Do You Really Value Our Services?
By Hank Schrader, USMA ’71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert
Everybody who reads this travels somewhere. Yet, to me, it is amazing how many don’t really take advantage of our expertise to make their trip better.
I’m sure there are lots of reasons—here are just a few I’ve heard--“Oh, my friend planned this”; “I found a great deal on the internet”; “I didn’t want to bother you”; and my personal favorite, “I know I’ll save money doing it by myself.”
And then there are folks who ask for our help after already booking a trip either by themselves or with another travel agent. Often, if possible, we want to help but can’t if we’re not involved from the beginning. Folks don’t realize travel suppliers won’t work with us if we aren’t representing the clients—we can perhaps take over the booking but the client has to contact the suppler directly, give permission and the supplier has to agree with the switch. It is a process suppliers do not like, as some in our industry try to gain clients by stealing them from other travel agents. We often wish they had just come to us first, so we could properly help them.
So, this week, I’d like to write about the value of our services and let you decide if you value what we provide for you.
Ready?—let’s examine this closer and perhaps, you will let us help you expand your travel experiences by using our full range of services!
Yes, We are a Full Service Travel Agency
We have been in business for 24 years. Here is a partial list of places we have helped folks travel—Bora Bora, Vietnam, Australia & New Zealand, China, Mexico, most Caribbean islands, most every country of Europe, Russia, ski resorts in North America, Africa, Alaska, and almost all top vacation spots in the United States (California, Washington State, Las Vegas, Florida, Washington D.C, NY City).
Our 2018 TravelAge West Award June 2018
We have helped folks with group and individual tours, single vacations, single country trips, multi-country trips, river and ocean cruises, destination weddings, and honeymoons—just about most types of vacation travel you can imagine.
Kevin & Son in London on a Trip we planned for them 2019
I guess, with all these trips we have planned, it just goes to show that (as listed on our website) “we are small enough to give you personalized service yet big and experienced enough to get you the right trip”. No limits for us to help you!
Why You Should Use Us to Plan Your Trip
I think there are 2 factors to help you get the right trip. They are 1) trip satisfaction and 2) convenience. I think we solve these two factors 4 ways. Here they are:
We will provide you trips that will:
exceed your expectations;
help you make wise choices;
eliminate hassles;
And we will help you get the best value for your money!
It really takes a combination of experience and expertise—in short, professionalism. We add value to your travel and it usually does not cost you anything more to use us. But this is a double edged sword—by not charging fees, some tend not to value us as much as they probably should, and not look to us as true professionals.
In the 24+ years we have helped folks, I have learned that those who value our services, almost always get a better trip than they could on their own.
So, let’s examine some of these issues
Why We Don’t Charge a Service Fee for Most Trips
Contrary to most folks in the travel industry with our level of experience and knowledge, we choose not to charge fees for most of our clients.
While only about 10% of all home based travel agents, like us, charge service fees, almost all who do charge fees have our experience and professional credentials (data from Travel Weekly Magazine 2019 Travel Industry Survey).
Perhaps the #1 reason we should charge a fee is for our expertise, our research and our customer service, just as they would pay any professional like a lawyer, doctor or financial planner.
But here is the reason we don’t want to charge you a fee—we want you to be part of the Dream Destination Travel Tribe!
The Dream Destination Travel Tribe
Why did we choose not to charge fees? We feel strongly we should provide a service, we are worth hiring and you shouldn’t have to pay more for a vacation by using us. In short, we value you and provide value to you, so we do not charge extra for our expertise, our research and customer service.
We really don’t want a formal client, distant relationship—we want you to be part of the family and have mutual respect for your concerns and problems in travel and you respect us for our expertise and execution. Somehow fees just don’t fit into our vision of this relationship.
2 Travel Tribes Members—we call them Travel Chums—Denise & Mark Christmas Eve 2018
The only problem to this approach happens when folks don’t value our services. But most don’t even think they aren’t crossing that invisible boundary in a professional relationship—they just have a problem, or need some information and often know we are a good source to help them solve the problem.
Folks Who Want Us to Fix the Unfixable
Imagine you are at a party with a great doctor, who specializes in an area of medicine that you need advice about. So you ask specific questions and he politely refuses to help. Why does he not want to help you?—most likely he just doesn’t have enough facts and information to properly address your concerns and questions and, quite frankly, this should be done in a professional setting.
We face the same problem—usually we don’t have the correct facts and the time to fully address these inquires due to our work load. And, if you are already booked or using another travel agent, it is very difficult to fix the problem and may be actually illegal for us to help you, plus it isn’t fair to them. We realize many ask for our help without realizing that it may be, to a degree, not valuing our services. So I made up some requests, of items that we can’t help folks with. Here are some examples:
“I booked by myself but now there is a problem with my trip—can you fix it or give me some advice?”
“Did I get a good deal?”
“I didn’t follow your advice, but now this problem has come up—can you fix it for me with my travel supplier?”
“Here is my price for a trip—can you beat it?”
We All Need Boundaries
If you are in a service industry or a professional, I’m sure many try and get free advice, or a free service from you. But when someone tries this approach, without often with realizing it, they really are saying “I want your expertise, but I don’t want to pay you for it”! It happens to all professionals—we are not alone just because we provide professional advice to help folks travel better.
In a way, we should be flattered—folks that reach out us are actually recognizing our expertise as travel experts.
So, here is our approach when these situations arise. We try to be direct, polite but honest. 9 times out of 10, our work load just precludes us from helping you. Sometimes, even if we wanted to, we cannot fix the problem.
We have some Unmatched Travel Abilities
I thought I’d end this with just a couple of examples of why you should rely on us to plan your travel.
Our 75th Anniversary Tour to D Day was, by any measure a huge success. No other 2 person agency attempted such a tour for 33 folks. We planned it for 3 years, our cost was several thousands of dollars less than many other large scale tour operators, and we avoided many pitfalls of waiting for long periods to see and experience the awesome events of that horrible day 75 years ago.
Some of our Awesome Group of 33 on the 75th Anniversary of D Day June 6, 2019
Our knowledge of Europe river cruises is exceptional. We have been on 18 Europe river cruises, written over 60 blogs about all aspects of Europe river cruises, have 3 items on the first page of Google, we have 51 port guides (they are free) for you, and we have help dozens enjoy river cruising in Europe. And if that we not enough, we have 50 free guides to most Europe Cities you might want to visit before or after your Europe river cruise.
Some of our best clients who value our services on a AmaWaterways River Cruise 2015
The rest of the 2015 Best Clients Group on our AmaWaterways River Cruise
My Final Thoughts
Take a leap of faith, and take advantage of all our services. You can trust us to guide you with sage advice and reliable vendors. When you use us and the more often you do, you are saying that you value our services. We want to earn that trust from you to use us for your vacation needs.
We are travel experts, ocean and river cruise experts, and Europe destination experts. We have first-hand knowledge of almost anywhere you want to visit in Europe. We know our products and the vendors who sell them to you. We have designed special tours for dozens of clients, led several and will continue to find just the right vacation that will exceed your expectations. As you can see, our full service agency can get you to almost anywhere you desire to travel and provide you a great experience and vacation.
When you are spending your hard earned money for a vacation, you want an advisor who can match you with the right trip. You want someone who will understand your expectations and fuel your anticipation (or excitement) to get you the best possible trip experience.
Whatever your Dream Destinations are, we are here to help you get the best possible vacation based on what is important to you! We will provide you high quality, expertly planned travel. Please give me a call 713-397-0188 (Hank) or email me at hschrader@dreamdestinations.com. We want to help you: Savor life…make memories…Visit Dream Destinations! Your journey begins here!
HANK is a certified Western European Destination Specialist (DS) who has been traveling to Europe for 48+ years. He is also an Accredited Cruise Counselor (ACC), conferred by the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA). This recognized expert in cruise and leisure travel is a retired Army Officer, and taught World Geography for 8 years. He is a `71 graduate of West Point and has earned 2 master’s degrees. His other Certifications:
AmaWaterways River Cruise Specialist
Viking River Cruise Specialist
Scenic River Cruise Specialist
Emerald Waterways Specialist
Avalon Waterways Specialist
Brit Agent
