Nicole Fairess. (Source: Nicole Fairess)
Travel Advisor Success Stories focus on veteran advisors and how they achieved success. Heres a look at Nicole Fairess, owner of We Do the World Getaways.
How did you get your start as a travel advisor?
Like so many, I thought my love of travel would make me great at this profession. I worked for an agency for one year and realized I wanted something different C and wanted to do things differently.
I opened my own agency in 2011. At the time, growing and expanding wasnt important to me. The most important thing was pouring my time into each family that trusted me with their vacations, with their hard-earned and hard-saved vacation dollars. I didnt want them to reach an 800 number or an assistant answering the phone. I wanted them to reach me each time they called.
The relationships that I built became one of the most surprising and important parts of my journey. These relationships not only led to success for me in the industry, but to the incredible growth of my company. I have several former clients that turned out to be great advisors with We Do the World Getaways.
I would say 50 percent of our advisors are former clients of a We Do the World Getaways agent. These clients had such an amazing customer service experience, they decided to be part of it. I am blessed to be surrounded by advisors who dont need to be part of the biggest agency name in the industry but believe in the way we do business and our core values of family, commitment, integrity, authenticity, imagination and stewardship.
How did you build your business over the years?
In 2011, I truly did not have the vision of what our company is today. For me, word of mouth and social media have been incredibly important. Going above and beyond for clients creates the word-of-mouth recommendations that are so vital in this business.
I was lucky to be backed by an incredible husband, and his career that allowed me to build on what I believed in without the urgency to grow. Sticking to my values and treating clients based on our core values naturally brought them back and helped expand my client base.
The building of the business really took off in 2015 when we joined a consortium and started expanding our knowledge through online and onsite training, site visits and certifications.
The best thing I ever did was put a management team in place. We have a senior manager, a global destinations manager, a Disney destinations manager and a social media & marketing manager. When you ask how I have built my business over the years, I would say it was with these four incredible women. Each of them is passionate about what they do. They believe in the way we run the company and want to see it succeed. They each manage a team, and those teams ensure that each advisor has the support they need to grow.
What characteristics make you a successful advisor?
Listening to my clients, to my team and to my family. You have to listen to clients and catch every little off-the-cuff comment, which gives insight into who they are are as people C not just who they are as your clients.
I also listen to my team. They know me so well and have kept me focused during times when I could have lost that focus. I am so grateful for their support and their willingness to always do and say what is best for the company. ?
And I have listened to my family! Theres nothing like supportive voices of loved ones to lift you up and give you honest advice. My family keeps me in check and remind me of my blessings and that I am blessed.
What have your greatest accomplishments been?
It would be so easy to say booking my first Europe trip or reaching a certain status with different suppliers. I believe my greatest accomplishment has been building a team with a supportive environment. We give back to our advisors and to the communities that support us. We have a system in place where every advisor has several levels of support to help them grow.
What tips can you provide advisors new to the industry?
Understand what you are getting into! For those of us who love it, it is a way of life. Working seven days a week and on your personal vacations is a way of life. Getting texts at 2:00 a.m. and helping your client who missed their flights is a way of life. There are no set work hours and certainly no overtime pay. But none of that matters if you love what you do, and our advisors love what they do.
Getting a text at 2:00 a.m. from a client traveling overseas is so worth it when you get an iconic picture of them later in the day saying thank you. Getting a video of that senior opening her Mickey graduation ears that I sent her for her upcoming Disney photo shoot is more than worth it!
Invest in yourself and your clients. Answer the phone! They will be shocked you want to listen to them and help them C and they will be your clients for life!
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