Success Stories focuses on veteran travel advisors and how they achieved success. Here’s a look James Berglie, president of Fallston, Md.-based Be All Inclusive.
How did you get started as a travel consultant?
I graduated college and bounced around a few ‘traditional’ jobs before striking out on my own as a full-time photographer. I photograph weddings, corporate events, major sporting events, politics and celebrities. While I have a job that everyone seems to want, my heart is really in travel, so I started a travel agency!
I am at a unique advantage as an industry outsider who sees things with a fresh set of eyes. Initially, I became an advisor as a way to offer another service for the local couples I photographed – and needed to book a honeymoon!
Then I decided to combine photography and travel, and I started offering my photography services to wedding destination clients. For about eight years, I traveled and shot destination weddings once a month and really learned a lot about the resorts and my sales grew.
How have you built your business over the years?
Slow down! I spent my early years looking for things I could do better and more efficiently. I focus on processes and efficiency. I found ways to make things easier not only on my end but the customer as well. The ‘customer first’ mentality is what makes my sales grow. In 2020 we’re using that time to really slingshot our business forward, adding team members.
The place is easy, having been involved in weddings since the day I graduated from college. It’s only fitting that I move on to destination weddings where my true love is still.
What traits make you a successful counselor?
What makes a successful advisor is their ability to connect with their clients. From day one, many of our clients have become our friends. I don’t have a 15-minute phone call, I always have a one to two hour chat with clients on the first call to learn about them, connect with them and really gauge what their vision is so I can then offer my expertise and help guide them through the process.
I am honest with them in my assessments of the good and bad about the resorts they consider, and group incentives that are good and group incentives that are fluff that no one uses. Instead of being ‘salesy’ to them, I just guide them. What I’m doing is not something a computer can do, and it’s something an inexperienced person can do.
What are your biggest challenges?
2020. I know that many business owners may say that 2020 is a proof of their strength, but you will be hard pressed to convince me that any other industry is having it harder than the travel industry. We recently ‘soloed,’ leaving another brokerage and starting our own brokerage agency in January 2020 and we are excited about what’s in the books for our best year yet.
All of that came to a halt in March 2020 when COVID hit and our income went to zero. Clients want their money back, but many hotel contracts do not allow for refunds, only a change of date.
For a long time, we worked 80 hour weeks, had no money and didn’t know when or if we would ever make money again. We were lucky enough to have a few groups start traveling again in July 2020, and this has been gradually increased every month since. But we earn very little for the amount of work we have to put in.
We continue to plug and grow the team – and we never stop selling. We’re gearing up for the surge in travel that we hope will come after the pandemic, and boy did it. From 2020 to now, we have grown from one agent to 10 and sales have increased [monumentally.]
What is your greatest achievement?
I have a wall full of awards from suppliers, which is great – but I see nothing as success more than my team. Nine percent of them are industry outsiders with no travel experience. Finding those who have a passion for travel and helping them every step of the way to become successful is my greatest accomplishment!
What tips would you give to advisors new to the industry?
It’s all about process and efficiency! Many advisors burn out when they hit the high level of marketing, but if you want to grow and maintain a balanced life your processes are paramount. Always look for ways to do things more efficiently and for changes in your processes to make things run more smoothly. The travel landscape is constantly changing and you need to adapt.
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