many colors like there's so many more places that that I can go.

So i'm Excited to scratch off the colors so I can see

[00:44:51] Steph: You need to visit russia

[00:44:53] Veranda Adkins: Yeah, that is one of the biggest things

[00:44:56] Steph: on the, on the map. It is, you're going to, people will be like, so why did you choose this destination? Well, it's the biggest land mass or my scratch. Yeah, absolutely. Well, let's see. Um, Do you have any tips for other advisors on because you're going to all these new destinations and new countries on how to pick suppliers for those destinations?

[00:45:21] Veranda Adkins: Yeah, so a lot of times I'm able to find like a lot of the destinations have shows like me going to South Africa for the first time was with Indaba. Which is something that, um, South Africa tourism and some other organizations to actually sponsor people to go to. So that was a great opportunity for me to meet suppliers and to actually experience what they have to offer in that destination.

Um, I, I often set up, um, Zoom calls with other vendors and, you know, other suppliers while I'm there as well, so that I can kind of sit down and get to know them and what they offer. Because again, it's about creating an experience. So I want to see like what type of vehicles my clients are going to be riding in.

Like, you know, what are your suggested hotels? Based on what is available in the area. Like, how does that compare to what I want to do? And so, um, I definitely think just meeting those suppliers and making sure that what they offer lines up with what you want to offer for your brand. Um, so that's a

[00:46:25] Steph: big, that's a big thing.

And, and for those that haven't checked out our events calendar on this site, that's a great way to find out about things like Endaba. We'll link to Endaba in the show notes, but it's great. Cause you get hosted, you get to go to South Africa. Um, There's the conference where you get to network with suppliers, but there's also fam trips that you can go on and they make you

[00:46:47] Veranda Adkins: work.

They, I will say that just for anybody who's thinking

[00:46:49] Steph: about

[00:46:50] Veranda Adkins: doing, you have to finish their specialist class before, and there's, there's several different chapters to that. And then there's a certain amount of suppliers that you have to see while you're there. And just so it's, it's not just, Oh, I want to go to South Africa.

They definitely make you work for that hosted troop. So yeah.

[00:47:07] Steph: Yeah, well, that's, um, will link to the events calendar as well for people that are interested. But when you put your groups together, Veranda, is there anything special you do to surprise your groups, either like during the trip, or when they come home to kind of, you know, spice things up a bit?

[00:47:24] Veranda Adkins: Yeah, so during the trip, I do, you know, I have my itinerary where we may Put out, you know, lunch isn't included today or something or lunch on your own, but if we're all together, I'll say like, you know, you know what guys don't worry about it. Lunch is on me. Like, or even if we're sitting in the lobby and everybody's like having a drink, Oh guys, don't worry about it.

I got it. You know, just all those little things that kind of makes your clients feel like they're your guest. On the trip, you know, and that kind of helps them say, oh, Veranda was, oh, this was great to go on vacation with her. And that's what makes people want to tell their friends to like go like she's with you even if You know, there's downtime on an itinerary.

I'm not um Like, Oh, I'm going to my room. I don't want to talk to anybody. I'm sitting in the lobby and if somebody is there and they need help or they want to, you know, if I'm going to the mall and that's, even though that's our downtime or our free time, if I'm going to the mall, come with me. Like I want people to feel like they're really vacationing with Veranda and it's not just a, Oh, I can only stick to this itinerary.

This is what we have to do. I want it to be a personalized experience for them.

[00:48:32] Steph: Yeah, and building that camaraderie. I know you do some things before the trip as well to break down those walls between the travelers that may not know each other. What can you tell us a little more about that?

[00:48:46] Veranda Adkins: So even with that, like, um, if we're, if we're going on a trip, so I try to cap those vacation with Veranda, the little escorted troops, I try to cap them at like 20, 25.

Travelers maximum, but sometimes I have people that are coming by themselves that they don't know anybody else A lot of times people are bringing at least one friend or you know, something like that But sometimes I have people who are coming by themselves so I just have like a call on zoom and those who can make the call and it's kind of just like our wrap up everything that you need to know about, you know, converters currency, you know, what to expect, food, allergies, like all that kind of stuff that you may be worried about on trips.

Because sometimes, like I said, these destinations are what people have considered once in a lifetime. And they may think that, Oh, it's totally different, you know what what they have in their mind versus what it actually is Of course sometimes can be totally different So just having that call wrapping up and then everybody's on zoom so they can see faces They can see you know hear the questions that people ask and sometimes it's like oh my goodness.

Yes I had the same question or Oh, I, you know, sometimes I find people that are only chicken finger and French fry girls like me. So it's like, Ooh, I'm so glad you said that. So now I have somebody to eat with. And they, you know, they find that even within the group. So it's like, okay, I don't know you, Michelle, but now I got somebody that I can eat with when we, when we get there.

So, you know, just that type of thing kind of helps build that camaraderie so that nobody feels like they're on vacation by themselves or they don't feel like Oh goodness, I'm here with this group and I don't know how everybody's going to be. I literally feel like at the end of most of my group trips, we've become like a little, a little family.

[00:50:30] Steph: Well, that's, that's the talent of a good group leader that can create that. Uh, camaraderie and rapport between, uh, the different travelers. It can be challenging.

[00:50:42] Veranda Adkins: Yeah. And that's, that's one of the reasons I like to keep the group small too, so that we can, you know, know, and, and I do, obviously I do have clients that come on my trips that I don't know.

So it's like, okay, it gives me an opportunity to know their personality too. So I'm, I'm a pick up the phone. Person like I know a lot of now everybody does things through emails and text messages and stuff like that I would rather pick up the phone and have like a even if it's just like a two or three minute conversation With somebody that's going on one of my escorted trips because it just helps me get to know their personality text messages emails The tone could be whatever is in my head and that's not how they intended it at all But if we're on the phone for a few minutes, it really helps us get to know the person each other and I can see like, Oh, I can joke around with this person or no, they're really strict.

They're really professional. Less, you know, and, and it kind of helps me perfect prepare for who I'm going to see too. When we get to where we're going.

[00:51:37] Steph: Yeah. And, and if you're, for those that are listening in, if you want to check out some other group experts, uh, that we've interviewed in the past on Travel Agent Chatter that have some tricks and things that they do during their group trips to break down those walls, um, Lou Maggiore, I think she's volume seven and then, um, volume 20 with Javon Harley are great ones to listen to and we'll link to them.

[00:52:04] Veranda Adkins: I know Javon too. She and I went to Indawa

[00:52:07] Steph: together.

[00:52:08] Veranda Adkins: Yep. She, she and I were in Indawa together. Yep.

[00:52:14] Steph: Well, okay. So what's your thought process behind charging a small fee? weddings because I know that, um, like for your, you don't charge an extra fee for your Vacation with Veranda groups, but you do for the destination weddings and it's about 25 to 50 dollars per person Depending on the size of the group Yeah,

[00:52:37] Veranda Adkins: so everybody has different You know has different fee structures and different ideas on what?

What works best for them when it comes to charging fees? So I don't charge an upfront fee and and and I just have to preface this to say that you know When I get in a room of travel agents, that's that's that's Great conversation piece because they're like, no, you need to charge a fee upfront and you need to charge a fee on the backend.

I am not an upfront fee, uh, person, but I do, um, I do put in like an extra, like you said, 25 to 50 a person depending on the group. And for me, I just feel like sometimes that actually Far is better for me or fares better for me than charging that initial deposit because sometimes the initial deposit can scare Some first I get a lot of first time travelers, too And obviously destination wedding brides usually are first time destination wedding brides.

So when they um You know, they just, they're worried about budget or fees or, you know, just all of that kind of stuff. So when they hear that they have to make this non refundable deposit with the hotel, they got to put the deposit down for their room block. I feel like that extra fee, like me not charging at the beginning kind of takes a little bit off of them.

And it allows me to make, still make the money that I need to put the group together, but also just help strengthen that relationship. And it's really helped with referrals. Because that's one of the things that my destination wedding brides will say call her in because she does all of this for you Basically for free because they I'm not that they don't care But they don't care that their clients are that their guests are paying an extra 25 because that's one less thing that they've had to pay for but they are benefits of my

[00:54:22] Steph: services So, yeah, well, and I think one of the things that might help you keep your costs down so you don't need these fees per se, um, is that all of your clients book online through your travel joy group landing pages.

Do you get any pushback on that from clients or people that are like, I don't know how to do this?

[00:54:44] Veranda Adkins: No, so it's kind of funny because I told you we were working on my daughter's destination wedding and my husband actually just said this last night because on her save the date is her wedding website for people to go on and book and he's like, well, we're sending it to old people too.

And she's like, Yeah, but all those old people have somebody young that's going to help them book this trip, so they'll be fine, you know, and she's like, except for, she said, except for my grandmothers, and we're booking them anyway, so it won't make sense. Other than that, you know, I usually tell people, it's just really good to have people sign up because you get those terms and conditions signed.

You know, they see all the information about insurance. They see all the payment deadlines, cancellation policies. They see all of that stuff. And it kind of takes a little bit of the pressure off you. Because when I first started, I was taking signups over the phone and then somebody would cancel and they would be like, you know, somebody calls you in the middle of you doing a 50 million other things.

And you forget to offer them insurance, God forbid, you know, you forget to offer it and then they have to cancel. And it's like, well, you never told me about insurance or either you told them about insurance and they don't remember that you told them about insurance. Well, online, guess what? It does that.

I even have with travel joy, I have an automatic, email to just say like it goes out 24 hours after you book to say, Hey, just want to check and make sure you bought insurance. If you didn't, here's the link to buy your insurance. I want you to know that's your cancellation policy. If you. If you don't get it.

So signing up with everything online just makes it easier to communicate with everybody. You have everybody's contact information. So, um, even when somebody calls me, if they need me to walk them through it, I'll walk them through it, but they have to physically do it online themselves.

[00:56:33] Steph: Now, I know that your social media accounts were hacked and you ended up being locked up out, but, and I want to hear more about that in a second.

Okay. Um, but first. Most people market with social a lot. So how are you marketing and getting the destination weddings? You said. mostly.

[00:56:53] Veranda Adkins: It's, it's literally word of mouth. A lot of my destination weddings come from word of mouth and just emailing, um, email marketing has been really good for me. I have not done as much of it as I probably should have, but I, I do do, um, a good amount and I have a pretty good, I think.

Last time I checked my open rate was like 36 37 percent until I talked to somebody else They were like, oh, that's great. And I was like, yeah, and I was doing bad No, that's great. Oh, so so yeah, so that that has been big for me But usually just like word of mouth has been been like really big If you looked at my social media pages, you would think that I don't go anywhere or travel anywhere or sell travel at all

[00:57:39] Steph: You Yeah, you, so you, you started up new Facebook pages again, but let's, um, so that other advisors can avoid this.

Can you tell us more about the hacking and how other advisors can make sure this doesn't happen? Yeah,

[00:57:55] Veranda Adkins: for sure. So most people know when you sign up for social media accounts, you have to have your like personal Facebook page, and then you can start all your business pages underneath it. And so my personal page was hacked and I did not have.

Anyone with administrator rights on my business pages. And so because of that, the people that I had were just able to post. So like they can still go in and post to those pages, but I don't have any access on the back end of it because it got. So I've been telling everybody, one, make sure you have two factor authentication turned on for social media.

And then two, make sure somebody else is an administrator with full rights just like you on your business pages. So that if something did ever happen to your personal account, They're able to go in and actually take control of that page and say, Hey, it belongs to me now. And if you have to start new social media pages, they can make your new profile and admin on your page.

So you don't lose them. Unfortunately, I did not have that. So I did lose. My business Facebook and Instagram page. So Instagram, I can still post on Facebook is totally gone, but even with Instagram, I can't do ads. I can't, you know, see insights or anything like that. I can just post. So

[00:59:13] Steph: yeah, good, good warning and learning lesson for everybody.

Yep. Uh, let's see. I want to do a few more questions on group logistics before we get to the next. So first one is contracts. When you're working with like the Mexico Caribbean all inclusives for the destination weddings, there's there's the option for the flex groups versus the contracted groups, which some new advisors may not be as familiar with.

These are people that don't book groups. So first thing, would you mind explaining those really quickly for any newbies and then sharing how you choose which. If you're going to do the contracted rate or the flex rate.

[00:59:54] Veranda Adkins: Yeah. So, um, just so people know the difference contracted rate means you ask for a certain set of rooms, a certain number of rooms, they give you the price, you get payment deadlines, there's attrition deadlines so that, you know, when you have to cancel by all that stuff, your rate doesn't change, um, for those contracted rooms that you have.

The flex groups is a little bit different in that, um, Obviously, you know, the hotel, but it's whatever the current price is. And if you get a certain number of rooms, different suppliers do it differently. They give you a code to book with, or you get to a certain number of rooms and you can request it, but, um, you, you may get those group amenities, but you have to reach a certain number of rooms, but it doesn't matter if you don't, if you only get five instead of 10, those five reservations are intact and everybody goes on vacation.

Everybody's happy. So you don't have to worry about any attrition or deadlines or anything like that. So typically with my destination weddings. I find that brides don't want to deal with changing prices for their customers because now you got Auntie paying this much and cousin paying this much and they're like what would she do?

You know, so that kind of causes friction. So most of the time i'll do All the time usually i'm doing contracted groups and i'm letting brides know. Hey, this is what we have to do This is our cutoff date Um, you know, let's, we're, we're not holding a room for aunt Sally if she doesn't make it. Cause that means it's going to come out of your pocket.

So, you know, whatever. And so they're usually okay with that. Usually where I'm using flex groups now is when I'm dealing with like 50th birthday celebrations or, you know, a birthday celebration, an anniversary celebration, just something like that, where people don't really know how many people they're going to end up with.

And it's kind of like, I don't, you know, if they book in the prices as much as is that much. So, um, yeah, so that's usually when I'm using the flex groups versus contracted.

[01:01:49] Steph: Perfect. And last question is on air. So with the vacation with Veranda groups, those are usually in destinations that typically don't have air packaged in with the land portion with the tour operators.

And when I'm when I'm on your page on your groups page, which I'll by the way link to in the show notes for people that are interested in which groups Veranda is going on. But some of them have air included and some of them don't. So how do you decide when you're going to include air in the package and when you aren't going to?

[01:02:22] Veranda Adkins: Usually the long haul destinations, when it requires an overnight flight, I am going to include air in that destination. I've just found for me, it's easier for everybody to be on the same transfer. Um, you don't have to worry about people get, people get confused with that overnight flight. And it's like.

I don't know what date I should leave. Do I have to be there? Like you said, the trip starts on the 12th. Do I have to get there the 12th or do I leave the 11th so that way I can kind of send out the Iterary itinerary and I let them know we're departing the US on the 12th on this flight. So then they know all the days of it and it just makes it easier.

Um, it just makes it easier on me for everybody to be on that flight. And it's usually just a central gateway or, you know. For I took the trip to South Africa during Christmas. I told everybody no matter where you leave live We're leaving from Atlanta. So you get yourself to Atlanta. This is what time my flight leaves Atlanta This is what time we'll be back so that you can coordinate your flights on the outside of it Now when it comes to Mexico and Caribbean for destination weddings I'm probably a bad travel agent because I do not do the air for Mexico and Caribbean.

I actually attended a conference a couple years ago and one of the persons that was, um, presenting talked about not doing air for these groups and I was like, you know what? This light went off on me and that was probably like six years ago and I haven't booked air for a destination wedding since. And it just makes my life a lot easier because I can still collect.

I still collect everybody's transfer information, set up transfers, keep track of all of that stuff for you. But I found that, you know, clients sometimes can be a little dependent on their agent. And so they'll be sitting at the airport and my flight got delayed. What do I do? Well, you're at the airport.

I'm at home. So You should go talk to somebody at the counter if you're gonna you know But people don't think about that. They think they have to call and again It's that work life balance with me. I you know, not that I don't want people to call me But I don't want people to call me so, um, you know that that's been a great thing So I let people know, you know, and I've I've worded in a very nice way like on the wedding website or on that Website like hey, this is a great time for you to use any points you've been saving Or anything like that Um, to book your air and I'll make sure your transfers are taken care of.

So usually people are okay with it as long as they know ahead of time. Now, if somebody calls me and they're like, Veranda, I'm totally lost. What should I do? I'll walk them through like how to find their flight or something like that. But I'm typically not booking that flight for them.

[01:05:00] Steph: Christine on the international air then when you are Including it in the packages.

Do you do contract error ever or do you shy away from that?

[01:05:11] Veranda Adkins: Yeah, no, I try to do, um, I try to do contact Trump contract air. I usually tell people the key with that is, you know, obviously you need 10 seats to do contract there. So if I'm seeing that for some reason that I haven't really had this, that a group isn't going to reach like 10 seats, then I may just start booking the people that I've already booked on like a published air flight, but we're all on there together.

So I do use someone to do my ticketing for me so that I can make sure We're all on the same flights and all that kind of stuff. But I prefer to do a contracted area. It just works a lot easier and you don't have to worry about ticket prices changing and things like that.

Wisdom

[01:05:51] Steph: All right. Well, let's move into our next segment, which is wisdom and you've got a lot of it, Veranda.

So I'm excited to hear what you have to say. There are things you wish you had known before you got started as either in the industry or as a travel agency that you think newbies. Would want to know or should know.

[01:06:14] Veranda Adkins: Um, I definitely think, you know, a lot of times and I hit on this earlier is a lot of times people think I'm going to put up this website.

I'm going to let everybody know that I'm selling travel and people are just going to start booking all of this travel with me. Hopefully that that happens for somebody. I don't know many people that it's happened for, but hopefully it happens for somebody. Um, and I just want to tell people like it comes with learning.

Um, definitely get as much knowledge as you can about the destinations and what you're offering, because that's going to be super helpful in getting you clients because if a client is just looking at stuff on the internet, And you're just looking at stuff on the internet. What benefit can you really be of them?

So that kind of is one thing and then two just make sure you you're prepared that we I always tell people travel agents Don't get paid unless people travel. So Again, when I told my husband give me six months and see what happened I still didn't have any money at that six month point, but at least I saw stuff down the pipeline.

Like, okay, in six more months we may have some money, you know? I always tell people that just be prepared to, you know, have some other source of income and make sure you can take care of yourself while you're building, because it may not happen instantaneously. If you're, you know, if you're not getting a group that's traveling, In the next month or you know, or a booking period.

It doesn't have to be a group. If you're not getting something substantial that's traveling, you know, within 30 days, it could be a while before you get some money.

[01:07:48] Steph: And it's so true for those that haven't checked out our industry reports. I'm I'll link to those in the show notes, but there's a really neat graph in it that shows for over the years that someone's an advisor, how much they make.

Um, and it's definitely the first three years. Things are slow, um, money wise. And then, um, three to five, it picks up and then five, um, you know, people are, yeah, I was

[01:08:16] Veranda Adkins: having a conversation with another advisor a few months ago. And, you know, even though it's July, I was, you know, me and her were talking and it was like, you know, as far as travel goes for the most part, 2024 is like, if you don't already have, Whatever on the books for 2024, barring the couple of last minute things that may come up, you're done.

Like if you, you should already have stuff on the books for 25 and 26, if you still plan to be a travel advisor in the future,

[01:08:51] Steph: it's a lesson when you start your own company, especially when the payoff is. So late after the booking like it is in travel, it's you really have to learn how to budget and forecast. Because the, the money is just up and down and you have to figure that out. It's a challenge.

[01:09:10] Veranda Adkins: Yeah. I talk about this, uh, destination wedding that I have.

It's in October of this year. Literally, I started talking to this bride in March of 2023. So, wow. And it's the end of October, so I won't see that commission until November sometime. So, yeah, it's a long game.

[01:09:31] Steph: It is.

Well, before we move into the indispensable segment that we always round and end things up with, um, you're the co founder of ABATP, which is the Association of Black Travel Professionals.

Um, we're going to link to it in the show notes, but in the meantime, can you give us a quick overview of it and tell us, um, well, tell us about the really successful Ghana fam trip that ABTP just hosted too.

[01:09:55] Veranda Adkins: Yeah. So, uh, back in 2020 Shawnta Harrison and myself, she's the owner of Harrison's Travel in South Carolina.

She and I spent part of COVID, um, creating this organization, ABTP. It was really just kind of out of necessity. She and I used to throw ideas off each other and ask questions to kind of help each other's business. And she would always say, because I came from the traveler side, all you have, I mean, from the travel, from the travel supplier side, oh, you have so much knowledge that you could share with people.

You should teach a class. And I was like, Well, you wanted me to teach a class. Let's do it together.

And so, so we kind of, we kind of formed ABTP and really our mission is just to, um, just help travel agents grow and develop their business and learn, not just the travel side of it, because of course, our industry partners are great.

Like if we wanted to, Do trainings on, you know, whatever hotel or cruise line you're trying to sell. That's pretty easy to get a training on. But what we really wanted to focus on was like the business side of it because we feel like that's, what's lacking so much in the travel industry. People think again, throw up this site, people are going to start traveling, but what happens when they do, what happens to their money?

Do you have the right account set up? Do you have all of that? You know, Do you have an accountant? Do you have legal things in place? So just that's kind of what we try to focus on with that part.

Um, but we also offer the educational travel stuff. So we did just take a 17 agents to Ghana in June. It was all of our first trip to Ghana.

So very eye opening, uh, experience. And we actually have several groups that have gotten booked. Just even from that fam trip last month, people are starting to book groups, uh, for 2025. So that actually makes us look good with the supplier that sponsored us.

[01:11:45] Steph: For sure. That's a really impressive turnaround.

[01:11:47] Veranda Adkins: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Indispensable

[01:11:50] Steph: Well, let's move into our last segment, which is indispensable. Uh, we do it every time. And this is where we ask our guests, what technology book or person has been indispensable to the of your agency. Um, and then Veranda, tell us what, who, what, when, where, book, technology, whatever, and why.

[01:12:12] Veranda Adkins: You know what? It's crazy. So, what I'm gonna say is gonna sound super, super cliche and people are probably gonna be like, yeah, right, she's just saying this. But the person that's probably most indispensable to my travel business is probably my husband even though he's not In the travel industry.

Um, I talked to a lot of agents who don't have that support from their spouse or significant other in growing travel.

And like I mentioned, you know, it's months sometimes before you're going to get paid off of something. And then also being able, because I'm the person that wants to see everything like he tells me all the time, you don't have to go on every trip. And I'm like, but I do, I do. But just having his understanding and his unwavering support is great.

And what I do every day has given me, like, I know that I can take this risk or I know that I can go on this trip and it's not going to be an issue. Like I can think about, I was traveling and he's like taking my daughter shopping for homecoming and to get her makeup done and just all that stuff.

So knowing that everything was taken care of at home to be able to go out and be out in the world and do that has really just helped Travel Legacy be able to expand.

And, and grow. So I know that's probably like a cliche answer, but that's what I feel.

[01:13:33] Steph: Not at all.

I think, um, you actually bring up a good point to be, you know, if you do, because, um, being in the travel industry, I was talking to someone about this the other day, it's really difficult if your partner back home.

Doesn't travel, especially if you have kids or something along those lines. I mean, that's a lot of work that gets put on them, but I mean, it's a huge point that you bring up to be really grateful for the partners that are the ones holding things down back at home.

[01:14:03] Veranda Adkins: Yeah. And it's a huge, like even the, the, the trust and just all of that.

That goes along with it because you're traveling with you know, and he he doesn't know.

Funny story really quick I don't know if we have time but I was just in Amsterdam at the ASTA river cruise expo and I fell like twice. The second time I actually skinned my knee like I was 10. And I called him the first time I fell and he's like, okay I called him the second time and he's like look go to your room Don't leave because if you fall again, i'm gonna get on a plane and come get you.

But it's just that you know being so far from home and having like stuff happen. So it's just really great to be able to you know Just have that support and know that everything's gonna be okay back here at home and I can go out You And do all the things I need to do.

[01:14:49] Steph: You can go trip repeatedly.

[01:14:52] Veranda Adkins: Yeah, and not only am I traveling for Travel Legacy stuff. You mentioned ABTP. The Ghana thing was ABTP. So I had both of them, you know, to juggle. Yeah.

[01:15:06] Steph: Well, I don't think that's cliche at all. Thank you for sharing that. Um, and thank you all for listening in and tuning in today.

Uh, if you enjoyed today's show, we're looking for some new reviews. I realized after like 30 shows, I probably asked for reviews for the first eight and then forgot. So we are looking for some new reviews!

If anyone is feeling really jazzy and like, you know, wants to go on their phone and press the rating button, please do so.

Thank you so much for coming on and spending the time, Veranda. I really appreciate it.

[01:15:39] Veranda Adkins: Thank you for having me, Steph. This has been so fun. This is exciting.

[01:15:42] Steph: I know, I know. We just chatted away and now you know all the other guests. We're just going to have a party.

[01:15:48] Veranda Adkins: We'll have to have a reunion show. We'll have a reunion show.

That's what all the reality shows do.

[01:15:53] Steph: We'll call it. Um, what do they call them when they, when they come back? Oh, I'm forgetting the word now. Re reboot. We'll do a reboot!

[01:16:03] Veranda Adkins: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[01:16:04] Steph: Well, thank you again, everyone for joining us for this episode of Travel Agent Chatter. Thank you, Veranda, for your time.

And, if you don't already tune in for our Friday 15, you can join us every Friday, 12 PM central time on our YouTube channel or podcast feed for our Friday 15 podcast.

Thanks again, everybody. And have a wonderful, wonderful rest of your day.

Outro

You can read a transcript, view the show notes and watch a video of today's episode, as well as see pictures of Veranda on all her travels by going to hostagencyreviews. com slash TAC and clicking on episode 30

and you know what? If you stuck around this long to hear the outro, I have got a surprise for you!

If you leave us a review on iTunes, drop me a note at stephanie at hostagencyreviews. com and let me know. I'm going to send the first five people who email me a Starbucks gift card for 5.25.

And that's right. Those of you out there that are huge fans of the Starbucks delicious chocolate cream cold brew know that $5.25 is the magic number that gets you lots of caffeine but disguises it as a delicious chocolate drink!

It's great for adults like myself who have taste buds of a child. So cheers to coffee disguised as chocolate.

We will see you next time!