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	Scott Koepf Vice President of Sales Avoya Travel/American Express www.JoinAvoya.com

What Kind of Fool Am I? There may be a few of you who are already composing your E-mail to answer this question for me. While I will be happy to receive those replies, this question is actually designed to ask of yourself, not others. It is the title of a song that became more famous than the show it came from, Stop the World — I Want to Get Off. Through singing the beautiful melody and piercing lyrics, the character tries to find the answer to the question in the title of the song, "What Kind of Fool Am I?" Through this self-analysis, he realizes he may be incapable of love, which is sad indeed. As compared to most of my musical theatre references, this song is really somewhat depressing. So how is this introspective song related to selling travel? After recently reading a number of community forums and Facebook posts, I was struck with the idea that maybe we need to take the approach of this song and apply it to our businesses. As I noted above, this song is about self-analysis, so let's take a look at ourselves. As travel agents, we are in a very competitive and dynamic business — if you do not agree with that you might as well stop reading this! While I understand the frustrations of losing business to competitors or direct sales, I guess I am tired of the blame game. It seems that just about every post says something like "They (insert competitor or supplier name here) are doing this bad thing or that bad thing and I am losing business because of it...." Of course, it is easy for others to jump in and toss a couple "Halleluiahs" and "Amens" and add to the tale of woe. Soon, you have an unending string of "They did this..." and "They did that..." I may not make friends with this next comment, but maybe it is time to sing the song, "What Kind of Fool Am I"? (Now you really want to send me your answers!) Before you get too upset, please don't imply that I am calling you a fool. But I do think we all should start by looking at what our actions have been instead of moaning and groaning about what others are doing. Everything we do comes out of the choices we make, and no matter how upset we might get, the fact is that others are winning sales and growing their businesses in the same environment we are in. The irony here is the very fact that we travel agents exist is the whole proof that I am right. Remember that due to commission cuts, the Internet, the economy or direct sales, we are not supposed to be here! Yet here we are. However, I think the most successful agents are not the ones loudly worrying about what "they" are doing but instead have made choices to change and adapt which allow them to succeed. So, the next time you lose a sale take a deep breath and think about this song's self analysis and focus on "What did I do?" instead of what "they" did. Complaining about what "they" did will simply not improve your business prospects for the future. However, true self analysis will. I always recommend that agents review what did and more importantly, didn't work on a daily if not weekly basis. So if you lost business to a competitor, step into your panic room and scream primordially, then come back and ask yourself why that happened. If your answer is that "they" have a better price or that their marketing is too pervasive, then I suggest you did not ask the right question. Once again, it is self-analysis, not blame analysis. What can be learned from this to make sure it does not happen again? Did you follow up to the degree you should have? Did you do enough research to quote a compelling offer in the first place? Did you spend enough time with the customer and ask enough questions to build a relationship? Did you clearly articulate the benefits of booking with you? If you are honest with yourself, you will determine what you may not have done well so you can improve for the next time. If you sing the song below just a few times (with some liberty taken with the lyrics) you may realize the only foolish thing would be to not sing this song! What kind of fool am I? Who didn't make the sale? What can I do next time so I will not fail? I need to learn and grow Or clients will never know What kind of Jewel I really am!
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Auto Europe Car Rental Recommendations Before
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Auto Europe Car Rental Recommendations Before
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Auto Europe Car Rental Recommendations Before

You Leave For Europe

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"Best of the Best Globe Award"

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Joel M. Abels • Rusty Pickett • Scott Koepf• Cruising • Airline • Europe • Hotels • Luxury Cruising • Paull Tickner • Mitchel J. Schlesinger • Sherry Laskin • Les-Lee Roland • Mary Brutscher • Sue Shapiro

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This website is dedicated to the memory of Joel M. Abels
"HE CREATED A VOICE, NOT JUST AN ECHO"