Charlie Funk
Almost nine years ago, a series of emails with Travel Weekly editor in chief Arnie Weissmann led to an invitation to become a Travel Weekly columnist.
My wife, Sherrie, found the back and forth somehow humorous, especially when she learned that unlike my prior writing, which dealt solely with how to make more profit, I was going to write an opinion column. Channeling her best Br'er Rabbit, she exclaimed, "Oh, please don't throw him in that briar patch!"
Over the years I have been privileged to write on a broad range of topics. My first column, in January 2009, looked at the reality of agents working their way out of a still very-real (at least for a lot of them) recession. Later that year, Sherrie's mom died, and I wrote a piece about her final trip ("Billie's final odyssey," Nov. 2, 2009). It was my first opportunity to share an important life experience, not just observations about commissions, marketing plans, etc.
Then a neat thing happened. I got letters, emails and tags on the electronic edition the following Thursday. Lots of them. I had fans!
Some topics seemed to elicit more responses than others, and some columns have had more staying power. I can count on columns that mention icons of the industry to trigger memories that others have of these men and women who have been vital to the growth of the business. Columns that point out travel retailer inequities and take the offender or offenders to task also attract a lot of attention. Human-interest columns that portray the inherent good that travel retailers do for clients are also favorites.
Retail travel professionals I know or with whom I come in contact with are, in the main, passionate about this thing they have chosen to do. They are characterized by interest in best fitting their travel knowledge to the lifestyles and desires of clients. I have found dozens who, though they might not sell travel full-time, nonetheless believe that what they do meets the high standards that responsible retailers have set and maintained.
It should come as no surprise that a column I wrote about a year ago ("Agent, respect thyself," July 27, 2015), which looked at some common things agents do and don't do to command respect from clients, peers and suppliers, attracted a lot of attention. And did I get responses!
Where I had focused more on how clients might perceive us as professionals, responses consistently focused on things travel professionals do at agent functions such as fam trips that bring discredit on the whole trade because of the ill-mannered behavior of a few. It turns out not only are clients watching and judging; so are suppliers.
The fam-trip etiquette items mentioned most often, all of them major no-nos, included boasting loudly, even around paying guests, "I'm a travel agent, and I got this trip for free/practically nothing." Score extra points if you're wearing a trashy "Ask me how you can travel free like I do" T-shirt.
Then there are those who steal toiletry amenities from rooms that have been opened for inspection. While there might be other words to describe the act, it's stealing, and it reflects poorly on so many levels.
Also, lying down or sitting on beds in the rooms being inspected means the room being shown will likely have to be turned again to assure hygiene standards.
Not attending fam-trip classroom sessions is tacky because the agent was invited to learn about the product. Be respectful of your host.
Then there are the men and women who show up for inspections or functions dressed inappropriately. One wry commentator said, "If you look like you're leaving here to go to your pole dancing gig, maybe you should give up one or the other." For someone who comes from an era when an airline passenger had to wear a suit and tie to be considered for an upgrade to first class, I can't really personally identify with this one.
Another bugaboo is showing up for training or a function intoxicated. Loud drunks who talk over the guide or the trainer got special notice. It's like someone never had complimentary beverages served to them or didn't think it would ever happen again.
Interacting amorously with another agent in public also came up. Extra credit for "don't sleep with the BDM/agent." I can't even wrap my head around this one, and had it not come up so many times I would have discounted it as a one-off occurrence.
Nor would it have occurred to me that host agencies would openly solicit independent contractors working for other agencies. That one garnered special ire. I was stunned that an agency owner would behave so reprehensibly. The underhanded business ethics such behavior exposes have no place in this or any other industry.
Basically, travel professionals had frank comments about a small handful of agents who behave in a less-than-professional manner, including the prose and grammar they use.
One agent, in response to a post to that effect that I put up on travel agency's best practices, agreed, then in the next breath pointed out that travel professionals have enough of an image issue as it is: "Having a tiny handful of agents behaving in this way, especially around the traveling public, reinforces an already negative image."
Other general comments belying questionable behavior on other than fam trips were eye-opening. It led to Sherrie taking a cue from a local talk-radio station and creating a list of agent misbehavior called: "Don't be that agent who ..." As in:
- Don't be that agent who stakes out a spot in the buffet line and alternately loads a plate and stuffs his or her face without moving along. I confess I laughed openly at the absurdity of that one until I witnessed an agent do exactly that at a supplier-hosted reception I recently attended.
- Don't be that agent who monopolizes supplier staff members at a trade show so that no one else has the opportunity to speak with them.
- Don't be that agent who puts his bag under the lip of the supplier's table and sweeps all the logo merchandise into it. I laughed at this one, too, and then saw it happen at the same conference.
There was enough interest in agent (and, as it turns out, supplier) etiquette that Vacation.com hosted a panel discussion at its annual conference in Fort Lauderdale. The questions ran the gamut but touched on other aspects of our business as well.
Supplier etiquette came up in at least two of the questions asked:
BDM visits to an agency. Please schedule your visits so we can make the best use of your time. Just showing up unannounced is disrespectful and wasteful of your time. As I write this, I have been home for eight days after my 12th major surgery in 10 years. Sherrie was home with me for two of those days, and we had two district sales managers visit us, unannounced, while we were both out.
Whose client is it? Help us understand how we worked so hard to get this client to your resort/on your ship and now you, the supplier, claim him or her as your property (in at least one case in your annual contract with our agency).
It's like this: I am certain the vast majority of travel professionals are deserving of respect and would never indulge in any of the activities cited above. I am equally certain these professionals correctly believe that a small handful of agents can tarnish the image of the profession by committing one or more of the offenses mentioned.
I'm confident I'll get messages telling me that how someone else behaves is none of my business. To those who might do so, let me save you time. If something someone does besmirches my image or the opinion others have of me through association, it is my business, and expect me to mention that your behavior is unacceptable.
Oh, and the column with the longest record for eliciting requests after publication? One that appeared June 8, 2015 ("Don't judge a book by its cover; qualify the prospect"). I received a request for the qualifying questions just a few days ago. It appears some of us never throw away a back issue of this great newspaper.