Glossary of Sales Terms fro the travel agent

Addselling

- offering or recommending additional products.

 

“Agency Specialization” Positioning

- is describing your agency as being unique by virtue of the well-defined niche it has chosen

Agentless Booking

- is the capability of travel reservations to be booked completely through automated systems, without the intervention of a travel agent.

“Alter” Approach

- is based on the acronym for five critical selling skills:  1) Asking questions effectively;  2) Listening for insight;  3) Thinking through implications and opportunities;  4) Empathizing with the prospect;  and 5) Responding impactfully.

Assumptive Close

- is acting as if the customer has already decided to buy and beginning the paperwork.

 

ATB

- stands for Automated Ticket and Boarding Pass and is a relatively new form of ticket stock that has a magnetic stripe on the back that can incorporate the ticket, the boarding pass, and the baggage check – and possibly information relating to aspects of travel other than air.

 

Back Office System

- performs the travel agency’s business and client accounting functions

“Best Value” Positioning

 - is describing your agency as being unique because it represents the best overall value for the prospect

 

Billing and Expense Reconciliation

- is a service of primary interest to corporate accounts and is simply a means of compiling, sorting, and analyzing expense report data – usually using a third party travel and entertainment expense accounting software package

 

“Board of Directors” Setup

- is a presentation setup in which tables are rectangular or oval shaped, with chairs placed on both sides and ends.

 

“Business Partnership” Positioning

- is describing your agency as being unique because it offers the account a bartering type of arrangement not available from other agencies

 

“Business as Usual” Selling Environment

- involves a single decision-maker with only minor influence from others and a selling timeframe of no more than 6 weeks wherein the majority of selling involves a traditional “features and benefits” approach

 

Buying Signal

- a verbal or visual clue that shows the prospect’s acceptance, agreement, or approval

 

Centralization

- is relevant to corporate travel management or meeting planning and is the process of coordinating control of operations and policies at a central point – often at headquarters – rather than having various divisions, departments, or subsidiaries handle their own needs.

Centralized Billing

- is a system under which a travel supplier, a travel agency or credit card vendor sends one bill containing all charges incurred by company travelers to a corporate account rather than sending separate bills to individual employees.

“Chevron” Setup

- is a presentation setup in which rows of chairs separated by a center aisle and slanted in a V shape facing a head table or speaker.

CLIA

- is the Cruise Lines International Association which offers promotional materials, training guides, reference books and seminars on behalf of cruise lines

Clout

- is the power of individuals acting to deal with airlines, hotels, car rental firms, and other travel industry suppliers to secure the best rates and value for the client

 

Commission

- is the percentage of the sale price that travel suppliers pay to travel agencies for selling their services.

Competitive Uniqueness

- is whatever is uniquely meaningful about your agency’s capabilities, either overall or with respect to a specific issue, and enables you to answer the question, “Why based on all of the competitive alternatives available to them, would this prospect want to select us?”

“Complex” Selling Environment

- involves multiple decision makers and/or significant influencers, a longer selling timeframe, and effective competitive uniqueness positioning rather than merely a “features and benefits” approach

“Conference Style” Setup

- is a presentation setup in which tables are rectangular or oval shaped, with chairs placed on both sides and ends.

Consolidation

- is a strategy in which a corporation decides to direct more of its business to fewer suppliers, such as travel agencies, airlines, hotels, and car rfental companies OR is the constriction of suppliers within an industry – such as airlines within the travel industry – due to mergers and failures.

Consolidator

- is a business that buys international tickets at deep discounts from airlines that expect inventory to remain unsold, and resells the tickets at a markup to travel agencies or travellers

Corporate Profile

- is a tool used to gather information about the corporate account’s travel policy and preferences to ensure customized service, speed, and accuracy during reservations

Corporate Travel Audit

- is an evaluation tool used to analyze a company’s travel needs and their travel management system

CRS

- stands for Computerized Reservation System and is one of a number of interactive electronic systems linking individual travel agencies to a central, airline-owned computer – allowing agents to make availability inquiries and travel reservations

Cruise Initiative

- is the outcome of extensive 1993 research that determined that the best leisure opportunity to focus on in North America is cruise vacations

CSR

- is the term that used to denote a Corporate Sales Representative

CVC

- is the term that used to denote a Corporate Vacation Consultant and has now been replaced with SR (Sales Representative)

“Dangerous” Selling Environment

- is any situation wherein your agency cannot be competitive and/or the account would represent more than 10% of your total revenue and/or winning the account would adversely affect your other accounts’ service experience, your staffing and support structures, or your management coverage

Decision-Makers

- are those individuals who ultimately decide in relation with a strategic decision

Direct Access

- is a computerized reservation system enhancement giving users access to up-to-the-minute availability and price data contained in the dedicated reservation system of a vendor listed in the CRS

Direct Billing

- is a system under which a travel supplier, travel agency or credit card company sends bills reflecting charges incurred directly to individual employees of corporate accounts , who are responsible for paying the bills themselves and submitting expense reports to their employer for reimbursement

Directional Selling

- is a travel agency practice of booking suppliers with which the agency has established preferred vendor relationships

Discounting

- is a pricing tactic, usually used with large or complex corporate business, that rewards or compensates an account on the basis of sheer volume (usually air revenue)

Either/Or Close

- is giving the customer a choice between two attractive alternatives.

 

Electronic Mail (E-Mail)

- is a computer-based method of communication that allows users to exchange messages using terminals linked to a common network.  Some CRSs and some travel agencies have developed software to enable agency workstations to function as terminals on the electronic mail networks of their corporate accounts; this capability allows them to communicate reservation requests and itinerary information.

ETDNs

- are Electronic Ticket Distribution Networks (ETDNs) that enable agencies to transmit travel documents to remote printers located at public places, such as hotels or office buildings or retail operators such as Mail Boxes, Etc. without having to exchange documents at airport counters

 

Fee-Based Pricing

- is a fair partnership between a travel agency and its corporate or association clients wherein all commissions go back to the company minus fees for services

 

FIT

- originally an acronym for Foreign Independent Tour, FIT has come to designate any independent travel where a travel agent puts together an itinerary for a client, as opposed to a packaged tour.  The term is now used interchangeably for domestic and international travel.

 

Float

- is the income an organization saves by not prematurely depleting corporate funds when travelers use credit cards or their own money, rather than cash advances to pay for expenses.

 

Front Office Systems

- are the parts of the travel agency operation that interface with the customers – as opposed to the “back office” or accounting functions.

 

Funnelling

- is an approach Sales Representatives can use to bring the conversation with a prospect from broad generalities to highly specific selling points.

Group Rate

- is the room rate routinely charged by a hotel for a group of 10 or more guests.

Guaranteed Savings

- is the commitment the agency makes, usually to large or complex corporate or association accounts, to reduce travel expenses by a certain percentage over the previous year

 

Half Nelson Close

- is responding to a prospects objection by saying “if we can resolve this one last issue, can we go ahead and finalize our relationship?”

Hard Dollar Savings

- are tangible, easily identifiable travel savings such as free tickets or revenue sharing

“Hollow Square” Setup

- is a presentation setup wherein tables are arranged in a rectangle or square with open space in the center of the square and chairs around the perimeter

“Horseshoe” Setup

- is a presentation setup wherin tables are arranged in a round-cornered U shape with chairs placed outside the U

Image

- is the concept behind much of advertising and seeks to pre-sell the agency name to the travelling public

Incentive Commission

- is also known as an override and is the bonus given by travel industry suppliers to agencies who shift market share to their product

Incentive Travel

- is a trip offered as a prize or bonus for superior performance. It is often used by companies to motivate or reward employees

Influencers

- are those individuals who may influence the prospect’s decision to select us  as their travel agency

Inducement Close

- is providing a reward to the prospect if he/she acts now.

 

Inplants

- are travel departments housed within a large corporate or association account and may be staffed either by employees of the account or of the agency

 

 

“I Recommend” Close

- is assuming the role of problem solver for the prospect: “Based on what you’ve told me, your members aren’t experiencing the calibre of service they could be.  I recommend we set up a six month trial period with our agency just to see the difference.”

 

 

“Least Risk” Positioning

 - is describing your agency as being unique because, by choosing it, the prospect has the least to risk in terms of missed value or cost-savings, etc.

 

Limited Supply/Fear Close

- is letting the customer know that the products and/or services he/she is interested in may not be available in the same form indefinitely.

 

Lowest Logical Airfare

- is the lowest airfare that can be found within the parameters of a corporation’s travel policy and is not necessarily the lowest actual fare – which could include a circuitous rouute or late night departure, for example.

 

Low Fare Search

- refers to any of a variety of automated software programs that monitor computerized reservation systems for lowest available current fares and rates in order to reduce the price for clients of trips already booked but not taken

 

LSR

- is the term that used to denote a Leisure Sales Representative and has now been replaced with SR (Sales Representative)

 

“Mid Office” Systems

- is the management information portion of a travel agency automation system, so called to distinguish it from the reservation (or front office) system and the accounting (or back office) system.

 

MIS

- stands for Management Information Systems and is an agency service of particular importance to corporate accounts insofar as it can suggest ways of improving administrative efficiency, optimizing cost-savings opportunities, and providing better service to the account’s travellers

 

 

 

 

Net Fare or Net Rate

- is the price or fare for a travel service, exclusive of an agent’s commission.  When a corporate account negotiates a net rate directly with a travel supplier, the supplier normally does not pay the agency a commission for bookings at that rate.  An agency applies a mark-up to a net fare before offering it to a client.

Onsite Reservations

- refers to  reservations technology – professional or corporate CRS stations, fax, e-mail – which enables large corporate or association accounts to directly issue reservations requests

 

OSR

- is the term that used to denote a Outside Sales Representative and has now been replaced with SR (Sales Representative)

 

Override

- is an additional commission paid to agents as a bonus for productivity and/or volume with a given preferred supplier or as an incentive to book certain arrangements

 

Personal Profile

- is a tool used to gather a client’s travel preferences to ensure personalized service, speed, and accuracy during reservations

Preferred Supplier

- is a group of carefully selcted travel suppliers who are best able to provide the best value to and remuneration for client business of the agency

 

Probing

- is simply a method of drawing out greater detail and specificity from a prospect when they haven’t answered a question with enough clarity or detail for their needs to be interpreted.

 

Questions that Clarify Consequences

- are questions a Sales Representative asks to explore and draw out the effects or consequences of a prospect’s problem and help them understand its seriousness or urgency.

 

Questions to Establish Facts and Circumstances

- are the most straightforward and least impactful questions a Sales Representative can ask and simply reveal facts about the prospect’s existing situation.

 

Questions that Provide Justification

- are questions a Sales Representative use to confirm the value or usefulness of a solution and get their prospect to tell them about the benefits your solution offers, rather than forcing the SR to explain the benefits to the prospect

 

 

Questions to Reveal Problems

-  are the questions a Sales Representative asks to explore the prospect’s challenges, difficulties, or dissatisfactions – so that he/she can then explain how can solve or alleviate these problems.

 

Quality Control Card

- is a standardized card for use by the client in rating a agency’s service and professionalism

Post Audit

- are audits of completed travel transactions, often performed by third-party auditing firms, designed to ensure that contracted rates and terms have been applied correctly and to get refunds from travel suppliers when appropriate.

 

Preferred Supplier Agreements

- are deals between a travel supplier and a corporation under which, in exchange for discoutns or perks, the company encourages or requires its travellers to use that supplier OR a deal between a supplier and a travel agency under which agents have access to discounts and recommend use of that vendor to clients.

 

Prepaid Ticket

- is a ticketing method in which a person or company purchases an airline ticket in one location for a traveller in another location.  The traveller picks up the prepaid ticket from the airline.

 

Pre-Trip Reporting

- is a service of particular interest to large corporate accounts and refers to software that takes raw data compiled from reservation records and sorts it into reports that may reveal opportunities to improve administrative efficiency, improve service to travelers, or optimize cost savings opportunities

 

Professional Fees

- are fees an agency charges a client for the experience and expertise provided as a part of their travel purchase

 

 

Prospecting

- is identifying, qualifying, and approaching sources of potential business

 

Quality Control

- is an essential agency capability that ensures reservation and documentation accuracy,  fare checking, seat checking and clearance, wait-list clearance, and upgrade availability checking

 

Rate Desk

- is a special department of an airline or travel agency that constructs fares for complicated, usually international itineraries

 

Rebating

- is a pricing tactic, usually used with large or complex corporate business, that rewards or compensates an account on the basis of sheer volume (usually air revenue)

 

Revenue Sharing

- is a kind of catchall phrase that refers to any or all types of financial consideration – be it fee-basing,  rebates or discounts, or other soft-dollar perks – that an agency offers to a large or complex corporate account in return for large volume

 

RFI

- is a Request For Information which corporate accounts may issue as a way of collecting general information about a candidate agency’s services and capabilities

RFP

- is a Request For Proposals which corporate accounts may issue in order to garner specific information from agency candidates

 

Salvage Close

- is making a comeback whenever a previous close attempt fails by saying “I’m sorry if I have left any of your concerns unaddressed;  what is it you are uncertain about?”

“Schoolroom” Setup

- is a presentation setup wherein tables are lined up in a row, one behind the other on each side of a center aisle, with all chairs facing the head table.

“Service” Positioning

- is describing your agency as being unique by virtue of offering a specific service or significant service features that no one else in its market offers

“Service Support” Postioning

- is describing your agency as being uinque by virtue of its excellent training, progressive employee empowerment practises, and ISO or TQM status, etc.

“Simple or Retail” Selling Environment

- typically involves walk-in clients, is driven more by the travel event or product than anything else, and tends to be a reactive, ticket-distribution activity.

Soft Dollar Savings

- offer the agency the greatest latitude and allow for more creativity than either a rebate/discount agreement or fee schedules.

STPs

- are used in a travel management consolidation program where tickets and itineraries can be delivered to account locations that are at a distance from the centralized reservation office and/or as an alternative to manual drop-offs for accounts that want the convenience of frequent delivery or delivery on demand

Strategic Selling

- entails determining what the most viable prospects are for your agency to pursue;  analyzing the needs of those prospects;  assessing your agency’s strengths and weaknesses in meeting those needs — relative to the competition;  and clarifying your agency’s unique competitive position in the marketplace.

Summary or Reassurance Close

- is recapping the points that you have gained agreement on and summarizing the benefits that satisfy the prospect so he/she knows choosing UNIGLOBE is the wisest decision they can make.

10 Customer Commitments

-is the set of service standards, described in customer terms, for the travel agent

10-5-1 Formula

- is the ratio of qualified corporate leads per week (10) to corporate presentations per week (5) to closed corporate accounts per week (1) used by SRs

“Theatre Style” Setup

- is a presentation setup wherein chairs are set up in rows facing a head table, stage, or speaker.

TM

- is the Travel Manager and provides thorough automated quality control checks on records and searchs for the best possible seats, assures the lowest possible fares, clears waitlisted flights, and provides pre-trip reporting for customized corporate travel management reports

Transaction Fees

- are fees an agency charges a client either for costs incurred in redoing work already completed (i.e. for cancellations, reissues, changes, etc.) or for  routine services for which no income or inadequate income is anticipated (i.e. visa application processing, managing frequent flyer accounts, etc.)

Trial Closing Questions

- are intended to unearth objections that need to be handled or to pave the way to asking for the business.

Upselling

- offering or recommending a better, more expensive product.

Viable Accounts

- are those within your market “niche”, for which your travel services and customer support represent the best overall “fit”, which you believe that none of your competitors could do a better job of servicing, and which do not compromise the financial or management integrity of your agency

Videoconferencing

- is a meeting in which participants in different locations are linked by video and can see one another on a screen.