How long have you been in the business? Since 1977! I started at $100 a week.
Do you have a specialty? The Caribbean - I love Jamaica - and Florida, also cruises. And I’m an Ireland specialist.
What was your biggest individual sale? Four people to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji – about $50,000.
What drives you crazy? People who read trip advisories on the internet and give more weight to some stranger’s opinion than to ours.
Do you have a magic sentence to close the sale? Especially with younger clientele, I suggest they don’t book last minute. I say “If you book your holiday in advance and you have some bad stuff happen in your life, you always have your trip to look forward to.”
Do you have any time management strategies? When I’m doing research, I need to focus so I let calls go to voicemail and try not to read my emails every 10 minutes.
What do you do to keep your clients loyal? I humour them! And I’m honest.
If you had to spend six months in a destination, which one would you pick? I just saw Mamma Mia so it would have to be Greece.
If you weren’t doing this, what would you be doing? There isn’t really anything in this world that has this variety and is as educational – every day I learn something.
If you could have any job in the business, whose would it be? Butch Stewart’s!
