‘Going the extra mile’ essential to growing business, say Carrier agents

Thoughtful gestures before and after trips are key to driving bookings, according to a group of leading luxury agents.

Speaking on a panel at Carrier’s annual overseas Retreat, held at Forte Village in Sardinia, trade partners said “going the extra mile” to “elevate the client experience” was an important value-add.

Travel Counsellors’ Sarah Greene said she had “learned to invest in her business and clients, even for the little things”, citing how she sends ‘welcome home’ breakfast hampers to clients returning on early morning flights.

She said the gesture had resulted in word-of-mouth recommendations and additional bookings. 

“After doing this for one client, their family member reached out to me and made a £40,000 booking to Sandy Lane in Barbados,” she added. 

Greene also focuses on fostering close relationships with her clients by staying connected via “sending emails every few weeks and meeting them for coffees”.

She said she also plans to host an ‘appreciation dinner’ for her top customers in the coming weeks. 

Helen Thomas, founder of Luxury Travel Studio, agreed that “elevating the client experience” is important to retaining high-value customers.

She said: “Gone are the days where you [just] put a bottle of champagne in the room; it’s about actually nurturing your existing clients and going [above and] beyond for them.”

Thomas added that she now spends more time “being creative and looking at individual clients and how to elevate each trip before and after”.

She shared an example of creating a photo book for a client who had travelled for a milestone birthday, which was delivered upon their return.

Carrier’s head of trade partnerships Lee Marshall said the tour operator had taken a similar approach.

He said: “We are transacting fewer bookings than we were last year or the year before, but that gives [the team] more headspace to focus on our high-value [clients] and do it properly.”