Since our last entry Travel Hi Five, coach Martin has been on the road a couple of times. One was an ocean-going cruise that was work-related and the second this month was a long-awaited river cruise (2 years in the making and rescheduled twice) on Ama Waterways. Both are fantastic ways to travel no doubt, but the river cruise was extra special as it was my wife and I’s first-ever river cruise. Our itinerary was on the Danube from Germany to Budapest. In all of our travels we touched 6 different countries! As my wife termed it, what an amazing way to get a “taster menu” of Europe to help us understand where we want to go back to and explore more. As we all know, having a trusted Travel Advisor is key these days so I wanted to highlight one such extraordinary advisor this month who specializes in International travel. This ongoing series here on The Compass; Travel Hi Five helps celebrate good news, hard work and lessons learned all around this great industry.
Let’s do just that then and get to know Diane Frisch of the aptly named Diane Frisch Destinations out of the Dallas/Fort Worth area since 2016. Like many advisors, Diane started out trying to find her way to a niche and specialty in this business. What she found was that planning her own journeys to Europe and then doing it for clients made her heart sing. Of course, when International travel is your thing then the pandemic was certainly hard on her business. Yes, she took other business and planned domestic trips and then eventually Mexico and the Caribbean. Finally, the moment came when she and her clients could return to Europe. Diane’s international experiences range from nine days in Florence to day trips around Italy, as well as deeper dive trips to Santorini, Athens and Crete. Diane has been to Spain alone seven times! Before we started our interview, we talked about our shared impressions of European travel and how it touches each person in different ways. Aside from my own personal growth, I recognized even more that having someone like Diane by your side is invaluable! So, let’s get to know Diane.
What keeps you up at night?
I do very customized Europe trips. I’ll do some cruises and river cruises too. For my customized ones, I have some clients with very special needs and I worry about them a lot. I have a few older clients or multi-generation with a grandparent. I took care of my parents in their older years; so more than anything I sometimes literally pray for some of my clients. I just want to make sure that everything is ok, that we have set the right kind of private transfers and that there is enough time for grandma to rest. You know, all of that kind of stuff is my number one thing.
Related to current situations, there is always the worry about COVID. I just tell my clients that they’re going to have to test negative to come home. So just know that, we’re going to make sure you can get your test but be aware. You have your travel insurance and we will figure out what we need to figure out but that’s the world we live in now. There are certain risks and you have to accept those risks. I don’t really worry about it all so much other than just telling them. They are grown up and whatever risk they’re okay with is their own to accept.
Follow-up question — Lots of advisors potentially internalize these worries how do you protect yourself from that? I know what you’re saying, and I hear that. I just take it as they’re grown-ups and I communicated what the risk is, if they’re happy to take the trip then I don’t stress about that. And if they get stuck and have to stay a few extra days then at least they knew that was a risk.
What motivates you every day to get up and do the work in this industry? What is your “Why”?
It’s funny because when things were bad during COVID I would talk to my husband and say, “I don’t know Mark, this is just not super fun right now canceling trips.” I found myself doing some trips that weren’t really my ideal trip. Then I got my first European trip again, and I really like the detailed European trips because they’re fun for me to plan and that is what I like to do. I know that I add value there, I would get those calls and skip up the stairs to my office. I’d be like, “Yay! I get to set up the files, set up my travel joy account and I‘m like ‘boom’!” My husband then said to me, you need to do more of those trips that make you skip up the stairs. I do! My thing is that I understand my value there when I book Europe. I know those destinations well, and I can offer some really cool touring. I have great contacts at hotels. I can make that trip better than it was going to be if they booked it on their own.
I don’t really believe that about myself with certain other kinds of trips. When I first started, I attended a webinar that someone did online and he said something that really stuck with me. He said that you don’t have to look at this as sales, there are two kinds of people, people you can help and people you can’t help. If you look at it like that it will make you feel better when a sale doesn’t go through. Maybe it makes you feel less sales-y? I really like that I feel like I am helping people. If it doesn’t work and they don’t book with me then I couldn’t help them and that is ok. So that kind of gets me going, I feel the value when I am helping people and that makes me happy.
What stands out as a success or a “win” as we work towards recovery for this industry during these times?
Clients value me even more than they used to, I think. There are people I have as clients who are followers and then friends on social media who have always booked on their own. They are seeing more value in me that they didn’t see before because they are worried about COVID restrictions changing. They’re also worried that the hotel they thought was good isn’t so good anymore because of the reviews. Who knows if that tour guide is still good, you know, there are a whole bunch of new guides out there and some guides that used to be there that aren’t anymore.
So, that is where I am definitely seeing more people value my opinion and what I do. They see that I have been to Europe a bunch of times and they’re like, “well shoot, you’ve done it and you’re not the bravest person out there, I can’t be that bad so can you explain to me how to do it.”
What travel destination is on the “must-do” list for you then for your customers?
I have a lot on my list. But for my clients, people are tired of waiting. I’m selling so much Italy it's ridiculous, trying to keep track of it can be hard. They’re tired of waiting and are like, “you know what, I am going to go and do the trip I always wanted to do and I’m not going to mess around.” I had a client call me about going to Hawaii, when we talked I was like, wow you are so not excited about this trip, where do you really want to go? She wanted to go to Europe, so we made that happen and she went to Spain. I have a lot of clients like that. Not only do they want to go where they have been putting off going to, because they realize that something can happen and maybe I won’t be able to go now, and P.S., they haven’t spent a lot of money in a while. They have the money, but they want to make it great because they haven’t been traveling for a while. So, you know what, I don’t know when I am going back to Italy so If I go I’m going to make this special.
Follow up question — you said you have a lot on your personal list but if you had to pick one what’s at the top of the list? I’m going to Belgium in June because I wanted to explore somewhere I haven’t been in Europe. Maybe a few months ago, my husband and I watch a lot of travel shows, we decided to look at Belgium. We’ve never been there and after we started watching all the travel shows we came up with a 10-day itinerary around Belgium with Bruges, Ghent and Ypres where Flanders Field American Cemetery is and Brussels.
What tricks or tips do you have for social media marketing?
I get a lot of business from social media and it’s not the way I think a lot of people think of it. The first thing to always remember is that your marketing is using YOU, not necessarily the price of the destination. Yes, this might be a beautiful hotel, or this may be an experience, but why do I need an advisor to book it? So, you want to show them what you bring to the table and then a way to reach you to book that trip.
Part of that is putting yourself in those pictures, even if you feel funny about it, it matters. People feel like they know you a little bit. I will have people book with me that have been following me as a friend and get someone I went to college with more than 30 years ago. They are just sort of following me and all of a sudden they’ll reach out and tell me they want to go to Italy but are kind of nervous, but they know I have been doing this for a while and wonder if I am able to put it together for them. They’ve been watching for a long time and it's not that I posted a $399 room night that got them, it’s that they trust me, they know I know the destination because I focus on certain destinations in my social media along with what I can bring to the table.
I hear agents say that they posted on social media and don’t get any bookings from it. Well, it’s not like you just post whatever XYZ cruise line promo and magically expect the phone to be ringing off the hook. That’s not really how it works, it’s more know, like and trust. They need to trust you, tell them how to reach you then you need to show up and be there. I put out there what I really want to sell, I used to try to do other things but when I put out what is in my heart that I want to sell, it eventually comes back to me. I want to sell Europe, so maybe it is two years later that my college roommate’s ex-boyfriend that follows me still is like, this Italy thing is confusing and I know Diane Frisch does that, I’m going to reach out to her. That’s how it keeps coming around.
Follow up question — What did you do in the beginning related to your selling YOU philosophy? Show that you know things. The Travel Institute had an Italy specialist class so I took that, I posted pictures of Italy and then my certificate that says I am a certified Italy Specialist. I went to Cruise 360 early on when I thought I wanted to do cruises and I had all these pictures of ship inspections or the trade show, it makes you look like you’re a professional. You’re out there hobnobbing and learning things, the general public doesn’t know these things exist so take pictures of the room or the people you’re meeting with.
I was on a Princess ship once with a badge around my neck in the atrium of this ship showing that I am there, it looked like I was doing professional work. I didn’t have to go on an actual cruise to achieve that, it was a ship inspection. Take your picture with the Princess rep at the trade show booth, you look like a serious professional when you’re doing those things. It cost some money, yes, but it is not like going to Europe or an actual cruise, free local events are great ways to do the same thing.
I of course asked if Diane had any final thoughts for you dear readers, here is what she had to say, “I would say that Europe is back! It definitely matters that people trust us and are maybe a little nervous to go back out there. That’s our opportunity to really grow, don’t be afraid to put yourself out there on your social media, KNOW, LIKE and TRUST is kind of what it is all about.”
Thank you, Diane! Want to see some of her social media in action? Check her out at: https://www.facebook.com/DFDestinations
Have a question you think should be considered for future editions of Travel Hi Five? Get in touch with me at mmussey@travelleaders.com. Until next time – Here is to Your Success!
comments