Kim Cook. (Source: Kim Cook)
Success Stories focus on veteran travel advisors and how they achieved success. Here’s a look at Kim Cook, owner of Love to Travel in Overland Park, Kan.
How did you get your start as a travel advisor?
Love to Travel was founded 30 years ago after my husband and I tried to plan our own destination wedding with a local travel agency. We were disappointed in the service we received for such a special occasion and knew we could do better. We combined our love of travel with our past experience in sales and customer service to build a thriving family business. Love to Travel has grown by focusing exclusively on tropical beach vacations throughout the Caribbean, Mexico, Hawaii and Tahiti.
How did you build your niche over the years?
From the beginning, we knew we wanted to focus on romance travel and beach vacations. We partnered with Sandals Resorts and Funjet Vacations and started exhibiting at bridal shows. From our success there, we reached out to friends and family and started planning their beach vacations. Since we had planned our own destination wedding, we naturally started promoting destination weddings as a niche and that business has continued to grow each year.
What characteristic make you a successful advisor?
I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit. From a young age, I was always coming up with new business ideas and thinking of ways to market those ideas. I love social media and how it connects us with our clients. Being a successful advisor means understanding your client’s needs and providing experiences that meet those needs. It also means communicating in a meaningful way how you can help your clients. Every member of our team shares these characteristics, so our clients feel heard and appreciate the service we provide. Service is our number one priority!
What have your greatest challenges been?
Learning how to lead during a crisis (COVID) was the biggest challenge for us. My husband and I spent many sleepless nights worrying about our employees and how we would manage our business with zero income. Fortunately, we all pulled together and were able to hang in there until travel returned. It is always tough having to let good employees go, but in these circumstances we didn’t have a choice. The lessons we learned will certainly stay with us if we ever have to navigate another business crisis.
What are your greatest accomplishments?
Building our award-winning team is the accomplishment I am most proud of. Our employees and independent contractors have been with us for many years. They understand our goals and work hard every day to give our clients their best. We are always brainstorming new ideas and better ways to increase our efficiencies. We were recently voted “Favorite Travel Agency” in the Kansas City area and that is due to the personal level of service provided to our clients every day. Building loyalty within our client base is the number one reason we continue to grow every year.
What tips can you provide advisors new to the industry?
For new advisors, I think it is crucial to find your niche and stick with it. It is hard to be a travel advisor that sells everything. I am reminded of the quote ‘Jack of all trades, master of none.’ It is important to really focus on the areas that you love to experience and sell those. If you don’t enjoy booking destination weddings, don’t book destination weddings. Find your passion and make sure you are an expert in that area. Your clients will appreciate your level of expertise for your chosen specialty.
For your existing clients, make sure you nurture those relationships. Develop established touch points throughout the booking and travel process. Your clients can make a travel transaction on an online booking site. Make sure you give them more. We have developed a list of tasks that are completed from the time the booking is made until clients return. This has really helped our clients feel important and be inclined to refer their friends to Love to Travel. It has also helped to grow our five-star reviews, which are essential to have on your website. Most potential clients look for reviews if they have never used you before.
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