For Fiona, redundancy led her to rejuvenation and a brand new lease of life.
Of course no one wants to be made redundant, but so often it’s the push we need to finally take control and do something we’ve always wanted to do.
Having spent 35 years working in science labs as a technician and then as the laboratory manager at Keele University – a career she admittedly enjoyed – Covid and under-funding finally saw Fiona faced with redundancy in 2021.
Scrolling through Facebook she came across The Travel Franchise and liked what she saw. “I’ve always loved travel. Finally I had the opportunity to do something that I wanted to do so I thought: why not give it a go?”
Give it a go she certainly did and she’s loving it. “I wish I’d done it years ago,” she gushes. “It’s the best thing I’ve ever done.”
Fiona started her training in August 2021. Be prepared for five days of intense, live, online training when we take you through all the booking and business management systems and introduce you to some of our 450 different travel partners and suppliers.
We pack a lot into that week, but don’t panic. We don’t expect you to learn all the ropes immediately. On the last day of training you’ll be assigned a Business Development Manager (BDM). Your BDM isn’t your boss – after all, it’s your business. They’re there simply to hold your hand, advise, motivate and support you every step of the way.
As your business progresses you’ll be assigned a new BDM. “In fairness, all my BDMs have been fantastic. I’ve currently got Danny and I love her. She constantly sends us WhatsApp messages inspiring us or informing us of what’s going on. If you’re ever stuck she’s just a WhatsApp away, which is worth its weight in gold.”
We’ve already got the highest ratio of consultants to BDMs in the business and we’ve recently upped that even more by recruiting four new members to the team. Collectively, our BDMs have hundreds of years of invaluable travel experience that you’ll benefit from.
And the training is ongoing. Because 98% of our agents are completely new to travel we prioritise your training and education.
As part of your Elite franchise fee we’ll whisk you away overseas for dedicated in-destination training. We’ll give you two overseas training trips on us. The Millionaire’s Retreat takes relatively new agents to a short-haul destination to review how business is going on a daily basis, while the Elite Experience takes more experienced agents away to help them devise a long-term strategic plan to ensure their business grows.
Fiona recently attended our Elite Experience to Universal Studios in Orlando!
“It was absolutely fantastic. There were about 30 of us – including one of the company owners, Steve. We spent three days in the classroom brushing up on our skills and then the rest of the week we explored the park, going on all the rides.
“We had the real VIP experience. We were taken around and we went on 14 rides in one day – it was fantastic.”
Fiona is also a member of our Cruise Division. Since launching this specialist training division we’ve seen sales of cruise holidays skyrocket.
As part of the Division, agents can join our regular Seminars at Sea – training trips on board a real cruise. We’ve joined forces with Virgin Voyages, Princess Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Lines in the past and it’s just been announced that our next Seminars at Sea will be with Fred Olsen.
Fiona is planning to be on board for that one.
“The Seminars give us great in-depth training about so many cruise suppliers. We learn not only about the different ships but also the backroom skills of how to book specific holidays on their websites. And they are great fun.
“Before I joined the Division I’d sold two cruises. I’ve now sold 59. So you can tell: the training is second to none.”
On dry land, the cruise training continues. “Probably twice a week there’s a webinar from a different supplier. I try to attend as many as I can. The more you learn the better informed you feel when you’re talking to customers.”
As if this couldn’t get any better – it just has.
At our recent annual company conference we announced that membership to our Cruise Division has now become completely FREE! So beneficial to agents and the company as a whole, we’ve ditched the membership fees to this hugely successful division. We want to give every one of our agents the opportunity to master the art of selling cruises.
And this wasn’t the only headline news unveiled at our conference. We also announced that our T-Profile quotation tool was now being rolled out to all our agents on a permanent basis – completely FREE of charge.
Following a resoundingly successful six-month trial session, we’ve decided to make T-Profile a permanent fixture for our consultants. This got an overwhelming thumbs up from all our agents – including Fiona.
“I was introduced to T-Profile back in November when I did the training. Now I use it all the time. The feedback I’ve had from customers is amazing. They love the graphics and all the information that I can put into their quotes. The news that it’s now free is the best.”
Initiatives such as this are a demonstration of how we are constantly striving to help our agents find and secure business. It certainly seems to be working for Fiona.
So far she’s sold over £700k-worth of holidays and has enjoyed some big bookings.
“I’ve had a family of seven that are going to Disney next September so that was a really nice booking. I’ve also got a family doing a multi-centre holiday in America. They’re going to San Francisco, two islands in Hawaii and Los Angeles.”
Fiona has also joined her local chapter of the BNI (Business Network International). “We meet once a week and it’s great to meet fellow business owners. I’ve had about £25,000 worth of business from them in just a few months. So it’s been a really good investment in my business.”
But it’s not all work. This is one industry where business and pleasure combine seamlessly. As an avid and passionate traveller, Fiona can’t wait to go on her next holiday. Our agents are able to tap into some great trade deals and discounts. In a few weeks Fiona’s off on another cruise.
“We’re doing a nine-night cruise from Southampton to Spain and France and I’m really looking to it. I’m particularly excited to go on on Celebrity Apex. It’s one of Celebrity’s newer ships and I’ve wanted to go on it for quite some time.”
No doubt Fiona will check out the ship on her holiday only to come back and for it to pay for itself several times over when she recommends it to her clients.
So what would she say to anyone thinking of joining?
“I can’t recommend it enough. It’s completely changed my life!”
Want to change your life? Don’t wait for redundancy. Don’t waste years before doing something you’ll love.
