Travel Masters Podcast
Founded by travel goddess and CEO of Small World Big Fun, Cindy Minor and sales training expert Morris Sims, The Travel Masters Learning Community (click the link and join us there too) is here to help you grow in the world of travel and achieve greatness!
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Travel Masters Podcast
Building Trust and Creating Personalized Travel Magic
Discover how Becky Lukovic turned her passion for independent travel into a flourishing career as a luxury travel advisor. Becky’s journey from organizing backpacking trips to creating elevated, personalized itineraries is nothing short of inspiring. She doesn’t just plan trips; she designs experiences, tailoring every detail to her clients' unique visions. Learn how Becky differentiates herself in an industry where personalized service and a fine-tuned mindset make all the difference, and why having a professional advisor can transform your travels into unforgettable adventures.
Ever wondered how to win over skeptical clients? Becky shares invaluable strategies on building trust and confidence without coming across as arrogant. She emphasizes the power of listening and leveraging her extensive expertise to foster meaningful client relationships. Hear about her meticulous onboarding process that ensures every client feels heard and understood, smoothing the path to actionable travel plans. Plus, get an inside look at her innovative women's travel club—a fantastic solution for those eager to explore the world without a companion. From intimate group trips to marketing strategies, Becky reveals how this community paves the way for lasting friendships and memorable journeys.
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Welcome to the Travel Masters podcast. We're here to help travel advisors and travel agency owners get what they really want from their business. I'm Morris Sims and I'm going to be your host for our podcast. I'm an ex-chemical engineer turned life insurance agent. I got to tell you selling life insurance was a lot more fun for me than being an engineer. After a few years, they asked me to teach other people how to do what I was doing. And well, long story short, we wound up in New York City for 20 years. That was quite a change for a young Alabama boy. I retired after 20 years as the vice president and chief learning officer, where my team and I trained over 12,000 agents and their managers to be independent business owners and sales professionals. Now I'm not one to stop working, so I started my own business and I was blessed to find a sweet spot with travel professionals that I was able to help. Now I've got several travel agency consulting clients and I'm the co-founder of the Travel Masters Learning Community, where we provide opportunities for travel professionals to become more effective, efficient and to get what they want from their business.
Speaker 1:On this podcast, I'm going to be interviewing guests that I believe are going to have a message that can be of help to you. Our travel professional community and I'll do some solo episodes as well with some other stuff that I really think can help you in your business. So, with all that said, hey, let's get this party started with today's episode. What do you say? Our guest today on the travel masters podcast is becky lukovich. Becky is a luxury travel advisor and I can't wait to hear more about that. So I'm just going to hush and let her start talking. Becky, tell us a little bit about a luxury travel advisor, how you got going into this and you know what's this all about.
Speaker 2:Hey Morris, thank you so much for having me on your podcast. I think my journey into being a travel entrepreneur started, like many people, where I found myself dreaming of travel. I found myself. My life list included travel and I was. I was really good at putting the pieces together, so I would put my own trips together and spend hundreds of hours putting my pieces together, even before people really had websites, much and um, and then would help other people, like anybody's like, oh, let me help you with your itinerary.
Speaker 2:And I started with a love of independent travel and custom itineraries and because I was a backpacker through Europe so I would help other people who wanted to backpack. It's like, well, here, let me help you with your itinerary. It's like, oh, exactly what I do now. Oh, you need a few more days here. You can't go one day one city. Two days one city. It's like you need three, maybe a two here. You can't get from here to there easily, that kind of thing. And so I started. I had some education Back then. They had some travel schools, but there's still education here to be had. I got some education and found a few mentors and opened my business and it's been a wild ride since then.
Speaker 1:That's amazing, and for more than 20 years you've been doing this. Becky, tell me you're very specific about being a luxury travel advisor. How do you define that compared to anybody else out there in the world that says, oh, I'm a travel advisor, I help people plan the best trips they've ever had in their entire lives. Tell me how you differentiate yourself there.
Speaker 2:Sure, the luxury travel space. So some of it is the space, it's the products that I offer to my travelers, and then some of it is a mindset. The mindset I have is I'm a puzzle putter together person. I like to put the pieces together. I listen to my clients. I try not to give a cookie cutter experience, even if elevation is the piece where the luxury kicks in. So I'm not an order taker but rather I'm kind of a have wine, we'll listen, kind of girl. So I listen to what they want to do, we have conversations about it, I ask questions and then we take this vision that's their vision and then craft this trip together. And to me that's the epitome of a luxury travel advisor, versus someone who just says call me up, tell me what you want, I'm going to book it, I'll give you some advice, some places I've seen, and not to discount that. But that is the difference in elevation I've seen and not to discount that, but that is the difference in elevation.
Speaker 1:Oh, I agree wholeheartedly. It really comes down to being a professional advisor versus, as you say, being kind of an order taker. I mean, in today's world, golly, if you're just taking orders, I can do that online myself. I don't need a travel advisor.
Speaker 2:I mean, there's still a level of experience that's helpful. But yes, so if you want to bring value, you definitely need to shift your paradigm. Because it's easy, it feels easy that, oh, they want to stay at this hotel, it's the right price, everything. Check that box and just move on to the next thing. But sometimes, if you go, well you know if it's a little bit more you could have this or have you thought about this, and so then suddenly you've brought immense value to their vacation experience because you're presenting things they haven't thought about yet.
Speaker 1:Things they haven't thought about, things they don't even know are possible. That's the part that I get excited about is, as a great travel advisor, you can come up with things and share stuff with people that they didn't even know it was possible to get a stateroom with those kind of accommodations for only X amount of dollars more than what they were thinking about with the ad that they happened to see online somewhere. It's just amazing what's out there, but it's not bad or wrong. It's just that they don't know, they're not supposed to know. They're not travel advisors. That's our job is to give them the information so that they can make the best decision for their family.
Speaker 2:Would you agree, absolutely 100%. And then even beyond the hotel or the cruise or resort, I mean things they may not know. It's like okay, you're arriving in Paris, do you want VIP meet and greets so you can get to the front of the line for immigration? And they're like, what? Like, look at that.
Speaker 1:I didn't know that.
Speaker 2:I've never been to Paris, but that's mighty darn important it has gone from, yeah, from my most favorite thing to now, something I'm like it's essential. It's it's essential. Just let me get it for you. It's essential, it's spendy. It's getting spendier as more people are figuring it out. But it's essential, but it's things like that it's just incredible.
Speaker 1:I've done a little bit of international travel not a lot but that's one of the most frustrating parts of the whole deal is getting through customs and immigration and whatever else the country requires. It's just absolutely incredible and you get a luxury like you're talking about. It's like traveling first class on an airplane or having a trusted traveler number, an airplane or being a trusted travel, having a trusted traveler number. Once you have experienced these things, they're no longer luxuries. They become necessities.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, it becomes essential.
Speaker 1:My wife and I just traveled to Phoenix and back and yes, it was August and yes, we did go to Phoenix in August and it was extremely hot. But we flew and we flew regular economy kind of business, not business class, but regular main cabin kind of stuff over there. And I think they're making the seats smaller than they used to. When I was traveling nearly every week and I told Carl, I said I said that was very uncomfortable and without even asking or doing anything else, the next day I went online and upgraded us to first class for the way home, just because it was so uncomfortable to do it the other way. But that's because I used to travel first class all the time for business. So it became no longer just an option, it's become a quote unquote necessity whenever I can. Same thing's true here. So when you find people who have enjoyed these luxuries, they want it over and over again, I would bet. Is that true they?
Speaker 2:do. No, absolutely, they do, they absolutely do. And that's the first thing they say when we start planning their next trip is like, okay, can I have vip there? Does it, you know? Does it offer it there? And it's. It's funny, and even even my travelers, who aren't high luxury, if they've experienced it before they're a lot of them want it, even if it's more than their hotel or even if it's you know. So they want it. And then I'm here and so that's the thing you know. And we talked a little bit earlier privately about sales and that's the thing is I'm giving them what they want. They just don't know that they want it yet. So I'm kind of preemptively saying you need this, you want this, and then they're experiencing it and going, oh my gosh, you're right, I do want it. So I'm not trying to push things on them. I'm sharing with them things that are going to make their experience that much better.
Speaker 1:Exactly. And then, as I say, we're helping people get what they want. That's the entire objective. I'm here to help you get what you want and in doing so, my business is going to prosper and my family will be okay in the whole nine yards. But the real focus of the mindset has to be on. I'm here to help you, Mr Customer, Mr Client, Mr Traveler, get what you want out of this arrangement much more than anything else. Becky, go ahead, Go ahead, please.
Speaker 2:I was going to say. I think that's why it's important to ask them for their vision of the trip in the beginning, before you start with the, with the putting the pieces in there. It's like have them share the pieces of that, because then that's when you really learn what's important to them and what they want.
Speaker 1:So go ahead. I just it is so important. It's the discovery piece within the professional sales process and it is just so very important because if your recommendations are not built on what you learned about, why they want to go and where they want to go, all the whys and the whats it's like walking into a store and having somebody say here's a basket full of groceries for you. I know that's what you need. Have a great day. And that just isn't gonna work.
Speaker 1:Somebody walks into Home Depot and says I need a quarter inch drill bit. Folks who've heard me talk before are gonna say, oh God, he's gonna do the quarter inch drill bit thing again. But it's true. Guy walks in and says I want a quarter inch drill bit thing again. But it's true. Guy walks in and says I want a quarter inch drill bit. The order taker says well, they're on aisle number seven, bin 23, choose the one you want.
Speaker 1:The professional is going to say quarter inch. What do you want to do, that quarter inch drill bit? What are you going to drill into? How deep does it have to be? How exact does it have to be? What do you want the hole to look like when it gets finished? Should it be clean and clear. Does it matter if it's a little ragged? And you find out that, well, he wants to drill a quarter-inch hole in ceramic tile to hang a bathroom towel rack. Well, that's a totally different drill bit than a quarter inch twist drill or a Forstner drill. Anyhow, the fact is, the professional asked the questions and got him the proper tool for the right job. And that's our job is to ask the right questions so that we get them the right accommodations and the right amenities for the trip that's going to make it the best thing they've ever had in their entire life.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that's what instills trust, because I guarantee you, the next time they have a project they're going to go to that store, to that hardware store, and say, hey, where's Bob, I need to talk to him. Sure, because I have a project and because there's trust involved, because you have advised them correctly for their trip.
Speaker 1:Becky, trust is so very important. How would you describe that? How do you go about building that level of trust with your travelers, especially if you've got somebody that's been referred to you, that you're just beginning to build a relationship with? How do you build that trust relationship?
Speaker 2:You know that trust some of it builds over time. It definitely builds over doing what you say you're going to do, but also having the confidence and speaking with authority and not in a just be quiet and listen to me kind of way, because nobody wants to be told, hey, be quiet, just do what I say, your opinion doesn't matter. That does not instill trust. Trust is instilled when you listen to people and they feel heard and they feel seen. And then you take that and you build something based on what they want because they feel heard, they feel seen, and then you have to do what you say you're going to do and then over time that trust gets built.
Speaker 2:There are some clients where it's hard. You know, you know they don't trust you. So they second guess you at every, at every juncture. They're they're asking well, but what about this? Well, what about that?
Speaker 2:I had that happen today, this, this morning, where a client was like well, why didn't you like Como? Why didn't you send me over to this train station here where I could take the ferry over to Bellagio? And I'm like well, we could have done that and I can still do that for you. But here's the deal You're going to get off the train station, you're going to schlep your bags over to the ferry. You're going to wait on the ferry, then you're going to schlep your bags to the hotel, and so, whereas if we come here, even though it's a little bit further, you can get in the car and we'll have somebody pick you up and take you straight to the hotel. So you're going to be door to door train station there, no schlepping, no anything. And he comes back, he goes. Oh yeah, I like that better, you know, because I have the experience, I know what it looks like. But he didn't quite trust me because he's like I think I found something that you don't know and it's like oh, no, no.
Speaker 1:Are you not going to catch me on that? I know everything. Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:But I think the important piece of that is I still listen to him and I still said, hey, is I still listen to him? And I still said hey. Here's the reason why I didn't do that. But if you want it, I'll do it, but I don't think it's a good idea. And so had I just said, no, this is the best one, the entire time he'd be wondering, well, did I make the right decision? And so I somebody felt hurt, and so now he has trust.
Speaker 1:That's fantastic. That is so vitally important, though, getting past that that initial I guess I don't know why it is, but we all tend to have that, that caveat emptor sort of a feel. Every time we start talking to somebody about buying something or spending money, we feel like, oh, we need to beware of that other person, when, in reality, the professional travel advisor cares more about making sure you get what you want. So with that in mind, though, how do you get to that point where you have that confidence to be able to carry on that conversation with confidence and surety, without being uppity and know-it-all kind of a feeling there, becky, how did you get there?
Speaker 2:I think. Well, some of it, of course, is experience. I've been around in this industry over 20 years. Some of it, of course, is experience. I've been around in this industry over 20 years, some of it's experience. And then the other thing is the realization that there's two things One, knowing the value that I bring to the table, knowing my experience, knowing my contacts, knowing how I've traveled myself. That that's, that's the one thing.
Speaker 2:But the other thing is being able to take my ego out of it and being able to take my self-worth out of it. Because if I get my self-worth and my ego all enmeshed in that emotional piece with them, then suddenly it becomes about me and it's kind of like almost like an adversarial type of interaction as opposed to me taking my ego out of it and just saying you know what? They're just asking questions, they're just trying to learn because they want to get it, and so I'm taking myself out of it. And now I'm just considering myself an educator and I'm just educating them on the why, the why, or. Well, you know, this is my recommendation, because X, y, z, but let me know your thoughts and although it may seem like it's going to take more time now, but I think in the end it actually takes less time because it solidifies that relationship and that trust with my client.
Speaker 1:So, becky, once you've done that and you've provided a couple of recommendations to someone, how do you get them to take action? What's your call to action? How do you get them to move?
Speaker 2:How do you get them to move? Well, I think once in my process, once we're at the place to where I'm giving them solid recommendations for the most part there are exceptions, but once I'm giving them solid recommendations, we've already had a discussion about what I do. We've had a discussion about my fees. I've I've onboarded them. We have an onboarding process.
Speaker 2:I've already asked them I call it my 20 questions but I've asked them hey, share with me your vision. And then I mean I sent all these kinds of questions about your budget and this and that and you know, and and things they want to experience, and your best vacation and why your worst vacation and why I mean I'm sending a pretty, pretty good thing for them to complete. So for me, if they're doing the work to get me that information they know what my fees are, they've agreed to them Then the action just comes naturally. I'm not having to really wait on them to do that because because they've already invested their time and time is so important They've already invested their time with me and into the process. So then suddenly I mean sometimes you have to push them along a little bit, and sometimes they have to push me along a little bit, but you know so.
Speaker 2:but yeah, to me that that seems to come. It's a natural step when it's in the order of my personal business process.
Speaker 1:Right, right, right. So at this point in time, you've given them direct recommendations and everything, and it's just great. Next step is we have to put down a deposit, or the next step is whatever it is, and it just moves along like a normal, natural sort of a thing. Yeah, closing with implied consent is the technical term for that, and it is so very important because it makes it easy for the traveler as well as for you, and that's what we want to do. We want to make it easy for folks. This shouldn't be hard, this shouldn't Right.
Speaker 2:I'm on her team, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:I mean, I can't stand an adversarial salesperson. It just drives me up a wall, and our friends in the car industry tend to want to do that from time to time and it's like, wait a minute, if we're not on the same page here, I need to go find somebody else where I can get on the same page. We need to be on the same side of the desk, working together to solve this problem. And that's what we try and do as professional travel advisors, I think, is we're trying to help them solve a problem. Their problem is they want to go on this trip. They don't know all the details about how to do it and many times they're too busy because they're I don't know business owners themselves, and we're trying to help them solve that problem. Is that a mindset that you would would agree to or agree with?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I agree to that and I, like you, I, I have a very short tolerance is a really strong word, but you know it's, it's I. I have a short, low tolerance for people with that adversarial relationship. When I go to make purchases on my own or even when I work with my suppliers, I mean I've told suppliers in the past, or sales reps it's like hey, all the people you've given me to work with, they're grouchy and I mean I'm Southern, so sometimes it's cultural, but I'm like there's no need to be grouchy and so if you're grouchy, I'm out. I'm like I'm out, ouchie. And so if you know you're ouchie, I'm out. I'm like I'm out.
Speaker 2:And and I actually I see it with some advisors as well it it doesn't happen as often as it probably did 10 years ago where you get the advisor and you know you hear them talk, talking about their client, and it's like eye roll and it's like oh my gosh. And I just told them well, good luck with that. Like it's like oh my gosh, why are you talking to them like that? And you know, and I just I, I think working together is a better plan, especially if you want to elevate your business I would agree working and respecting your client's opinion.
Speaker 2:Because if I go somewhere, if I go to you know a shop to fix my car, and the guy because they're salespeople too right, and so they're telling me about my tires and my radiator and all that, and if they make me feel stupid, I am not going back.
Speaker 1:I'm not.
Speaker 2:I get my car fixed because I need to, but that's it, I'm out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I agree completely. I agree completely, becky. There's so many other things I want to talk to you about, but one in particular is the work you do with groups of women. Can you tell us a little bit about that and how that got all? Why is that important to you?
Speaker 2:and how that got all. Why is that important to you? Sure, so we started a couple of years ago. We started a travel club for women called Ciao Bella, because my company's Bella Travel. So Ciao Bella Because everyone wants to feel that hello, beautiful, especially if you get to a certain age, you don't hear the Ciao Bella as much as you did in your 20s.
Speaker 2:And we were finding that we had so many of our travelers who wanted to go on a trip and either their husband didn't want to go or their bestie didn't want to go. They couldn't find someone to go with and they really wanted to go somewhere, like somewhere exotic or somewhere cool, but they didn't want to go on their own. Like somewhere exotic or somewhere cool, but they didn't want to go on their own. And so we kept hearing that and then, also with my team, we'd have these discussions about once your kids get out of the house, once they go off to college, create lives of their own. Then suddenly your friend group stops, starts to shrink a little, because you're not in proximity with all these other school parents and activity parents that you're. You just kind of develop these for friendships just because of proximity, and it's like your, your friend group just keeps getting smaller. And so we hatched this idea of what if? What if we created a travel club where we had local in-person events certain number of year, every year, where we could connect women who are curious about the world around them, who like food, like wine, like a little bit of adventure, who are fun, like music, whatever? And what if we had these events and we connected them together? And then we also had trips together?
Speaker 2:But both of those pieces are are tenants of what we do, and so we hatched this idea and then we just we went for it, and so we started it and we started having in-person meetings and started creating domestic and international trips. And they're all my I call them micro groups. They're, you know, five to 12, 15 people right in there. Um, because I'm not here, I don't want to have like a 50 or a hundred people just go on a cruise together and never see each other. I wanted to create relationships and so, yeah, so we've been doing that for a couple of years now and it's it's been fun. It's one of the last meetings we had.
Speaker 2:I just sat back and I just watched all these women who didn't even know each other and they're talking and they're hugging and they're having the conversation and they're excited about the next trip. We're going on and they're talking and they're hugging and they're having the conversation and they're excited about the next trip. We're going on and they're sharing what they learned when we went to this last trip to the you know kind of a spa girls weekend, and we've had lots of different adventures, but they're sharing their favorite of our adventures and I just love it. It's awesome because women want to do things. They want to see the world. Yeah, they made it on their own. I support solo travel, but this here's even better. You have a support group while you travel.
Speaker 1:That's super. That is really, really cool. Tell me, though, how did you get it started? Okay, I'm going to do this so you get this vision. How did you get people to know to come to the first event? How did you begin to market this, if you will?
Speaker 2:to market this, if you will. Yeah, some of it was. We reached out to our own connections that we had. And then we also partnered with a bookstore. We had met an owner team of a local bookstore through the Chamber of Commerce and so we just asked them hey, can we have an event? We've got this women's travel group. Can we have an event? We've got this women's travel group. Can we have an event there? We'll let you talk about books. We'll talk about books from different countries and things like that. Can we talk about books and we'll talk about travel and our travel group and I'll bring the wine and some food and can we do it? And they were like sure, and so they put flyers out.
Speaker 2:We sent social media things out. We reached out to our connections. We have people who bring people from their bunco groups and from their Marjan groups and their book clubs and all that. So, and then now they're starting to bring friends Like it's like they're like hey, I have this girlfriend, I think she'd be perfect for this group. It's like, bring her. Oh, that's great. And yeah so, yeah so it just kind of it evolved organically. But you know, we're now we're about 30, we're about 30 members right in there.
Speaker 2:And I'm sure it fluctuates right, People come and go Become part of the group and then maybe fall off and new people come in and out. Yeah, and we have a monthly, we have a yearly, just a small yearly membership fee. Right now it's $50 for the year, which covers wine. Doesn't totally cover wine, but you know it kind of covers-ish wine. Yeah and yeah.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's super. That is just. That is one of the most interesting ideas to begin to build a whole group of people that are going to be clients for years to come and it can bring even more clients. I can see even building an entire advisory just based on that. You could have a whole business just based on that. Or maybe you have a women's group and you also have a wine enthusiast group and you also have a car enthusiast. I don't know, I'm not, I'm not the marketing expert that that others are, but I could see where that concept of building a group of people in a membership kind of a thing would be of such great value to you as a travel advisor.
Speaker 2:Yes, for sure, and especially when you look at you know groups can be very lucrative but they can also be super challenging because everybody wants to go until it's time to put the money down or put space on the calendar, and then it can become very difficult for a group to actually materialize unless you have a core group. And you have a core group and nothing helps. Nothing helps. You fill the next group like a successful trip. You get a successful trip and then they go. Okay, now where are we going? And you're like, okay, hold the phone, I'm working on it, and um, but that question is the magic question. And so, yeah, so you, you create this group, this following, and that's how then, suddenly, you're building and building and building. If you want to create your own groups as opposed to having just kind of a separate Pied Piper with their own group, Well, it makes perfect sense, Becky.
Speaker 1:I feel like we could talk for the next hour easily if we wanted to. It's just absolutely amazing. Thank you so much for being with us here on the Travel Masters podcast.
Speaker 2:You're welcome.
Speaker 1:And we will do this again. How about that? Would that be okay? Can we do this again?
Speaker 1:Yeah, totally, because I've got a whole list of things down here that I didn't get to, that I really wanted us to talk about, so we'll do this again, for sure, and for everybody else out there. Hey, thanks for joining us today on the Travel Masters podcast. Have a great week, go meet somebody you had never talked to before and chat with them about your business, because your business is important and you are important to them. Have a great week and I'll see you again next time. My name is Morris Sims and we'll be right here on the Travel Masters podcast.