Last week, I tried to explain what I, as an agency owner, needed from my preferred travel suppliers. If you missed it, go take a read and leave a comment about what you need. But you know, travel is a two way street. We build our client base off of relationships; and it should be no different with suppliers. When you have a relationship with a supplier, they are much more willing to work with you to help you succeed. Waivers and favors can be managed. More co-op dollars can be wrangled. And just as much as we can help build a supplier, they can help build our business. But, don’t expect that relationship to come automatically. Here’s what suppliers need from us.

Ricko Tindage is Chinatour.com’s Director of Sales and Marketing. His task besides sales and marketing to the travel agent community…is also creating new tour products.

Originally from Bali, Indonesia, Ricko has called Los Angeles home since 1981.

His academic background was in the hotel management. He has had hotel stints in Jakarta, Indonesia; Brussels, Belgium and in Los Angeles. Instead of a career in the hotel industry, tour and travel industry have shaped the majority of his professional career.…

There is absolutely no doubt that a failure to plan is one of the biggest mistakes many business people make.  Without a solid business plan, even the best travel consultant can fail to act consistently in any given aspect of their practice. Planning is truly essential.

But so is action.

I see far too many travel professionals planning their lives away, getting ready to act, and then... not acting! Too many times we over-plan and over-perfect, and in the process lose valuable opportunities to others who are quicker…

This is Tip #9 in a series of 10 relationship building reminders.

Hang in there. We just have two more tips to go. You are doing good.

Similar to tone, you would be doing yourself a great service if you slowed your pace of speech to give the receiver sufficient time to digest your message…