How long have you been in the business? For 15 years – I was travelling around the world on a two year working trip and decided I was really interested in the travel industry and went to school and came to Vancouver. And I haven’t looked back since!
Do you have a specialty? I do a lot of long-haul – Asia, Europe, Africa – and around the world tickets.
What was your best FAM? A hill tribe trek in Northern Thailand – it was a fantastic experience, staying with the villagers. Pretty hard core, but pretty incredible.
What drives you crazy? People who want their hands held but won’t pay a service fee – or they question you on it.
What was your biggest individual sale? An FIT for a family going to Asia, about $25,000.
Do you have a magic sentence to close the sale? Sometimes if people are in a rush I’ll ask them if we want to put an option on it…even just to the end of the day. If they have more time, I’ll say “How would you like to pay for that?”
Do you have any time management strategies? “Do one thing at a time” - though when it comes down to it the customer comes first.
How do you cope with jet lag? That’s timely! (Laura had just returned from a holiday in Thailand.) When it’s light out stay awake. I find it’s always harder coming home than going.
What do you do to keep your clients loyal? I give them exceptional service before they leave and after they come home, I sit down and talk to them about their trip and look at their photos. I’ve even had clients to my house for dinner. I really listen to them.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received? Pack lots of ziplock bags!
If you had to spend six months in a destination, which one would you pick? I’ve lived in Spain, the U.K. and Japan and would go back to any of those, but somewhere new? South America, because I haven’t been there.
If you weren’t doing this, what would you be doing? You know what? This. This is what I love to do – I’m very lucky and love my job.
