Do This on Your Consult Calls — and in Your Copy — to Score More Travel Clients

“So, uh, do I give you my credit card number, or …?”

Have you ever heard this line during your consult calls?

If so, there’s good news: This person clearly wants to work with you.

The bad news: You haven’t made it clear how to do it!

Awkward pauses and wishy-washy endings during your consultation calls with potential travel clients usually point to one thing — you’re not making the ask.

You’ve sold the prospect on your value as a travel pro, but you’re not asking them to commit!

If you want to know how to get more travel clients, being “polite” to the point of timidness isn’t the way.

You want someone’s business? Then you have to ask for it. Directly. No skirting around the issue.

How to Get More Travel Clients by “Making the Ask”

Why is making the ask so important?

Because we usually make decisions only when we’re forced to.

You know your car is due for a tune up. But you only take it in when the engine starts smoking.

Or — your spouse did something totally boneheaded. But you only express your frustration when they ask, “What’s wrong?” (Unless you’re the type to let resentments simmer … )

The same principle is at play when you deal with prospects: If you never point-blank ask for business, you run the risk of your prospect never deciding to work with you.

But what does “making the ask” look like?

On the phone, it could be as simple as — “To get started, I’ll need your credit card details. Do you have that handy so we can start planning your dream vacation now?”

Or, if you like to give your prospect some preliminary itinerary ideas over email before asking them to commit, make it clear what the process to move forward is.

Something like: “I’ll send you over a couple of high-level itineraries to look at. Then, to get started planning your vacation, I’ll need your credit card details. I’ll give you a call the day after I send you the itineraries to collect that — and answer any questions you may have — so we can start planning!”

(By telling them you’ll call for cc details, you put the onus on yourself to move things forward. You control the sales process. If you just say, “send me your cc details when you’re ready to move forward,” you don’t control that — and who knows when you’ll actually get those cc deets!.).

Making the Ask on Your Website

And of course, you need to “make the ask” in your website copy as well.

Instead of writing web pages that say polite, non-committal stuff like, “explore our services and let us know if you have any questions,” you need clear call-to-actions.

Like: “Yearning to start planning the vacation of your dreams? Book a free consultation call with us today!” You can format that as a button to spur action further.

Don’t make your prospect have to ask you what’s next.

That’s making them work hard.

And, when you leave the ball in their court, you up the chances that the ball won’t ever make it back over the net. #sportsmetaphorftw

Make it easy for your prospects to say, “Yes, I want to work with you!” by actually asking for their business.

It’s simple, but you won’t get more travel clients without it.

[VIDEO] Getting More Travel Leads With Online Sales Funnels

If you’re having trouble getting to the point where you can even make the ask — a.k.a. getting prospects on consult calls — having a strategic sales funnel in place can help. Check out my (first!) Facebook Live video below, all about sales funnels: What they are, why travel pros especially need them, and 2 examples you can start using in your biz right away!

Got any tricks for getting clients to say “yes!” during your consult calls? Share your strategy below — I’m interested in what’s been working for you!