Great Leaders Make Great Franchisees

How Our Franchisees fill several leadership roles as they set their team and business up for success

At Expedia Cruises, there’s a key characteristic we actively look for in our franchisees – leadership. While a passion for travel in this business is important, it actually plays a smaller role in the realm of the franchise owner than you might think. As a travel agency franchisee, the customer you’re devoted to serving is your team of Vacation Consultants (who sell travel on behalf of your retail travel agency) and your product is providing them with the tools and support to best serve their clients.

The role of an Expedia Cruises franchisee is multifaceted; it is as dynamic and challenging (in the best ways) as it is rewarding. Here are three different ways you’ll put your leadership skills to work as you’re building a successful travel agency.

Recruiter and Trainer

Expedia Cruises franchisees approach recruitment and onboarding their team of Vacation Consultants as an ongoing commitment and opportunity to continuously grow their team and business. You’ll find your dream team out in your community – they’re typically warm and energetic individuals who love helping others.

When it comes to training your team, we’re here to guide you through our training system designed to help people with little to no travel industry experience learn how to sell custom vacation packages. We help you to recruit and train your team in many ways from a dedicated recruitment website for your location to regular webinars and events to help your team boost their sales. The better equipped and supported your team is, the better the service their clients will receive and the higher the sales potential of your business. After all, we’re only as strong as the team we build and creating an environment for your team of independent consultants to flourish will be the most important contributor to your success.

Mentor and Coach

As part of the Expedia Cruises system, you have access to our powerful proprietary software to help remain up-to-date on your location’s and team’s performance. This is a great tool for identifying opportunities for growth within your team as well as keeping your business on track to achieve your franchise goals. Teaching your team how to leverage the tactics of our proprietary sales methodology, The Navigators Approach, will also help them to build strong long-term relationships with their customers with our tools and programs in place. We provide ongoing sales leadership training for franchisees to help you coach your Consultants to sales success. Coaching your travel consultants about our promotions as well as hosting events at your location will help your team excel and offer their clients the best products available along with advice they can trust.

#1 Fan and Cheerleader

You are your Vacation Consultants’ biggest fan! Keeping your team motivated and feeling recognized and appreciated is important for their continued success. Making sales alone shouldn’t mean recognition – the path to being a successful salesperson takes time, on-the-job experience and a desire to improve skills. Everything from a Consultant providing exceptional service to their customers, to making connections with potential customers at events is deserving of recognition. We have a fantastic recognition program called Navigators Club that presents a great opportunity for franchisees to continuously set goals for and applaud their team of both new and experienced Consultants. By recognizing the best practices of your Consultants, you establish a benchmark for your team to strive for and establish your location as the best source for all of your community’s travel needs!

As a franchisee you’ll be dedicated to the ongoing success of your location as you manage the day-to-day operations of your retail business; you’ll also recruit and support your team of independent Vacation Consultants and create an engaging environment. It’s a busy job starting a travel agency that is incredibly rewarding. At Expedia Cruises, we’re committed to helping our franchisees become exceptional leaders who build a strong team to help to set them up on the path to a successful business.

Learn More

If you’ve still got questions about why investing in a retail travel agency franchise is a great decision, we’d be happy to answer them! For more details about the Expedia Franchise opportunity fill out our request form or take a look at this six-step overview of our retail travel agency franchise opportunity here.