Dear Travel Agents/Advisors,

When helping clients to prepare for their trips, how much of your own common sense do you trust, how often do you check google, and/or when do you ask your tour operator/tour provider questions?

My question comes after working with different sizes and backgrounds of groups for so many years and noticing that they love to question everything. They ask the most basic to the most intriguing and intrinsic questions.

In the beginning, and honestly, based on my own insecurities, I turned in all of the groups questions to my providers. Over time, I realized that they were, for lack of another word, too “lazy” to research any kind of question, or giving them the benefit of the doubt, “insecure“ and asked questions such as what  kind of luggage to take to a country like France?

What is the expectation of an answer a travel agent could possibly give? To tell the client a brand we suggest, despite the budget or taste of the client? Using common sense, luggage is luggage; we can recommend a Rimowa but it is very expensive, and some people prefer soft luggage rather than hard and not expandable.

Others ask how much a bottle of water costs in South Africa, for example. Really? What size of bottle? Are you planning to buy inside the hotel or in a shop like a 7/11? Are we talking about fancy brands of water or flat, regular, good water?

How many questions can we be subjected to and believe the client is really serious? When is it time to introduce the client to google, or suggest they use their own common sense? When are we not crossing a line and being taken as “rude” by setting limits?

I guess I’ve got more questions than answers on this subject. I think probably checking your own common sense is a good idea before trying to confirm what is the right answer. Try to avoid feeling abused or abusing the provider, and letting them think WE don’t know anything.

Thank you for reading my blogs. I hope I can inspire you, make you think about different things, and I even look to you to give me some answers.

It is December 24th and I am so blessed to have you in my life! Thank you for being on this blessed journey together with me.

Follow me at:
Facebook @travelwithrosana
Instagram @ travelwithrosana
Blogs @ www. travelwithrosana.com