How many brides mention Sandals when they contact you? How many first-time cruisers mention Carnival? Do you have anyone coming in looking for an Apple Vacations package trip someplace? Why do you think clients and prospects do this? I’ll tell you—it’s authority! And it does not need to be relegated to multi-national companies with 7-figure marketing budgets. You can become the authority too and earn that level of trust with your clients and prospects. Here are some tips gleaned from 20 years in the industry.

Look bigger. If you don’t subscribe to Evoice or RingCentral (or many others like it), consider it. Face it, who has more authority? The solo agent whose voicemail says “hi, you’ve reached Mary’s Travel Agency, please leave a message and I…

Tarek Adawy is the Chief Executive in the U.S. & Canada for EgyptAir Airlines. Mr. Adawy overseas all aspects of sales, marketing and business development. He has had a career spanning 27 years with EgyptAir Airlines and has worked in all aspects of the industry. Mr. Adawy began his career at Cairo Airport and was quickly promoted to Network Operations overseeing scheduling and route analysis including the US market.

After this experience it was natural for him to be in charge of all aspects of Research & Development including Fleet Management. Before leaving this position Mr. Adawy recommended the purchase of new long haul equipment for EgyptAir’s long haul routes. The US market will benefit from this…

Here's the bad news: you have more competition than you think.  Here's the good news - you  can effectively compete. In fact, competition keeps us sharp and aware of the environment in which we operate.  Keep in mind that carrying the proper attitude about your competition is important.  Properly trained, your clients will adopt many aspects of your own attitude about travel and other distribution channels.  If your attitude is positive and healthy, chance are your clients' will be as well.

Your competition arises in three distinct…

One of my favorite seminar messages involves a well-known and talented golfer, and how the best in the business find time to practice and spend time with their coaches.

Ladies and gentlemen, the higher you climb on the success ladder the better the chance of having a coach. But more than just “having” a coach, it behooves you to “listen” to your coach. And better yet, do something with the new information, techniques, and reminders you are being introduced to.

Last Thursday I was speaking to a group of professional sales people and I asked them to go above the norm as it related to their effort. One person responded by reminding me that they work hard enough already and that their personal time was their…