Travel Advisor Success Stories: Tami Goad McDaniel, First Alliance Travel

Tami Goad McDaniel, (Source: Tami Goad McDaniel)

Travel Advisor Success Stories focus on veteran advisors and how they achieved success. Here’s a look at Tami Goad McDaniel, vice president of travel operations at First Travel Alliance.

How did you get your start as a travel advisor?

Thirty years ago, I was on my way to work and it was raining pretty hard. I passed a car broken down on the side of the road with what looked like a mom and her children. I decided if it was me, I would want someone to stop and help me, so I turned around and went back and asked if I could help.

She said she was on her way to her sister’s house who was babysitting her kids so she could go to work and her car had quit. I drove them to her sister’s and that was that – or so I thought.

Later that morning, her sister, who worked in the same building, came in and asked to speak with me. She introduced herself as the manager of the storefront travel agency, and said she wanted to thank me for picking up her sister in the pouring rain and helping keep them safe. I said it was nothing and that I only did what I would want someone to do for me.

She started to walk away and then turned around and asked if I had ever thought of becoming a travel agent. I said I had not, and she said she had an opening and would love for me to come check out the office and see if I would be interested in training and working with them. I said I had a daughter with disabilities and I was only working the other job because it fit with not having a babysitter and I’d have to think about whether I could make it work.

It was a great opportunity and I decided to accept the offer. The agency sent me to travel school and also to Worldspan training classes. I ended up opening another agency for the owner and was the coordinated assessment system (CAS) qualifier for that agency.

I wasn’t looking for travel, but it found me. Call it divine intervention, right place, right time – but travel has had my heart ever since.

How did you build your business over the years?

Word-of-mouth referrals and marketing have been the key. Social media has certainly played a huge role over the last few years. Also, having great relationships with our suppliers over the years and partnering with them to help grow the business and implementing those suggestions has also been important.

What characteristics make you a successful advisor?

Listening is key. Recap what you believe you heard because truly hearing what someone is portraying to you and knowing if it can be accomplished is important. Listen to understand and not just with the intent to respond. If you listen with the just the intent to respond you can miss what your clients are explaining all together at times.

As a case in point, I had a client who had been through every in-house advisor and supervisor and finally landed with me. She told me she had booked five vacations for her nieces and nephews and paid in full. This was back when clients received the amazing packages with leather document holders and such – and they were not going to be there in time for her to give them to her family at Thanksgiving, which was she said several times during the conversation.

Everyone at the agency she had reached out to had given her correct information. They told her the booking showed it was paid in full and that she would receive documents 30 days prior to travel, etc. They weren’t wrong. They told her the facts.

I recapped what I heard – that she enjoyed being the favorite aunt because her nieces and nephews were her only family, and that it gave her great joy to watch their faces when they opened the gifts, and that she knew they would get the packages, but she wouldn’t be able to see them open them and it just wouldn’t be the same.

So, I asked if she would give me their addresses and tell me something special about them. I told her that after work that day I was going to stop by Hallmark and pick out a different card for each family member and tell them what an amazing aunt they had. Through no fault of her own the documents weren’t available to be sent – but she wanted them to know how special they were to her and that we were sorry that the packages hadn’t arrived in time. I said I hoped the cards would let them know that they would receive a very special vacation gift from their aunt. She couldn’t believe someone heard her. I handwrote each note and she couldn’t have been happier. So, for me that is my best gift – hearing others and acting upon it.

What have your greatest challenges been?

I think we all struggle with the balance of work and ‘me time.’ It’s hard to pour from an empty cup, and we all need to work on the concept of taking time for ourselves and our families.

What have your greatest accomplishments been?

The creation of many processes and trainings have helped empower our advisors to grow their businesses. We have attained a wall full of awards, which is a reflection of the amazing independent contractors that we have. Surviving and thriving in the midst of COVID and its aftermath is a tribute to the tenacity of our advisors and the drive we all have for designing memories and helping dreams flourish for our travel group.

What tips can you provide advisors new to the industry?

Learn. Don’t be afraid to fail. Listen to your clients and fellow seasoned advisors. Attend your company’s Zoom meetings, webinars live in-person trainings.

One my most valued learning experiences was from sitting on a beach late at night with two seasoned agents on my first fam trip and listening to them and asking questions. Don’t be so crippled by fear and ‘learning it all’ (you never will) that you have a ‘failure to launch.’

Start with what you know. And start slow. Don’t start learning about a destination or trip until someone asks. Go ahead and work on the type of travel you like as if you were going on the trip so you can see the process. Surround yourself with others who have like-minded goals and network and share with each other. I’m so proud to be a member of the Travel Allies Society, which helps provide that for me and many other industry leaders.

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