Regular client: we learn to work with him correctly. Features of communication with clients of a travel agency The main asset of a travel agency is its client base

1.3. Forming a favorable impression of the manager.

One of the decisive factors influencing the effectiveness of sales of a tourism product is the manager’s ability to create a good impression of himself. To make a good impression, the manager of a travel agency is recommended to:

Get rid of tension and stiffness oron the contrary, familiarity and swagger, then there is to behave naturally. No falsehood, feigned busyness or seriousness!

Show interest in the client's personality. This is one of the best ways to make a good impression.

Point out points of similarity with the client. In the process of selling a tourism product, the manager will be able to impress the client if he emphasizes the interests and affections that unite them.

Use compliments. The manager of a travel company should remember that compliments may contain a slight exaggeration of the client’s positive qualities. Due to this it works psychologically! the phenomenon of suggestion. Therefore, the client will try to act and look the way the manager “instructed” him to compliment. Most likely, he will want to live up to expectations. At the same time, reciprocal sympathy, trust, a sense of reliability are formed, the desire to reciprocate, psychological defense and closeness are removed. All this creates a good impression of the manager of the travel company.

Compliments can be given in different ways.

For example, you can praise not the client himself, but what is dear and valuable to him , his position, successes, merits, items of clothing, accessories, etc.

On the other hand, the client will be very pleased if: the manager finds in him something, which he really values in people. For example: “I would really like to have a responsible partner like you.” This compliment is the most subtle and most pleasant for most people. However, its use is not always appropriate. First, there must be a close and trusting relationship between the manager and the client. And, secondly, the client must know how important it is for the manager himself what he pays attention to.

Even more effective, emotional and memorable, but at the same time risky, is a compliment when The manager, after a small criticism of the client, compensates for it with significant praise. Criticism should cause slight bewilderment, confusion, “warm the blood,” or even a willingness to object. But at this moment, without allowing the client to come to his senses, the manager suddenly says something very pleasant and memorable. The effectiveness of such a compliment is due to the fact that it is perceived by the client when he is already out of a state of emotional balance. Self-esteem wounded by criticism always craves compensation. And the more there is, the better. But if criticism turns out to be stronger than praise, the consequences for the manager can be very unpredictable. The client may simply refuse the services of this travel agency, or may incite a conflict.

One way to avoid conflict is a compliment against the background of self-criticism. Why is this compliment effective? Because it not only satisfies the client’s need to improve some of his character traits, abilities, habits, skills, but also to implement his intention to criticize the manager.

In order for the manager of a travel company to create a good impression of himself with the help of compliments, he should follow several rules:

give compliments in a confident tone;

reinforce them with posture, facial expressions and gestures;

the client’s reaction should be predicted;

avoid giving contradictory compliments;

celebrate only positive qualities;

allow only slight exaggeration;

not noticing qualities that a person does not like in himself;

do not make wishes like “if only...”;

base your compliment on a factual basis.

There are other very important techniques for creating a good impression. Affiliation plays a special role in the process of selling a tourism product in the office. Affiliation involves overcoming the scenario-role model of behavior. It is not enough to simply fulfill your professional duties in accordance with job descriptions. Every person, no matter how passionate he is about his work, has his own personal life - personal interests, hobbies, aspirations, interests and needs of his family. And if you conduct a conversation with a client in line with his personal interests, this, as a rule, will cause increased verbal activity in him, accompanied by positive emotions. He will perceive the manager as a responsive and caring person.

2.Nonverbal means of communication used

tourism managers.

Gestures, facial expressions, intonation are the most important part of business communication. Austrian scientist Allan Pease believes that 7% of information is transmitted through words, through sound (including tone of voice, intonation, etc.) - 38%, facial expressions, gestures, postures - 55%.

On the one hand, during business conversations, meetings, negotiations, you need to control your gestures and facial expressions, on the other hand, you must be able to correctly “read” your partner’s reactions. However, the interpretation of gestures, postures and other components of nonverbal (that is, not related to speech) communication is not always unambiguous. The most serious mistake a beginner can make in interpreting body language is interpreting individual gestures in isolation from others, and regardless of the situation at hand.

Nonverbal components of communication are especially significant in the first minutes of acquaintance. It is necessary to show interest in the upcoming conversation, readiness for constructive cooperation, and openness to new ideas and proposals.

Zones. Like other animals, man has his own “air cap”, which is constantly around him. The size of this cap depends on the population density in the place where the person grew up. In addition, the size of the airspace is also determined by the cultural environment.

Intimate area (from 15 cm to 45 cm). A person views it as personal property. Only those closest to her are allowed to invade her.

Personal zone (from 46 cm to 1.22 m). We stand at such a distance from others not at parties, official receptions, friendly meetings or at work.

Social zone (from 1.22 to 3.6 m). At such a distance we communicate with strangers.

Public area (over 3.6 m). When we address a large group of people, this distance is most preferable for us.

Hand and hand gestures. Rubbing your palms together is a nonverbal signal of positive expectations. The speed of hand rubbing says a lot about who will get the expected positive results. Fast speaks of a result beneficial for both. Rubbing your thumb over your fingertips or just the tip of your index finger usually signifies material, especially monetary, expectations.

Hands can also act as a barrier. A person with crossed arms perceives everything more critically, remembers information worse, and is more negatively disposed.

Professional ethics. The professional ethics of service workers is a set of specific requirements and moral standards that are implemented when they perform their professional duties in servicing clients. It is based on the psychology of service.

Ability to say"NO"elegant and weighty.

Saying NO to a client is easier if you can provide them with a record of multiple attempts to fulfill their request.

The main problem with giving a negative response to a client is that it can leave them with the unfavorable impression that you don't care about them. Show that, on the contrary, you are very concerned about the failure of his request.

Sometimes the best way to say no is to respond to a request—a request for patience and understanding of the situation.

Don't fall into the trap of being "good to your neighbor" just because you've done it in the past. Say no when you feel you have done enough for a client.

No, it will always be less unpleasant if you think about alternatives and offer other solutions to the problem.

Say no, but offer your services.

It is important to be able to soften a negative answer so that it does not sound dry and arrogant.

Even with very good service, it is not always possible to say yes. Sometimes you are not able to fulfill the client's requirement. But remember that your no should be addressed to the request, not to the client.

The buyer asks you to meet him halfway and return the money, although your store only allows the exchange of one product for another. If you do not have strict orders in this regard, comply with his request. But if you can't or don't want to say yes, try to frame your no as a mutually beneficial solution.

You shouldn’t use “general company policy” to explain your no. However, mentioning objective (or at least objectively presented) reasons can be useful.

In order to achieve success in the process of selling a tourism product, it is important to clearly understand the psychological type of the client with whom you are dealing. This will not only significantly simplify the process of serving the client, saving time, but also ensure maximum satisfaction of his requests and needs, and therefore increase the income of the company itself.

There are many psychological classifications and typologies of clients (by temperament, by obvious behavior, by type of decision-making, and others). Let us dwell in detail on some of them.

Typology based on two pairsbehavior meter(activity and emotional responsiveness), distinguishes the following types of clients:

“analyst” - passive and unresponsive;

“enthusiast” - active and responsive;

“activist” - active and unresponsive;

“good-natured” - passive and responsive.

Since servicing a “good guy”, for obvious reasons, most likely will not cause any particular difficulties for the manager, let’s consider in detail the first three types of clients (“analyst”, “enthusiast”, “activist”), communication with which without special approach may become more problematic.

"Analyst" he is slow and unhurried, speaks in a low voice, without intonation, prefers to communicate with the manager across the table, during a conversation leans back rather than moves forward, tries not to look his interlocutor in the eyes, is dressed mediocrely. A characteristic feature of an “analyst”: adoration of details (how long the flight lasts, how many meters to the beach, and the like). An “analyst” can be: verbose, extremely cautious and indecisive, overly serious, with an “underdeveloped” sense of humor.

Customer service of a travel agency has common features characteristic of the service industry. However, depending on the range of services provided, their quality, distinctive properties (domestic, outbound, inbound tours), the forms and styles of serving tourists may differ.

According to the forms of customer service, we can distinguish group and individual tours.

Customer service styles can be formal, informal or mixed. In a formal style, the client contacts the travel agency, as if he were a regular company providing services, and chooses a tour. At the same time, there is a psychological distance or social alienation between the client and the travel agency staff, which is natural with occasional contact.

The informal style presupposes confidential communication between staff and the client, creating in him the image of “home” or “good friend”.

A mixed style implies a standard approach to the client, but with elements of informal communication, for example, an invitation to drink a cup of tea or coffee. But regardless of the style of customer service, the manager of a travel company must master the art of improvisation and acting skills. Already during the first communication with a client in the office of a travel agency, the manager needs to find out as much as possible about him, without becoming overly intrusive and tactless. Questions asked to the client should be formulated in such a way that he answers them only positively. If for some reason the client answered negatively, all the manager’s previous work may be ineffective, because the word “no” is associated with negative emotions.

The effective use of communication skills by managers working with tourists largely determines the economic success of a travel agency. Communication skills are not innate, they can be developed, and then even an uncommunicative or non-communicative person can achieve significant success in working with clients. Effective communication skills of travel agency employees are acquired both in the process of work and in psychological trainings.

The communication skills of staff are primarily based on their ability to communicate verbally. Sociability (from the Latin communicabilis - connectable, communicating) consists of three equal parts: the ability to establish contact with a client, the skill of conducting a conversation and the ability to maintain long-term relationships.

We can highlight the following most important communication skills that travel agency employees must possess: quickly establish contact with clients, find effective forms of communication with them, with the team as a whole; regulate intercollective and intracollective relations, win over. Needless to say, the manager’s incompetence, haste, and irritability reduce the effectiveness of his communication with the client.

The effectiveness of communication with clients depends on the manager’s knowledge of the areas he sells. Studying all the details of the tour, the characteristics of the host country, and tourist formalities allows you to work successfully even when non-standard situations arise.

For example, a client arranges a tour with a stay in Venice from September 1 to September 3. He needs a certain hotel in the city center, overlooking St. Mark's Cathedral. The client had already stayed at this hotel and paid a room rate of 140 euros per night. However, the manager knows that the traditional Venice Film Festival takes place at the beginning of September and the cost of living in local hotels during this period increases 2-3 times.

To save money, you can stay 4 km from the city center in an equally comfortable hotel. The client did not have this information before joining the travel agency, and upon receiving it through direct communication with a travel agency employee, he may adjust his decision: either postpone the start of the tour, or stay away from the city center.

The natural negative consequences of subjective emotional conflicts, manifested in the form of hostility, antipathy, disunity, malice, force the team to actively look for ways to prevent them. Conflict situations allow travel agency staff to develop the ability to model their behavior, consciously manage it, anticipate the reactions of colleagues, prevent and constructively resolve conflicts, and navigate non-standard communication situations.

There are special techniques for effective communication in the travel agency office. Schematically, they can be divided into methods of communicating with well- and poorly informed clients, with doubting clients, and also with clients with weak motivation.

Well informed clients. Communicating with a tourist who has decided everything and knows everything in advance is quite simple, but you need to give him the opportunity to speak out, while showing maximum friendliness.

Poorly informed clients require a significant investment of time to develop appropriate motivation in them. Very often, such clients change their decision at the stage of receiving confirmation of the tour booking. Reminiscent of a capricious child, they, however, should be just as loved by the travel agency employees as other less problematic tourists.

Doubting clients. Sometimes travel agency managers have to communicate with doubtful clients - this category of visitors requires increased attention and the use of special communication techniques. You should know that visitor doubts are a natural state in the process of making a final decision. When working with a doubtful client, you must adhere to the following rules:

1) listen carefully to doubts, do not interrupt or interrupt the client;
2) do not get irritated when responding to the client’s objections, do not get distracted during the conversation;
3) find out what exactly the client’s doubts are;
4) structure the conversation in such a way that the client, if possible, finds the answer to his question himself;
5) sometimes you need to agree with the client in order to then convincingly refute him. For example: “I agree with your concerns, but let’s look at the problem through the eyes of those who have already been on this route...”;
6) do not move on to the next argument until the client’s consent to the previous agreement is received;
7) summarize the results of the conversation with the client;
8) do not be upset if the client remains unconvinced. Perhaps he belongs to the category of skeptics or bores, perhaps, under the influence of circumstances beyond the control of the manager, he will still use the services of a travel agency.

Weakly motivated clients usually have the means and desire to go somewhere or relax somewhere, but do not have a firm intention to purchase a specific tour. Therefore, they often seek help (sometimes subconsciously) from travel agency employees. Methods for forming tourist preferences have been developed for this group of clients (Table 1). One of them is universal in nature, others are specific to the tourism business.

Table 1 Means and methods of forming tourist preferences

When working with weakly motivated or undecided clients, the manager must clearly understand which direction (region, country, group of countries) and in what sequence he should offer.

So, when choosing a European destination, it is advisable to purchase the first tour to Spain (relatively inexpensive trip, extensive excursion program, beach holiday, wine tasting). As alternatives, you can consider a holiday in the Czech Republic or Montenegro. The next trip may be to Italy (more expensive than the previous one, more emotionally intense, harder if it involves visiting classical cities - Rome, Florence, Venice, etc.).

Finally, the client's third trip may be to Paris and the French Riviera. By providing the client with a detailed diagram, one can assume, if not strict adherence to the manager’s advice, then at least a confidential discussion of all the details of the upcoming trip.

It is obvious that spouses will prefer a stationary holiday or mainly an excursion program, families with a child - a holiday on the beach, people of post-working age - excursion or medical tours.

Thus, a good travel agency manager is, first of all, a good psychologist who can unobtrusively and at the same time persistently lead the client to the goal - purchasing a tour.

He must immediately understand what the client is like and tune in to his wavelength. The modern tourist is significantly different from the tourists of yesteryear. He doesn’t need to explain what a charter or transfer is, and he understands hotel categories no worse than managers. However, an experienced travel agency employee will always find something to surprise any all-knowing client.

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Clients - there's so much in this sound, isn't it? And even though your company is still young and taking its first steps into the expanses of the tourism business, you and your employees have probably learned the most important lesson: the client is our everything!

I would like to immediately make a correction and thereby remove the rose-colored glasses from your eyes: not every client is useful to your company. And, the most important rule that you must learn as an axiom: the best client is a regular client!

That is why, from now on, all your steps should be aimed not only at attracting a flow of clients to your travel agency, but also at correctly filtering out truly promising ones from the total mass, that is, those who will bring you income for many years.

How to attract clients to a young travel agency?

You need to think about this question long before the grand opening - even when choosing a place for your office, because the location of your office very noticeably affects the flow of clients, especially at the beginning: try to find out in advance what the traffic is around your office, what the income level of the population of nearby houses is does it fall into the category of “your” clients?

At first, customers are attracted either through street signs and banners, or through advertising on the Internet. It often happens that several travel agencies coexist in a relatively small area, especially if you are in a shopping or business center. And during this period, it is very important that your office is in all respects more convenient for the client than that of a competing company, because competitors should not receive your customers. Shift your schedule so that your work is in full swing and after competitors’ offices close, work on weekends, etc. You need to monitor all the steps your opponents take and be head and shoulders above them.

Basic methods of attraction

In the process of attracting clients, it is important to learn how to identify promising ones and filter out those who will not become permanent ones. For example, there is a whole layer of travelers who are only chasing discounts - and such people should not be of interest to you, because as soon as they see a big discount in another agency, they will immediately go over to your competitors. Hence the conclusion: there is not the slightest point in trying to retain a client with a discount. And even though many managers are afraid of losing clients without giving a discount, nevertheless, according to the data, such results are obtained only in 20–25% of cases, in the remaining 75% of cases, clients will still remain with you, and those who left, by and large, do not represent no value.

Therefore, you should not rely on discounts. Attract clients with professionalism and reliability. People want to hear advice and get help from someone who understands tourism issues. Show them you're a pro by telling them about hotels, restaurants and resorts. If your advice is valuable to a potential client, he will become your permanent client.

Customer focus. Emphasize that you are not at all trying to sell a tour “more expensive”, but are making sure that your client’s vacation is high-quality. Offer only the best. You must be sure that the tour you have chosen is optimal for a particular client. Therefore, do not waste time on monitoring - you must be 100% sure of what you offer - only then will the client believe you and turn into a regular customer.

A good way to attract clients is affiliate sales- look for nearby places where your target audience “lives” or points of sale, whose clients may be interested in your services one way or another, and collaborate: leave your discount coupons, flyers, certificates or even just booklets there - the effect will not force itself long wait!

And we repeat again: the best client is a regular client. Don't forget this.

A person who makes just one purchase and never returns to you is your defeat. Not only will he barely recoup the money you spent on attracting him, but statistics also tell us that the average check for regular customers is significantly higher than for those who make a purchase for the first time.

How not to lose a client

First, get his contact information. It is best to create a special questionnaire that the client fills out while the manager prepares documents, and then transfer all the data from the questionnaire to the client database.

Secondly, you should always be interested in how the client’s vacation went upon his return from the trip.

Thirdly, it is very useful to remind about yourself at least once a month through mailing, SMS, phone calls or by mail (in the form of a discount certificate). There can be a huge number of reasons to remind yourself, often also called the “touch system”. You shouldn’t be afraid to sometimes seem intrusive: experience shows that there are many times more clients lost due to an insufficient number of contacts than due to an excessive number.

How to attract the “right” clients?

Here, too, it is worth highlighting several important points. Pay attention to what keywords are in your contextual advertising and modify them a little: instead of “cheap tours” put “individual tours” or “yacht holidays” or... and so on (choose yourself), in a word, do their offers are more “expensive”.

Look at what phrases your banners and advertisements are full of: if these are offers of last-minute and cheap tours to Egypt and Turkey, then people will come to you accordingly, that is, those who are looking exclusively for discounts.

Promote your agency to a higher level! In addition to Turkey, Egypt and Thailand, there are holidays of a higher level: Bali, Maldives, Seychelles, etc. Don't forget about them! Let your managers not be afraid to sell more expensive types of vacations. Attract the “right” clients to your agency, not freebie lovers.

How to find clients on the Internet

The good thing about the Internet is that you have the opportunity to influence directly your target audience and not waste time on those you don’t need.

The whole point of online promotion should be to lure visitors into the office. The site should not provide an abundance of information - this distracts attention; the site should generate requests and calls to the office, putting the user within strict limits. In order for a client to go from virtual to real, you need to be able to combine 3 components of success on your website: interest + time limit + instructions for action. Don't give the person time to think. Send it directly to your office - the offer is hot! Limited validity period!

Secrets of working with regular clients

So that once your clients buy a tour from you, they don’t forget about you, you need to make them more loyal to your company and turn them into regular clients. It has been proven that attracting a new person is 5-7 times more expensive than retaining an old one. In addition, in the second case, you significantly save your manager’s time, because the buyer agrees to make a purchase faster, because he has already used your services, he already trusts you.

Regular clients are also very useful because they create the so-called “word of mouth” effect - by telling their friends about your travel agency, they, in fact, give you good and quite effective, and, most importantly, free advertising.

Regular customers are those who most actively respond to various promotions and participate in them with pleasure. They perceive your letters not as spam, but as advice from a good friend. It is not clear why work with the client base is still so sluggish in many travel agencies.

Increasing the circle of regular customers

This is the first step to increasing the income of your travel agency. Your potential buyers are all residents of the region who go on vacation at least once a year. All your efforts invested in advertising and marketing efforts should be aimed at attracting potential customers. In addition, you should strive in every possible way to ensure that your current customers literally “work” for you and expand the number of potential buyers: you can offer discounts and rebates not only to regular customers themselves, but also to their friends and acquaintances.

The main asset of a travel agency is its customer base

You need to work with clients, although for some reason many travel agency owners do not understand this. If clients are “abandoned,” then most of them will sooner or later scatter to other travel agencies. Of course, if you work adequately, someone will remain - those who are simply too lazy to change something, but such people, unfortunately, are only a small fraction.

Most clients do not remember which company they bought their previous tour from, because they once came there, bought a ticket and conveniently forgot all the unnecessary details. That's why it's important to develop and implement a clear outline of the steps your managers should take to work with your client base. And, of course, in order for your database to have enough information, you need to promptly and accurately enter all customer information into it.

What should your customer base look like?

First of all, of course, the database should not be in notebooks or on separate sheets of paper for managers, it should be in electronic form. Neglecting this rule threatens you with the fact that sooner or later your base will “leave” after the resigning employee. Although at the moment there are several special convenient programs for working with databases, let yours, for starters, be at least in a table in Excel.

It is difficult to overestimate the importance of proper work to attract clients and competent database management. This is the very foundation on which a strong foundation for the further growth and development of your young company will be built.

introduction.

My work is relevant because among the problems raised by tourism, the most important is the problem of service and hospitality. The range of professions needed in the tourism industry is very large. However, the main characteristic of everyone who works in the tourism industry is constant interaction with people with all its positive and negative aspects. Therefore, anyone who wants to work in the tourism industry must have qualities such as patience, sociability, goodwill, tolerance, and endurance. In many professions related to tourism, knowledge of psychological language is required. There is no doubt that human psychology skills are an integral part of working in tourism. There are many women working in tourism who have gained the necessary experience working as agents for travel companies.

The word “service” has become generally understood; we translate it as “maintenance,” but this is not entirely accurate. “Service” is skillful service that brings pleasure and satisfaction. Only professional training, knowledge of psychology and extensive practice can provide a travel agency employee with a qualified solution to all service issues: calmness and confidence in difficult situations, quick decision-making, the ability to make the client think that he is right, even when he is wrong .

In tourism, the quality side of serving tourists is one of the pressing problems. In the tourism market, service quality and service culture are the most powerful weapons in competition. The goal of a travel agency is to satisfy the needs of the client. Client is a regular buyer or customer who purchases and consumes travel services.

Object The study is about the features of tourist services in travel agencies.

Subject research, creation of psychological prerequisites for the sale of a tourist product.

Purpose The work is to study the psychological prerequisites for sales of a tourism product by managers of a travel company.

To achieve this goal, the following were set: tasks :

1. Study the technology of customer service by managers of travel agencies.

2. Analyze the psychological methods used in working with the client.

3. Identify groups of travel company clients and the features of their service.

Theoretical significance research is to substantiate the topic. The presented material and its analysis in the future will help researchers understand the essence of quality service and highlight the features of psychological sales of a tourist product by managers of travel companies.

Practical significance The work consists in the possibility of its use in the process of training future specialists for the tourism sector. The practical part of the study is advisory in nature.

The methods used in writing a thesis are analysis of literature on this topic and the survey method used at the research stage.

1.Psychological foundations of communication.

1.1.Psychological contact.

Is it easy to establish psychological contact with a client? In theory, this may not seem entirely difficult. In practice, things are different. After all, the manager of a travel company very often has to do several things at the same time: send a fax, answer a call, look for information about a tour on the computer, and greet an arriving visitor.

Therefore, in order to choose a method for establishing psychological contact with a client, it is necessary to take into account a whole set of factors. These include: the degree of workload of the manager himself, the psychological type of the client, the presence or absence of other consumers who are waiting in line, the purpose of the client’s visit, his internal state and others. There are several psychological methods that help establish contact with the buyer of a tourism product.

You can generally immediately begin to deal with the problems that the potential tourist is completely absorbed in, if the manager saw and felt that there was a need for this. You can start with some amazing phrase or a bright and memorable compliment. It is best, of course, to accept the client as an individual. Every person needs recognition. This will create a creative, friendly atmosphere. However, this is possible if neither the manager nor, especially, the client experiences time pressure at the time of service. If the buyer is in a hurry, then the best way to establish psychological contact will be to immediately begin discussing the main issue and formulate a proposal that cannot but interest the client. Who will remain indifferent to the offer not only to save time, but also to receive quality service? It is difficult to refuse such an offer. In addition, this formulation of the question allows us to better identify the client’s needs.

Listening skills. An important element of the client needs discovery stage is listening. However, there are three main pitfalls to avoid when listening: bias, selectivity, and distraction.

Prejudicial listening: This is knowing in advance what a person wants to say. At the same time, we already determine in advance our attitude to what has been said.

Selective listening: hearing only what we want to hear. That is, we hear clients through certain filters.

Distracted listening: This is thinking about something else. Inability to listen is the main reason for ineffective tourist service in the office, as it leads to misunderstandings, mistakes and problems. Why can the client and the manager of a travel company not hear each other at one or another stage of service? What are the main reasons?

The first reason is excessive preoccupation with one’s own speech. As one psychologist notes, conversation is a competition in which the first person to hold his breath is declared the interlocutor. The interlocutor is stubborn and hopeless, who essentially does not listen at all. The second reason is the misconception that listening simply means not speaking. This is far from true; the client may be politely waiting for his turn or pondering his upcoming statement. Listening is an active process that requires attention to what is being said. In my opinion, it requires constant effort and concentration on the subject of the conversation. Even a very talkative person can be a good listener, especially if he is truly interested in what is being said, listens carefully and knows how to process information correctly

Both the client and the manager of the travel company can be absorbed in themselves, their experiences, worries and problems. People often don't listen precisely at critical moments in life when they especially need to.

The next reason is the expectation of hearing negative or unfamiliar information. The client may be afraid to hear what he least wants to know. Most people react harshly to personal criticism, although this is precisely what can be benefited from by listening carefully. Taking criticism to heart, you can sometimes devalue your “I”, but paying attention to it at all will cost more. On the other hand, someone who considers himself an expert on the topic under discussion and has ready-made answers to all questions is unlikely to listen carefully.

The reason for inattention may also be the difference between the speed of speech and mental activity, especially in cases where they speak slowly, monotonously or uninterestingly. Humans typically speak at a rate of 125 words per minute, although we are capable of processing speech at three to four times the normal rate.

An important reason that a client or manager may not hear each other is due to the inherent tendency of people to judge, evaluate, approve and disapprove of the interlocutor. The first reaction is a judgment about phenomena from one’s own personal position. However, very often a reaction based on existing beliefs is a serious obstacle to effective listening.

A simple way to maintain interest and attention during oral communication is through non-reflective listening. Non-reflective listening is essentially the simplest technique and consists of the ability to remain silent without interfering with your interlocutor’s speech with your comments. Sometimes this method is the only option, since the client of the travel agency may be emotional, agitated, or have difficulty formulating his thoughts. Sometimes you can resort to minimizing responses. Neutral and insignificant answers (“Yes!”, “How is that?”, “I understand you...”) allow you to meaningfully continue the conversation. However, there are situations in which the use of unreflective listening may not be sufficient. Firstly, it may be a lack of desire to speak. Secondly, it is the perception of silent listening as agreement with what was said. In addition, the speaker may need to receive more active support or approval. Non-reflective listening tends to be abused by overly talkative people.

Reflective listening helps overcome limitations and difficulties that arise in the communication process. Such difficulties include: the ambiguity of most words, the need for feedback to understand the intent of what was said, as well as the difficulties of open self-expression, since people are constrained by established attitudes, experienced emotions, and acquired experience. The types of reflective listening include: clarification (turning to the speaker for clarification), paraphrasing (formulation of thoughts in a different form) and reflection of feelings.

Empathic listening differs from reflective listening by stopping rather than by techniques. Both types of listening mean the same thing: paying attention and displaying feelings. The difference lies in purpose and intent. The goal of reflective listening is to understand as accurately as possible the speaker's message, that is, the meaning of his idea or experienced feelings. The goal of empathic listening is to grasp the emotional coloring of these ideas and their meaning for a person to penetrate the system and understand what the expressed message truly means and what feelings the interlocutor experiences. Empathic listening is especially valuable in resolving disagreements and resolving conflicts.

In addition to listening and identifying the needs of a client who comes to the office of a travel company, the manager’s knowledge and consideration of the main factors of tourist motivation will also help. M.B. Birzhakov notes that “without studying and understanding the client’s motivation and desires, it is impossible to correctly build a tour and offer it to the consumer market.” Therefore, let's look at this in more detail.

1.2. Creating a favorable psychological climate

travel agency managers.

Establishing trusting relationships.

The most important and at the same time the most difficult thing for a tour manager is to establish a trusting relationship with a potential buyer. In this case, it is not the arguments that are decisive, but the seller’s ability to find the “key” to the client’s heart. The one whose thoughts are occupied only with the sale of his goods, the one who wants only to insist on his opinion, uses reason and influences the reason accordingly.

In this case, a trust relationship cannot be established. Finding an approach to the client and taking his wishes and needs seriously is the path to success. If the manager knows what his client likes and what he doesn’t attach importance to, he can take this into account in his arguments. If you treat the client as a person, as a friend for whom the manager is ready to do anything, then the client will become your friend who trusts you and listens to your advice.

There are a lot of little things that help you find your way to your interlocutor’s heart.

React sensitively.

When working with a client, you should fully concentrate on the client. Many people are only focused on how to sell their product to a potential client; they are so absorbed in this thought and are actually busy with themselves that they do not notice, say, the current situation or the state of the client, which is not conducive to a serious conversation: for example, the client is not interested in this route, or the hotel is not of interest, etc., or simply does not show interest in your product, but does not express it.

An attentive observer who truly strives to attract a potential client and ensure his satisfaction should not miss such “interferences.” In this situation, a short conversation in a friendly tone will be more useful than a futile attempt to get an order. Be guided by this motto: the client comes first, his well-being and well-being are of paramount importance.

By the way, every client is very sensitive to the time factor. “How much time my interlocutor devotes to me, that’s how much he values me.” Ticklish moments associated with being late or leaving too early... And this killer phrase: “I don’t have time...”. How many promising business contacts were lost forever because of her from the very beginning?

Knowledge of people.

The more deeply a manager knows the nature of people, the better you can evaluate your interlocutor, the easier it is for you to adapt to him. From a practical point of view, it would, of course, be simpler if all people could be divided into types, say, friendly, conservative, reserved, sincere, etc. But, fortunately, each person is endowed with a wide variety of properties. The client with whom you communicate exhibits the characteristics that you expect from him or attribute to him.

Make sure that the people you interact with are friendly, helpful, and sincere. Then, as a rule, you will see that it is so. If you assume that your proposals will be rejected, that someone can’t stand you, then with just this attitude you will force others to behave exactly as you assumed. What you believe happens happens. Check it out sometime! For nothing convinces more than your own experience.

With experience, knowledge also accumulates. The conservative needs to make different arguments than the innovative person; a slow and indecisive person needs a different approach than an impulsive one. For a person with charismatic properties, it is natural to prepare in advance for a conversation with a client, employee or colleague, adapting to his manner of behavior, to his way of thinking, taking into account the characteristics of his character, imbued with his beliefs and desires. From the very beginning, these measures create favorable conditions for a conversation during which each of the participants feels comfortable.

Not to persuade, but to convince!

Sometimes it takes a lot of time to truly convince a client. But patience pays off.

If the client is truly convinced by your arguments, then you have won on all counts, and not just achieved the sale of a tourism product. This means that the client trusted you and listened to your advice.

Sometimes, of course, it is possible to persuade a doubting client with clever persuasion and conclude an agreement, but, as a rule, such a number does not work more than once. A client who is convinced by your arguments always returns.

Take the time to convince the client that it is correct that he contacted you or chose the right travel product; do not try to persuade, deceive or simply “put pressure” on the client. Act only by persuasion! By the way, in order to convince, you need to not only speak yourself, as many people think. It is very important to listen carefully to what the interlocutor is saying and put yourself in his shoes in order to understand his needs. The more your interlocutor tells you about his desires and ideas, the better you will be able to enter into his position and take into account his arguments. The ability to persuade also includes the ability to listen carefully!

Personality attracts .

A salesperson who exudes optimism, charm, and passion for work attracts customers. It's not just words that convince. Nonverbal signals influence the client at a nonverbal level. Voice timbre, intonation, rate of speech, facial expressions, gestures, clothing - all this affects the subconscious of the interlocutor. Those around you are sensitive to the personal qualities of those who interact with them, which is why it is so important to work on yourself, improving your personality.

Only a few work intensively on themselves, paying great attention to the impression they make on others. Meanwhile, the impression made on others is one of the most important factors determining success or failure. Only by knowing what impression he makes on others can a person get rid of his shortcomings and polish his strengths.

Then there will be nothing that could prevent us from becoming a charismatic person. Improve your ability to make a favorable impression on others and positively influence them.

Proper conduct of a business conversation.

Creating a trusting atmosphere and the persuasion phase require a certain time, during which the client will reach a final decision. A good salesperson or manager knows this and facilitates the process by guiding the conversation in the right direction, essentially putting a hypnotic effect on the client or employee.

A calm tone in which the conversation is conducted, an attentive attitude towards the interlocutor, convincing arguments and patience - this is the soil that nurtures a feeling of confidence and trust. It seems that a salesperson with charismatic abilities achieves the desired result without literally making any effort. He wins victories and wins the hearts of clients, thanks to the truly magical power emanating from him.

Many people are sure that it is enough to provide irrefutable evidence to convince the interlocutor, because this is exactly what we were taught at school. The one who uses this technique is convinced that he is right. However, if we take a closer look at the so-called evidence, we will see that they most often do not stand up to criticism. Of course, they stun the interlocutor, as a result of which he completely withdraws internally; the conversation turns out to be fruitless. I consider the presentation of evidence to be a kind of intellectual rape. Analyze unsuccessful negotiations and you will see that those who use evidence will inevitably fail.

The psychological characteristics of customer service in the office of a travel company are largely based on the psychological culture of business conversation.

Psychological culture of business conversation - this is the unity of knowledge that reflects the patterns of mental activity of interlocutors, and the ability to apply this knowledge in specific business situations 4. The psychological culture of selling a tourism product begins with the creation of a favorable psychological climate.

To win over the client of a travel company, you should not strive to achieve only one-sided benefits. Why race for too much personal gain? What could this lead to? First of all, the client will classify you as an uninteresting partner for subsequent negotiations. It is very important to interest the client in the exclusivity and uniqueness or, conversely, in the wide popularity of the proposed tourism product. It is advisable to start the conversation in such a way that the client himself expresses what the manager would like to hear from him. The manager must take the client's point of view and try to feel everything that the latter may be experiencing.

Using psychological techniques developed by Dale Carnegie, a manager can quickly win over a client at the very beginning of a business conversation and, painlessly for his pride, persuade him to his opinion.

At the very beginning of the conversation, it is recommended to start with special phrases instill in the client a consciousness of his own no significance. Sincerity is important. You shouldn't give cheap compliments. After all, the deepest desire inherent in human nature is the desire to be significant. Every person passionately strives to be appreciated. Having instilled in the client his own importance, the manager of a travel company takes the first important step to create a favorable psychological climate. A sense of significance can be instilled in the following ways:

Firstly, call a person by name. D. Carnegie was convinced that all people love their names. A name is a person’s favorite music. In the process of selling a tourism product, it is very important to address the client by name. It is advisable to do this as casually as possible, making it clear that his name means a lot to the manager of the travel company.

Secondly, do not resort to argument, since in nine cases out of ten the dispute ends with each of its participants becoming even more convinced than before that they are right. What to do when the client is clearly wrong? In this case, you can resort to the phrase: “Just think, I thought differently, but perhaps I’m wrong. Let's check the facts together."

A favorable psychological climate during the sales of a tourism product is largely related to what the client’s psychological mood is, what his state of mind or psychological well-being is. Psychologists highlight a number of aspects that provide any person with good psychological well-being. Knowledge and application of these aspects during the sales of a tourism product will create and maintain a good mood for the client. They may include the following skills:

Behave calmly and at ease;

Focus all attention on the client;

Smile and maintain eye contact;

Emphasize interest in the conversation with facial expressions;

Use open gestures;

Speak at the same speed as the client;

speak positively about the client’s personality;

Show your own respect to your work colleagues;

Demonstrate goodwill, satisfaction with life, harmony with yourself and others.

Creating a favorable psychological climate depends, not least of all, on how well the manager has learned and applies the tenets of the corporate culture of his travel company when serving the client. It was through the use of the experience of foreign specialists in the development of corporate culture that many travel companies began to serve clients much better and, as a result, became leaders. A strong corporate culture is one of the ways to stimulate the work of managers of tourism firms. In general, an effective corporate culture is distinguished by the following 5 principles:

Coherence, interaction, what is called teamspirit (team spirit);

Satisfaction with work and pride in its results;

Dedication to the organization and willingness to meet its high standards;

High demands on the quality of work;

Readiness for changes caused by progress and competition.

If this does not happen, the manager is unlikely to make concerted efforts to create a favorable psychological climate.

1.3. Forming a favorable impression of the manager.

Get rid of tension and stiffness or on the contrary, familiarity and swagger, then there is to behave naturally. No falsehood, feigned busyness or seriousness!

Show interest in the client's personality. This is one of the best ways to make a good impression.

Compliments can be given in different ways.

For example, you can praise not the client himself, but what is dear and valuable to him , his position, successes, merits, items of clothing, accessories, etc.

One way to avoid conflict is a compliment amid self-criticism. Why is this compliment effective? Because it not only satisfies the client’s need to improve some of his character traits, abilities, habits, skills, but also to implement his intention to criticize the manager.

In order for the manager of a travel company to create a good impression of himself with the help of compliments, he should follow several rules:

1. pronounce compliments in a confident tone;

2. reinforce them with posture, facial expressions and gestures;

3. the client’s reaction should be predicted;

4. avoid contradictory compliments;

5. note only positive qualities;

6. allow only slight exaggeration;

7. not notice the qualities that a person does not like in himself;

9. do not make wishes like “if only...”;

10. base your compliment on a factual basis.

2.Nonverbal means of communication used

tourism managers.

· Intimate area (from 15 cm to 45 cm). A person views it as personal property. Only those closest to her are allowed to invade her.

· Personal zone (from 46 cm to 1.22 m). We stand at such a distance from others not at parties, official receptions, friendly meetings or at work.

· Social zone (from 1.22 to 3.6 m). At such a distance we communicate with strangers.

· Public area (over 3.6 m). When we address a large group of people, this distance is most preferable for us.

Hand and hand gestures . Rubbing your palms together is a nonverbal signal of positive expectations. The speed of hand rubbing says a lot about who will get the expected positive results. Fast speaks of a result beneficial for both. Rubbing your thumb over your fingertips or just the tip of your index finger usually signifies material, especially monetary, expectations.

Hands can also act as a barrier. A person with crossed arms perceives everything more critically, remembers information worse, and is more negatively disposed.

Professional ethics. The professional ethics of service workers is a set of specific requirements and moral standards that are implemented when they perform their professional duties in servicing clients. It is based on the psychology of service.

Ability to say "NO" elegant and weighty.

1. Saying NO to a client is easier if you can provide him with a report of multiple attempts to fulfill his request.

2. The main problem with giving a negative response to a client is that it may leave them with the unfavorable impression that you don't care about them. Show that, on the contrary, you are very concerned about the failure of his request.

3. Sometimes the best way to say no is to respond to a request - asking for patience and understanding of the situation.

4. Don't fall into the trap of "being good to your neighbor" just because you've done it in the past. Say no when you feel you have done enough for a client.

5. No, it will always be less unpleasant if you think about alternatives and offer other options for solving the problem.

6. Say no, but offer your services.

7. It is important to be able to soften a negative answer so that it does not sound dry and arrogant.

8. Even with very good service, it is not always possible to say yes. Sometimes you are not able to fulfill the client's requirement. But remember that your no should be addressed to the request, not to the client.

9. The buyer asks you to meet him halfway and return the money, although your store only allows the exchange of one product for another. If you do not have strict orders in this regard, comply with his request. But if you can't or don't want to say yes, try to frame your no as a mutually beneficial solution.

10.You shouldn’t use “general company policy” to explain your no. However, mentioning objective (or at least objectively presented) reasons can be useful.

In order to achieve success in the process of selling a tourism product, it is important to clearly understand the psychological type of the client with whom you are dealing. This will not only significantly simplify the process of servicing the client, saving time, but also ensure maximum satisfaction of his requests and needs, and therefore increase the income of the company itself.

There are many psychological classifications and typologies of clients (by temperament, by obvious behavior, by type of decision-making, and others). Let's take a closer look at some of them.

Typology based on two pair behavior meter(activity and emotional responsiveness), distinguishes the following types of clients:

“analyst” - passive and unresponsive;

“enthusiast” - active and responsive;

“activist” - active and unresponsive;

“good-natured” - passive and responsive.

Since servicing a “good guy”, for obvious reasons, most likely will not cause any particular difficulties for the manager, we will consider in detail the first three types of clients (“analyst”, “enthusiast”, “activist”), communication with which without a special approach can become more problematic.

"Analyst" he is slow and unhurried, speaks quietly, without intonation, prefers to communicate with the manager across the table, during a conversation leans back rather than moves forward, tries not to look his interlocutor in the eyes, is dressed mediocrely. A characteristic feature of the “analyst”: adoration of details (how long the flight takes, how many meters to the beach, etc.). An “analyst” can be: verbose, extremely cautious and indecisive, overly serious, with an “underdeveloped” sense of humor.

The manager of a travel company is advised to speak slowly, express his thoughts clearly, pay attention to detail, answer every question, give factual evidence for and against, and give examples of satisfied clients. The “analyst” loves various graphs and tables. Emotions have little effect with such a client - do not get on “a friendly footing.” It's better to look conservative than extravagant. With the “analyst” you need to be precise and punctual. He wants various guarantees, and when making a decision, a feeling of security is important to him. The information handed out must be well-formatted, accurate, and contain all the requested data.

"Enthusiast" distinguished by energy, liveliness, expressiveness, extravagance. A male “enthusiast” will be the first to extend his hand for a handshake. The enthusiastic woman smiles sweetly when meeting her and openly looks at the manager. When communicating with an employee of a travel company, the “enthusiast” prefers a short distance. It is not difficult to talk to him. He will tell you everything himself. Eloquent and verbose, speaks quickly, loudly and for a long time. Having formulated and outlined your wishes, you may not fully listen to the specifics of the proposed tour option. Details are not very important to him. With his wishes and sometimes unrealistic goals, he can confuse the manager (for example, ask him to arrange a trip in a record short, impossible time). It is convenient to work with an “enthusiast”, since he is open to communication. If there are any doubts, he will express them immediately. You can read a lot on the face of an “enthusiast.” “Enthusiast”: may be: not attentive to details, prone to exaggeration and generalizations, disorganized, superficial and unpredictable, impulsive and impatient.

If it is impossible to immediately pay attention to the “enthusiast,” the manager of the travel company should distract him with catalogs or offer him coffee. Such a client evaluates the professionalism of an employee by the atmosphere of communication. He is not punctual, so you should not take it personally, much less try to re-educate him. Emotions are very appropriate with him.

The manager of a travel agency should maintain the illusion of acquaintance and friendly communication. Let the client talk about himself, but remain lively, energetic and confident. When discussing the chosen tour, it is best to speak clearly and unambiguously. It is better to put the details of the trip in writing. Prestige is important to the “enthusiast”, so it is recommended to give examples, referring to authoritative people.

The “enthusiast” easily deviates from the main subject of conversation. In this situation, a friendly hint question helps: “I hope you have a few more minutes?” There is only one question left to discuss.” The manager must be ready to end the dialogue at any moment - such a client may remember another important meeting and rush off. Since the “enthusiast” is disorganized, before the meeting in the office, he needs to be reminded by phone about what he needs to bring to arrange the tour. When finishing the conversation, it doesn’t hurt to write down a program of future actions point by point: “What? Where? When?" and give this memo to the client.

"Activist" can be recognized by their energy and determination. Outwardly, he resembles bosses or VIPs. Loves to make an impression. Always busy, respectful of his time. A few minutes of waiting turn him on and irritate him. The “activist” likes to control both the situation as a whole and the people around him. Even in someone else's office, he behaves like the master of the situation. May make a remark to the manager. He does not get lost in unfamiliar circumstances and prefers to communicate with people of his level, that is, the management of the company. The “activist” speaks quickly and quite loudly, looking intently into the manager’s eyes. This client respects confident people and quickly moves towards a specific goal. Does not tolerate partners who seek to suppress with their authority.

The favorite pastime of an “activist” is to seize the initiative from a raid, win an argument and have the last word. An “activist” can be: self-confident and emphatically independent, stubborn, hot-tempered and even rude, categorical in words and assessments.

The “activist” should not be afraid. His interest in the timid and insecure interlocutor melts before his eyes. The manager should be energetic and quickly get to the point in a conversation; Before the meeting, carefully prepare for communication; the conversation should be concise. The “activist” does not like “frontal” instructions from someone else, so it is important for the employee of the travel company to let the client choose two or more specific options offered, creating the illusion that this is his own decision and choice. The “activist” loves everything new, so it is not necessary cites as an argument evidence that the proposed route has existed for a long time. They prefer to be in the first, prestigious “ranks” of travelers. When asking a question, such a client expects a clear and quick answer. Therefore, the phrase “I will return to this question of yours a little later” can become a serious obstacle to the sale of a tourism product. The manager does not need to spend a lot of time on numbers and small details (unless, of course, the client himself asks about them). It is better to present specific considerations to the travel agency employee briefly in writing. The “activist” understands and perceives the phrases that are important to him: “Save time and money,” “Get recognition,” “For the sake of health and prestige.” It makes sense for the manager to include them in his speech.

A different typology of potential clients of a tourism company is proposed by the famous domestic specialist in the field of tourism V.A. Kvartalnov. It is made based on an analysis of the clients’ lifestyle. And since lifestyle is closely related to the needs of tourists and motivation to travel, this typology is also of interest to us. This typology will help the manager not so much in choosing behavioral tactics, but in correctly choosing a tourism product that interests the client and reflects his specific motives for traveling. That is, it makes it possible to determine not so much the characteristics of the client’s character or temperament, but rather his values. And without a more correct understanding of the client’s values, it is unlikely that he can be interested in anything. The client will simply remain “deaf” in relation to such a manager. V.A. The quarterly identifies five types of clients:

Self-absorbed pleasure seeker;

Active and purposeful personality;

Representative of the business community;

So-called "blue collar" workers;

Traditional homebody.

Self-absorbed pleasure seeker. Most likely, this is a young man engaged in monotonous, uninteresting work. Therefore, he seeks satisfaction from real and imaginary outdoor activities. May love fishing and hunting, play basketball, and be interested in expensive sports cars. He has a decent income, but all purchasing decisions are made spontaneously. This person does not plan life for the long term. He is a regular viewer of sports, adventure and other active programs on TV.

Active and purposeful personality He directs all his strength and energy towards achieving a promotion and has a great interest in his work. Such a client is liberal, with modern views on many aspects of life, and self-confident. He is constantly looking for new sensations, craving active activities, for example, skiing, sailing on a yacht, traveling abroad. This person reads magazines to keep up to date with all the events and latest trends in modern culture. He often watches news, entertainment and sports programs.

Business personality. This client is richer and has more opportunities for expensive vacations than an active, goal-oriented person. But he doesn’t like to travel long distances, because he has a good income and an established family. Reads business newspapers and magazines, watches programs about travel and nature, as well as short news reports.

"Blue Collar" They live in small towns or on the outskirts of large cities. They are patriots and adherents of strict morals and the need for hard work. They consider camping with family to be an excellent holiday. They love hunting and fishing. They prefer to watch bowling or football on TV.

Traditional homebody. Can't keep up with the times. He is a follower of old traditions and expects the same from other people. Counts every ruble. A homebody avoids everything that involves risk and will never make purchases on credit. He is a comedy lover. The main source of information about the latest events in the world is television news.

3. Culture of communication with clients over the phone and in personal conversations.

Business communication is a complex, multifaceted process of developing contacts between people in the professional sphere. Its participants act in official capacities and are focused on achieving goals and specific tasks. For a tour manager, the goal is to interest the client; for a tourist, to obtain as much information as possible.

The main requirements of the telephone communication culture are brevity (conciseness), clarity and clarity not only in thoughts, but also in their presentation. The conversation should be conducted without long pauses, unnecessary words, turns and emotions.

In a travel agency, a telephone conversation usually occurs between complete strangers, so the influence of a telephone conversation on the formation of a first impression of a person cannot be overestimated. Therefore, the main principle of talking on the phone with tour managers is politeness and attentiveness.

At an enterprise, there are a number of principles for communication by telephone between a tour manager and a client (they are the same as in the entire business world).

· If the company receives a call, the handset should be picked up during the second ring.

· The conversation begins with the words “Good afternoon Agency “…..s”

· Be sure to introduce yourself to your interlocutor.

· The conversation should be short (concise), clear.

· If the tourist has not decided on the route and asks the manager to help him with this. We need to invite him to the office.

· If a tourist calls with a clear purpose (that is, he knows where he would like to go, knows the hotel, the timing of the trip), the conversation can be conducted over the phone, but booking places and routes cannot be done over the phone. The client should be invited to the office (preferably with a reservation for a time).

· If a tourist asks a question that the tour manager cannot answer now (for example, about the availability of places in a boarding house, sanatorium, etc.). It is necessary to take the phone number from the interlocutor and be sure to say how long it will take for the manager to call him back. The client should be called back within 20 minutes

· If the manager calls the person who asked him to call back, but he was not there or he could not come, the manager should ask to be told about his call. Then you need to call again, or tell the client to call back.

· If the phone rings and the manager is talking on another phone at the same time, you should first end the first conversation, and only then talk in detail with the second interlocutor. If possible, ask the second interlocutor what number to call back and who to call.

In travel agencies, the main consumer of travel packages is a regular client who has already gone on trips with this company several times. Therefore, enterprises are doing everything possible to retain customers and attract new ones. The agency “...” does not forget about tourists and reminds them of itself by giving gifts to clients and providing them with discounts. All this contributes to long-term cooperation between the agency "..." and tourists

conclusion.

Nowadays, the tourism industry is a highly competitive industry. More and more often we are witnessing new travel companies opening. New concepts are created in order to fully satisfy the needs of certain consumer groups. Enterprises are created, and after a while some of them cannot withstand the competition and go out of business. In the tourism industry, the word “service” means a system of measures that ensure a high level of comfort and satisfy a wide variety of everyday, economic and cultural needs of guests. And every year these requests and requirements for services increase. And the higher the culture and quality of customer service, the higher the image of the enterprise, the more attractive the travel company for clients and, no less important today, the more successful the material prosperity.

The trading process is the basis of any business. The produced goods must be sold, otherwise the meaning of production is lost. A visitor to a travel company will purchase a tourism product only when the tour manager is able to convince the buyer that in front of him is a worthy person in a worthy place. The client is disposed towards such a person and trusts him. Such a tour manager knows that he is selling a worthy product. After all, in fact, the process of selling a tourism product is a process of persuasion: the tour manager and the buyer must come to a common opinion. And the main component of this art is a person worthy of trust, ready to help and provide a service.

Bibliography.

1. Birzhakov M.B. Introduction to tourism. – St. Petersburg: Publishing House Trading House “Cherda”, 2000. – 192 p.

2. Bozhavina R.N. Management ethics: Textbook. – M.: Finance and Statistics, 2001. – 192 p.

3. Zorin I.V., Kvartalnov V.A. Encyclopedia of Tourism: Directory. – M.: Finance and Statistics, 2001. – 368 p.

4. Zorina G.I., Ilyina E.N. Fundamentals of tourist activity M.: Soviet sport, 2002. – 325 p.

5. Karlof B. Business strategy. - M.: “Finpress”, 2001. – 324 p.

6. Kvartalnov V.A. Strategic management in tourism. – M.: finance and statistics, 1999. – 308 p.

7. Markova V.D. Services marketing. M.: Finance and Statistics, 1996.

8. Chirkov V.I. Interpersonal relationships, internal motivation and self-regulation // Issues of psychology. – M.: Moscow Psychological and Social Institute: Flint, 2001. – 192 p.

Qualification requirements for specialists in the Russian tourism business are reflected in Resolution of the Ministry of Labor and Social Development No. 8 “On qualification requirements for the main positions of tourism industry workers.” The form, structure and content of this document are based on the provisions of modern European standards, in particular Great Britain, France, Germany. All requirements are given for three qualification levels of personnel: for specialists of the first and second qualification levels (junior and qualified personnel) and specialists of the third level (managerial personnel).

The qualification requirements for employees of the first and second qualification levels engaged in tour operator activities are as follows:

Planning and drawing up a tour program;

Tour cost calculation;

Hotel reservations, reservations and ticket sales;

Drawing up excursion programs and other additional services;

Instructing guides and drivers;

Preparation of tourist documentation;

Visa services;

Carrying out marketing work;

Interaction with travel agencies and other organizations;

Direct sale of tour packages;

Conclusion of agency and other agreements;

Performing administrative functions. Specialists of the first qualification level working in tour operating companies can occupy the positions of reservation operator, sales operator, inbound tourism operator, outbound and domestic tourism operator, escort, secretary, cashier, trainee, courier. These specialists must have a bachelor's degree or secondary specialized education or have completed professional courses.

Specialists of the second qualification level in tour operator companies are managers of destinations, reservations and sales, marketing and advertising, visa support, personnel, as well as a lawyer and an accountant. These specialists must be certified specialists or have a bachelor's qualification or secondary, specialized education.

The qualification requirements for employees of the third qualification level engaged in tour operator activities are planning and organizing work in all areas of the tour operator’s activities, planning and implementing strategy, organizing interaction with partners, coordinating the work of a travel agency, analytical reporting, and control.

Specialists of the third qualification level working in tour operator companies can hold positions of director, head of marketing, reservations and sales, public relations, customer service, personnel, information technology, and finance departments. They must be graduates or have a bachelor's qualification.

The job responsibilities of workers at the third qualification level are varied and are as follows:

Secondly, communication skills

Thirdly, knowledge of at least one or two foreign languages,

Fourthly, the ability to work on a personal computer (knowledge of an office package, graphic programs, application systems for booking tours and office management of a travel agency, as well as good skills in searching for information on the Internet).

To successfully perform their functions on the route, the instructor-guide needs a combination of creative, pedagogical and methodological training with good physical fitness and practical experience.

Pedagogical training consists of the formation and development of ethical and volitional qualities, dedication, the will to achieve goals, discipline, goodwill, courage and determination, perseverance and endurance in overcoming obstacles, difficulties and hardships.

Technical training involves practical mastery of tourism skills and abilities.

The instructor guide must:

Master the technical techniques of belaying and self-belaying;

Overcome complex natural obstacles in various types of tourism;

Swim, ski;

Operate ships or other watercraft on which the trip is carried out;

Ride a bicycle, drive a car, drive a motorcycle;

Good sense of direction;

Light a fire in any conditions;

Cook;

Repair equipment;

Provide first aid to victims.

Theoretical training involves mastering a system of general knowledge, its continuous updating, and the unification of tourism theory and practice.

Methodological training involves theoretical study and practical implementation of skills and abilities, taking into account the specific situation during campaigns. This preparation is a necessary condition for successfully completing the route.

Methodological training includes:

Ability to correctly combine movement and rest time depending on the technical complexity of the route;

The ability to competently and logically build a hike plan, providing options for trouble-free passage of difficult sections;

The ability to overcome obstacles, using energy sparingly, to select equipment and food for a hike, taking into account specific conditions;

The ability to provide for the physical capabilities of trekking participants, taking into account gender, age, preparedness, etc.

Physical training consists of hardening the body, increasing its functionality and performance, developing and improving physical qualities, strength, speed, endurance, agility, etc. This preparation is carried out in the process of training sessions and hikes.

Classification of travel company client groups

From the point of view of motivation of socio-professional characteristics and behavioral characteristics of people, four main types of travel agency clients can be distinguished.

Sedentary type. Characterized, as a rule, by a small or average income. This group contains a significant number of elderly and young people. Among young people, the desire for a beach holiday prevails. On the one hand, young people are burdened by a constant stay in the family, on the other hand, they do not want to give up the stereotypes of a certain comfort. When traveling, this group prefers to stay in mid-range hotels. For this type of tourist, it is important to conduct excursions and always have entertaining evening and night programs in order to avoid possible boredom. They attach great importance to buying souvenirs.

Due to limited personal budgets, clients in this group tend to prefer short- and medium-distance travel, react negatively to price increases and are not particularly intellectually curious.

Sedentary-mobile type. Tourists of this type want to combine relaxation with learning something new. These are predominantly people with higher education and representatives of liberal professions, as well as teachers with average incomes and students. The age of people in this group is usually from 20 to 50 years. Tourists of this type prefer a variety of sports activities in their free time. They attach great importance to contacts with the local population and visiting memorable places. This type of tourist can easily put up with some lack of comfort. Representatives of this type love to take photographs. The duration of their trips is usually more than a week.

Mobile type. Tourists of this type are looking, first of all, for new experiences and strive for a change in cultural and social environment. This is the largest group of tourists; it is represented by financially secure clients. This segment consists of two different age groups: 30-70 years old, those who prefer to travel in groups, and 20-50 years old, who like to travel individually or travel in small groups. With organized tours using transport and providing comfortable accommodation, tourists of this type will visit everything that the guide offers them. Their food meets international standards, and experiments with local cuisine are also acceptable. Tourists of this type love to take photographs and welcome the presence of a special local flavor. They attach great importance to a well-organized trade in exotic souvenirs. The duration of their journeys reaches two to three weeks.

Nomadic type. This includes tourists who want to achieve close contact with the local population and nature. They usually have a high level of education. Representatives of this type include all age groups, with a slight predominance of young people. Their specific motivation may be different: the desire for a change of environment, trips for religious or creative purposes. Representatives of this category of tourists in most cases travel individually or in small groups, like to improvise, stay in local hotels or rent accommodation. This clientele is open to any culinary experiments and is interested in local customs. This group includes tourists with low incomes, as well as those who are influenced by fashion and are ready to spend significant amounts of money for it.

Customer Service Strategy

In the tourism business, as in other service sectors, the strategic direction of working with clients is a two-pronged task:

1) maintaining effective communication with buyers of tourism services;

2) the ability to satisfy the needs of tourists regarding the economy and convenience of the tourism product.

Services in the tourism business are provided by people, so the effective selection, training and motivation of personnel involved in serving tourists is of paramount importance. The ability of staff to serve a client is called interaction marketing. A tourist judges the quality of the provided tourist service not only by its technical perfection (for example, were there any transport delays, problems with check-in and food), but also by its functional quality (were the staff courteous, did they show an excessive desire to make money off the tourist at any cost? etc.).

Tourist services, like any other, are intangible, inseparable from the source of their receipt, impermanent and not stored. These four core characteristics influence customer service strategy and the development of appropriate marketing programs.

Intangibility. At the time of purchase, a tourist service, unlike a material product, cannot be touched, seen or felt. Trying to reduce uncertainty, clients analyze the external signs of the quality of a tourist service that are accessible to their perception. At the same time, neither the fame of the travel agency, nor advertising, nor the price can be a reliable guarantee of the quality of the tour. However, these components of the tour sales process still influence the client’s perception of the purchased service. Therefore, the task of travel agency workers is to be able to make the intangible tangible. This can be achieved through tangible evidence, which refers to any demonstration of treating your customer as a core value. The manifestation of such a demonstration can be the speed of service, the attractiveness of the travel agency’s premises, the politeness of the staff, various ways of offering services and much more.

Inseparability. Tourism services are provided and consumed simultaneously. The tourist is directly involved in the service process, therefore, the interaction between the seller of a tourism service and the consumer is a distinctive characteristic of this service as a product. The final result of the provision of a tourist service is influenced by both the client and the seller.

Impermanence. The quality of the same type of tourist services provided at different times cannot be exactly the same. It will fluctuate within certain limits depending on a variety of factors. Increasing the reproducibility of tourism services is achieved by improving the work of staff, standardizing the service provision process or the tour certification procedure, as well as monitoring the degree of customer satisfaction with service. Control methods can include analyzing complaints and wishes, studying the level of aspirations of travel agency clients, comparing the quality of services offered by competitors with the quality of their own services.

Not persistence. Tourist services cannot be saved. If a tourist does not participate in a group tour, he will not be able to use this service in the future. This will be a different tour, even if the tourist does not incur additional expenses.

The considered characteristics of the tourist service complicate the customer service process, which sometimes leads to justified complaints, which cannot be prevented at the time of sale. However, there is a practical technique that allows you to minimize possible problems when a tourist consumes the purchased service. Since the client’s choice of a tourist service depends on a wide variety of factors, some of them can be formed or adjusted by the travel agency’s employees. For example, to a tourist planning a holiday in Turkey and choosing Antalya, which is widely represented in catalogues, the manager can recommend the resort of Side with more comfortable and clean beaches. In this case, the likelihood of claims regarding the pebbly rather than sandy seashore or the cleanliness of the coastal waters will be reduced. True, the cost of the tour will increase, but the purchased tourist service will have fewer factors of potential concern for the tourist.

Forms and styles of customer service

According to the forms of customer service, we can distinguish group and individual tours.

The informal style presupposes confidential communication between staff and the client, creating in him the image of “home” or “good friend”. A mixed style implies a standard approach to the client, but with elements of informal communication, for example, an invitation to drink a cup of tea or coffee. But regardless of the style of customer service, the manager of a travel company must master the art of improvisation and acting skills. Already during the first communication with a client in the office of a travel agency, the manager needs to find out as much as possible about him, without becoming overly intrusive and tactless. Questions asked to the client should be formulated in such a way that he answers them only positively. If for some reason the client answered negatively, all the manager’s previous work may be ineffective, because the word “no” is associated with negative emotions.

Animation services for tourists

Tourist animation is an activity for the development and implementation of special programs, involving the personal participation of tourists in game and theatrical show programs, sports and cultural and entertainment events. Translated from Latin, soul, alive. The English derivative of these words is: revival, spiritualization. Thus, animation enlivens tourists’ vacation, making it more diverse and rich in impressions.

The formula for animation in tourism consists of four components:

Use of interest;

Revitalization of the exhibition;

Bringing tourists into action;

Variety of entertainment.

The emergence of tourist animation is associated with accommodation companies offering mainly beach holidays. Animation programs are most widely presented at the seaside resorts of Turkey, Egypt, Greece, Spain, and Cyprus, especially those operating according to the system.

Animation teams work with tourists throughout the day: in the morning they conduct gymnastics (often in the pool), invite them to game and sports programs, organize theatrical performances during the day, in the evening involve vacationers in colorful shows, celebrate birthdays, organize dating evenings, dance evenings etc. For children and teenagers, game programs, water attractions, excursions, drawing competitions, films, and various clubs are offered.

Animation programs can be international in nature or acquire a national flavor. Being designed for vacationers of various age groups and socio-professional backgrounds, they are, however, always targeted and adapted for a specific audience. In addition, animation programs must take into account the calendar of holidays and significant events.

Tourist resort animation is based on personal human contacts between the animator and tourists, on the joint participation of the animator and vacationers in the entertainment offered by the animation program of the tourist complex. The animator must be young enough, slim, agile, know foreign languages, have the skills to communicate with people, have artistic inclinations and a good memory for faces and names. Animators typically wear colorful sports uniforms (T-shirts and shorts) with the resort logo and name badge.

The process of perception of animation programs by vacationers depends on many factors:

Age of participants or spectators;

Paul;

Level of education;

Ethnic background;

Mood, readiness to relax, etc.

The quality of animation programs depends on the skill of the animators, the presence of interesting scenarios, a rich set of musical, speech, stage, plastic, lighting and even pyrotechnic techniques.

In addition to resorts, live-action animation programs are increasingly being used in museum exhibits, such as the Skansen open-air museum in Stockholm, where passers-by can be seen wearing period Swedish clothing. In the countries of Southeast Asia and South Africa, theatrical performances with the participation of aborigines are held for tourists in folk villages. Animation programs with costumed performances are used in theme parks: Disneyland (USA), Euro Disneyland (France), Port Aventura (Spain), Lego parks (Denmark), etc.

Costume tours are of great interest to tourists. This could be a vacation on an American ranch, where tourists dress up in cowboy clothes, get equipment, and learn how to ride a horse and throw a lasso. In Austria, tourists can rent dresses and suits styled after 19th-century clothing and attend professional balls for armed forces officers, pharmacists, laundresses, confectioners, and hunters.

In different countries there is a variety of cultural and entertainment programs - from traditional to exclusive. For example, in Italy they organize orange fights, in Thailand and Indonesia - banana fights, in Colombia - tomato fights. Fruits and vegetables must be ripe so that opponents do not injure each other.

Animated services for tourists are gradually appearing in Russian resorts. The further development of animation programs will depend on changes in tourist preferences and, to a lesser extent, on technological progress.

Formation of communication skills of tour company staff

The communication skills of staff are primarily based on their ability to communicate verbally. Communication skills consist of three equally important parts: the ability to establish contact with a client, the skill of conducting a conversation and the ability to maintain long-term relationships.

We can highlight the following most important communication skills that travel agency employees must possess: quickly establish contact with clients, find effective forms of communication with them, with the team as a whole; regulate inter-collective and intra-collective relations, win over. Needless to say, the manager’s incompetence, haste, and irritability reduce the effectiveness of his communication with the client.

The effectiveness of communication with clients depends on the manager’s knowledge of the area he is selling. Studying all the details of the tour, the characteristics of the host country, and tourist formalities allows you to work successfully even when non-standard situations arise. For example, a client arranges a tour with a stay in Venice from September 1 to September 3. He needs a certain hotel in the city center, overlooking St. Mark's Cathedral. The client had already stayed at this hotel and paid a room rate of 140 euros per night. However, the manager knows that the traditional Venice Film Festival takes place in early September and the cost of living in local hotels during this period increases 2-3 times. To save money, you can stay 4 km from the city center in an equally comfortable hotel. The client did not have this information before joining the travel agency, and upon receiving it through direct communication with a travel agency employee, he may adjust his decision: either postpone the start of the tour, or stay away from the city center.

The formation of the communicative experience of travel agency employees occurs both during normal work and when conflict situations arise. Conflicts, when they develop constructively rather than destructively, form staff’s communicative experience and skills to behave in difficult work situations. Effective resolution of conflict affecting the sphere of interpersonal relationships and problems arising in the process of work contributes to the development of respect for the rights of other employees and the formation of skills for objective analysis of collective and personal relationships. The natural negative consequences of subjective emotional conflicts, manifested in the form of hostility, antipathy, disunity, and anger, force the team to actively look for ways to prevent them. Conflict situations allow travel agency staff to develop the ability to model their behavior, consciously manage it, anticipate the reactions of colleagues, prevent and constructively resolve conflicts, and navigate non-standard communication situations.

Doubting clients. Sometimes travel agency managers have to communicate with doubtful clients. This category of visitors requires increased attention and the use of special communication techniques. You should know that visitor doubts are a natural state in the process of making a final decision.

When working with a doubtful client, you must adhere to the following rules:

1) listen carefully to doubts, do not interrupt or interrupt the client;

2) do not get irritated when responding to the client’s objections, do not get distracted during the conversation;

3) find out what exactly the client’s doubts are;

4) structure the conversation in such a way that the client, if possible, finds the answer to his question himself;

5) sometimes you need to agree with the client in order to then convincingly refute him. For example: “I agree with your concerns, but let's look at the problem through the eyes of those who have already been on this route...”;

6) do not move on to the next argument until the client agrees with the previous argument;

7) summarize the results of the conversation with the client;

8) do not be upset if the client remains unconvinced. Perhaps he belongs to the category of skeptics or bores, perhaps, under the influence of circumstances beyond the manager’s control, he will still use the services of a travel agency.

Weakly motivated clients usually have the means and desire to go somewhere or relax somewhere, but do not have a firm intention to purchase a specific tour. Therefore, they often seek help (sometimes subconsciously) from travel agency employees. Methods for forming tourist preferences have been developed for this group of clients. Some of them are universal in nature, others are specific to the tourism business.

When working with a weakly motivated or undecided client, the manager must clearly understand which direction (region, country, group of countries) and in what sequence he should offer. So, when choosing a European destination, it is advisable to purchase the first tour to Spain (relatively inexpensive trip, extensive excursion program, beach holiday, wine tasting). As alternatives, you can consider a holiday in the Czech Republic or Montenegro. The next trip may be to Italy (more expensive than the previous one, more emotionally intense, harder if it involves visiting classical cities - Rome, Florence, Venice, etc.). Finally, the client's third trip could be to Paris and the French Riviera. Having provided the client with such a scheme, one can assume, if not strict adherence to the manager’s advice, then at least a confidential discussion of all the details of the upcoming trip.

When offering his vacation options, the manager must take into account the socio-demographic characteristics of clients, and first of all, gender and family composition. Single girls and young women often intuitively, and sometimes consciously, strive to go to sea resorts and, less often, to ski resorts, where they may have the opportunity to meet foreign tourists. It is obvious that spouses will prefer a stationary vacation or mainly an excursion program, families with a child will prefer a vacation on the beach, people after working age will prefer excursion or medical tours.

Thus, a good travel agency manager is, first of all, a good psychologist who can unobtrusively and at the same time persistently lead the client to the goal - purchasing a tour. He must immediately understand what the client is like and tune in to his wavelength. The modern tourist is significantly different from the tourists of yesteryear. He doesn’t need to explain what a charter or transfer is, and he understands hotel categories no worse than managers. However, an experienced travel agency employee will always find something to surprise any all-knowing client.

Quality of service and ways to regulate it in tourism

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) deals with quality issues. According to this organization's definition, quality is the set of properties and characteristics of a product or service that determine its ability to satisfy stated or implied requirements. Accordingly, in the tourism business, the quality of service is associated with the ability to satisfy the consumer of the tourism service. Quality problems in tourism affect the collective work of travel agency employees and the quality of service for tourists on the route or the quality of the tourist product (tourist service).

There are three categories of requirements for the quality of labor and the quality of the tourism product:

1) general mandatory requirements established by laws, standards and other regulatory documents;

2) stated established requirements of the consumer (contract, tour program);

3) usually assumed (implied) requirements.

The basic principles that determine the quality of collective work in a travel agency include:

Focus on results, subordination to the unified quality policy of the travel agency;

Interest in results, objective assessment of quality;

Leadership of the manager and involvement of all personnel;

Personalization and consistency of authority and responsibility;

Division of labor;

Process and regular planning and control;

Impact on the causes of problems, rather than their manifestation;

Proportionality of actions, costs and results;

Priority of preventive actions over corrective ones;

Service quality control management;

Exchange of successful experiences within the travel agency;

Well-functioning communications and coordination;

Continuous improvement.

One of the important criteria for the quality of work of travel agency staff is the number of thanks or complaints from clients. The share of complaints (claims) from the total number of clients served should not approximately exceed 1%, and the ratio of the number of complaints to the number of thanks should not exceed 5%. Exceeding these coefficients indicates serious shortcomings in the travel agency’s work with clients.

Differences in the quality of a tourism product or tourism service are indicated by classes of tourist service. There are the following classes of service: luxury, first class, tourist and economy classes.

Luxury class involves the provision of the highest quality services (five-star hotels, meals in luxury restaurants, first or business class air travel, individual transfers in prestigious cars, a personal guide, exclusive excursions and entertainment).

First class provides a fairly high level of service (accommodation in four or five star hotels, business class air travel, meals in expensive restaurants with a varied menu, individual transfer and guide).

The tourist class is a mass service option. Provides accommodation in two or three star hotels, air travel in economy class on regular flights or charter flights, buffet meals (usually only breakfast), transfer by bus as part of a group.

Economy class corresponds to the cheapest service option. Accommodation in one or two-star hotels, motels, hostels, hostels, small private hotels, meals - buffet breakfast (or not provided), flights, usually on charter flights; there is no transfer or public transport is used.

The considered division into classes of tourist service is very arbitrary and does not have generally accepted criteria either in Russia or abroad.

Regulation of service quality in tourism or service quality management is carried out through the certification procedure for tourism services in accordance with the ISO 9000 regulatory document or, as it is called, standard. The concept of this document is based on viewing quality as the degree to which characteristics meet requirements or as the ratio of customer perceptions to customer expectations.

Professional ethics of tourism business workers

The ethical principles of tourism business workers concern interpersonal personnel, the relationships of travel agency employees with partners and clients.

There are seven basic principles of ethics for business communication among travel agency personnel.

Punctuality. Systematic lateness to work, untimely fulfillment of tour booking conditions, failure to prepare documents for the client’s arrival are the most common manifestations of unpunctuality among managers. Being late disrupts the work rhythm and indicates that the person cannot be relied upon. Timely booking and paperwork is important from both an image and an economic point of view: unreasonable delays will lead to an outflow of customers. A study of the organization and distribution of working time shows the need to add an additional 25% to the time initially planned for completing the assigned work.

Confidentiality. Secrets of a travel agency regarding pricing policy, relationships with partners, office work, etc., must be kept as carefully as secrets of a personal nature. You should not retell to anyone the opinions of the director of a travel agency or work colleagues about their work activities or personal lives.

However, not all information concerning the results of a travel agency’s work is considered a trade secret. The concept of a trade secret, enshrined in legislation, has a strictly defined framework, the boundaries of which are often unreasonably expanded.

Based on Art. 5 of the Law on Trade Secrets, its regime cannot be established by persons working in the field of tourism in relation to information:

Contained in the constituent documents and documents giving the right to carry out tourism activities;

About environmental pollution, the state of fire safety, the sanitary and epidemiological situation and other factors that have a negative impact on ensuring the safe operation of the travel agency, the safety of everyone and the safety of the population as a whole;

About the number, about the composition of workers, about working conditions, including labor protection, about indicators of industrial injuries and occupational morbidity and about the availability of free staff in the travel agency;

About the debt of the travel agency for payment and other social benefits;

On violations of the legislation of the Russian Federation and facts of prosecution for committing these violations;

About the size and structure of the travel agency’s income, about the size and composition of its property, about their expenses, about the number and remuneration of their employees;

On the list of persons who have the right to act without a power of attorney on behalf of the travel agency.

Customer focus. This is a very valuable quality of a travel agency manager. It includes the ability to understand the person who has come to buy a tour, to understand his interests and problems, and to try together with him to find the best option for travel and recreation.

Courtesy, friendliness and friendliness. In any situation when communicating with employees and clients, and especially in cases where the client is dissatisfied and makes complaints, it is necessary to behave appropriately, not raise your voice, not get irritated, and not show that you are busy.

Attention to employees. The ability to respect the opinions of others and the desire to understand why they have a particular point of view increase the social adaptability of an employee in a travel agency team. It is psychologically difficult, although necessary, to listen to criticism and advice from colleagues, managers and even subordinates.

Appearance. The main approach when working on appearance is to fit into the work environment, and within this environment - into the contingent of workers at the appropriate level.

The external attributes of a travel agency employee: clothes, shoes, hairstyle, makeup and others must comply with generally accepted standards for the image of a business person. There is a direct connection between a manager's appearance and his success. Professional clothing gives rise to professional behavior, so a travel agency employee must adhere to the standards of appearance accepted in the tourism industry.

Cloth. Strict business attire enhances the image of a travel agency employee. The wardrobe of the director and general managers of a travel agency (regardless of gender) should have several types of suits. In Russian travel agencies, unlike in the United States, even on Friday it is categorically unacceptable to show up to work in jeans or a sweater. Ideally, a female director, regardless of the time of year, should wear flesh-colored tights at work. The same requirement should be applied to subordinate women. However, this rule of etiquette is rarely observed in the summer and only in those travel agencies that strive for a high level of customer service.

Clothes should not be too tight. The hairstyle is strict, elegant, with a minimum of jewelry; women wear no more than two rings on each hand. You should not overuse cosmetics.

A business suit is a mandatory attribute of business life. Clothing as a component of the image performs a double function: it indicates the material status of a person and the role for which he is applying. With his clothes, a travel agency employee consciously, and sometimes unconsciously, shows how he wants to look in the eyes of others.

Compliance by travel agency employees with business attire increases the sense of responsibility, leaves an imprint on their behavior, forming the corporate image of a respectable company. A recommended, but not mandatory option is a uniform office uniform. This can be a uniform (suit, jacket, shoes, scarves, etc.) or the same color scheme of the suit with a variety of cuts, which depends on the individual style of the individual employee.

A business suit should not draw attention to the figure and emphasize its advantages, so neither the skirt nor the trousers should be tight-fitting. The purpose of a business suit is to average out the gender of the person so that all attention is focused on work. Therefore, knitwear, sweaters, turtlenecks, etc. are not recommended for business wear.

The choice of color, texture, cut of a business suit is determined based on the principles of harmonious communication with clients, harmony with the office interior, as well as combination with the individual characteristics of the staff.

It is better for a travel agency manager working with visitors to choose soft light brown (beige, sand, yellowish-brown) shades of a business suit. These tones calm clients down and encourage friendly communication. A man in a light brown suit encourages contact. Blouses and scarves of cream and cream colors go well with a light brown women's suit. If the suit is a gray beige shade, it is better to opt for a pinkish pearl blouse.

Business suits and dresses made of ribbed, checkered, striped fabric, with large or small colored patterns are undesirable - they, as a rule, reflect all the imperfections of the figure.

Shoes must be closed, preferably patent leather. Sports shoes are completely unacceptable, suede shoes are undesirable.

The hairstyle should be neat, as short as possible. For men, a ponytail is unacceptable; for women, a very high hairstyle is unacceptable. Wearing wigs and hairpieces is only permissible if you have problem hair.

Nails must be cut short and you are not allowed to come to work with false nails. You can only paint your nails with clear varnish. The best and most sophisticated option is a “French manicure” with white nail tips, which is also quite practical.

Tattoos, piercings and earrings in men's ears are completely unacceptable. Women can wear miniature earrings or, depending on the structure of the face and ear, larger ones, but in no case dangling ones.

Makeup must be kept in natural, calm tones; it must be unobtrusive and quite strict. It is recommended to exclude bright, trendy shades.

Decorations. Business style does not involve showing expensive jewelry to travel agency clients. Small, carefully crafted jewelry is appropriate, usually made from semi-precious stones or natural materials (wood, ceramics, simple metal). The amount of jewelry made from precious metals should be minimized.

Thus, the appearance of a travel agency employee consists of his clothes, shoes, hairstyle, jewelry, accessories, manicure, makeup, as well as the compatibility of all these elements with each other. However, it should be remembered that sometimes the positive effect of the client’s perception of the manager’s clothing, hairstyle, makeup, jewelry, and accessories can be spoiled, for example, by involuntary scratching, or sometimes simply by touching the scalp with the tip of a pencil.

Literacy. Internal documents or letters sent outside the travel agency must be written in good language, and all proper names must be conveyed without errors. You cannot use colloquial words.

Well-established relationships between travel agency employees and partners are one of the most important factors determining the chances of achieving success in the tourism business. American psychologist Dale Carnegie back in the 30s. XX century noticed that the success of a person in financial matters depends 15% on his professional knowledge and 85% on his ability to communicate with people.

In the process of communicating with partners in the tourism business, various methods of influencing or influencing people are used. Among the most common of them are the following: persuasion, suggestion, coercion.

Persuasion is influence through evidence, logical ordering of facts and conclusions. It implies confidence in the correctness of one’s position, in the truth of one’s knowledge, and in the ethical justification of one’s actions. Persuasion is a non-violent, and therefore morally preferable, method of influencing communication partners.

Suggestion, as a rule, does not require evidence and logical analysis of facts and phenomena to influence partners. Based on faith in the financial stability of the travel agency. Media reviews play a big role in indoctrination.

Coercion is the most violent method of influencing partners. It involves the desire to force participants in the tourism market to behave contrary to their wishes and beliefs, using the threat of punishment (usually financial) or other influence (usually legal). Coercion can only be ethically justified in exceptional cases.

Relationships between travel agency employees and clients. In the tourism business, there is the concept of a “regular customer”, who repeatedly applies for the purchase of tourism services. Achieving such consistency is achieved by the high-quality work of the travel agency staff and other participants in the tourism market.

The quality of customer service when purchasing a tour is determined by many factors.

We list the main ones:

1. Sliding work schedule for employees with the ability to receive visitors on weekends and holidays.

2. Availability of an easily accessible, comfortable office with parking for cars, high-quality and comfortable furniture, reliable office equipment, branded stationery (or at least original design).

3. Organization of work with the possibility of a one-time (maximum two-time) visit to the travel agency office by the client to complete all documents and purchase a tour.

4. Choosing an effective sales method, which should be understood as a rational technology for selling a tourism product to clients.

Sales methods can be classified according to the place where the seller and the buyer meet (travel agency office, exhibitions, fairs) and the nature of the contact (personal or indirect: through mail and other means).

5. Qualification and friendliness of the staff.

6. Possibility of taking into account the client’s wishes when creating a tour.

7. Image components of tourism activities.

Customer service in the travel agency office should take place in the most comfortable conditions for choosing and arranging a tour, in an atmosphere of friendliness, participation and even celebration. All the prerequisites for creating psychological and working comfort must be used so that the tourist would be happy to return to this office again.

Effective customer service for a travel agency includes:

Establishing trusting contact with the visitor;

Motivating the client to purchase a tourism service;

A tourist offer that differs from similar offers in other travel agencies;

Automated documentation of the tour;

Informing the client in detail about the place of stay, travel conditions, etc.;

Sale of tourist services with various payment schemes (cash, credit card, transfer of money to the travel agency’s bank account);

Focusing the client's attention on the possibility of clarifying the conditions and details of the tour after its purchase (by phone, email or 1C0, during a personal meeting in the office);

Prompt resolution of problems that arise during the purchase of a tour or on the route, when communicating with the client in the office or remotely;

Final communication (by phone or in the travel agency’s office) after the end of the tour with a grateful or dissatisfied client.

Without repeating the contents of the extensive literature devoted to issues of business ethics and etiquette, we will dwell on some important aspects of the behavior of travel agency employees, which are often overlooked and damage the company’s image and reduce.

The travel agency manager may be the only person with whom the client purchasing the tour will be in contact. This places greater responsibility on front line staff. Regardless of one’s likes or dislikes for the behavior of clients, their appearance, every day the manager is obliged to play his role in a well-directed performance called “Tourism”. Therefore, when training travel agency staff to effectively communicate with clients, you need to pay attention to such qualities as tact, friendliness, delicacy, sociability, the ability to listen carefully and quickly respond to the difficulties and problems of the tourist, so that he feels like a welcome guest.

One of the components that creates an atmosphere of comfortable communication is a friendly attitude towards guests and an indispensable, sincere smile on the faces of managers. This psychological technique, although not included in the price of the tour, plays a big role in creating a positive image of the travel agency. A confident, friendly travel agency manager evokes positive emotions in the client, stimulating the desire to make a purchase.

In an effort to improve the communication process between managers, travel agencies and clients, a manager can conduct a simple experiment by asking his subordinates just one question: “Where do you start working with a visitor?” You can usually hear various answers based on the employee’s knowledge of etiquette, sales technology and other elements of effective interaction. Perhaps all the answers will be correct, but if none of the subordinates say: “I start work with a smile,” the team needs to reconsider its communication style and, above all, find an object to follow. In this situation, the power of example becomes very important. Dale Carnegie's famous old recommendation: “Smile more often” remains relevant today. It is useful to periodically look into the client’s eyes, as if looking for confirmation of your statements in them.

External manifestations of goodwill and participation should be complemented by taking into account the psychological characteristics of certain types of clients and the selection of individual methods of working with them. This optimizes the office service process and increases the efficiency of managers.

The peculiarity of service in a travel agency is that the client often comes more than one, so the company employee must be ready to communicate with several psychological types of people at once.

Of particular importance for communication is the impression created in the first minutes of contact between the client and the travel agency staff. The client's opinion about the travel agency is formed based on how the secretary or manager greets him on the phone or when entering the office. In the first minutes of communication, it is necessary to ask the client his name and patronymic and address him personally at least once during the conversation.

Use questions or statements that will arouse interest;

Ask questions with the possibility of positive answers;

Find out about the client's preferences.

In the context of the conversation, it is advisable to speak respectfully about your travel agency and its employees. You cannot speak disapprovingly of competitors, mock their actions, or show excessive interest and ask the client about the shortcomings of other travel agencies.

When talking with a visitor, the level of his aspirations, culture, and education gradually becomes apparent. This information should be used to mentally prepare answers to questions that may be asked.

A typical and rather serious mistake is a direct question about the amount the client has. Inexperienced managers justify themselves by saying that obtaining this information immediately sets certain price limits for communication and saves time. However, excessive straightforwardness leads to a negative result: the client either begins to flaunt his wealth (often overestimating it), or suspects the travel agency staff of trying to persuade him to purchase an overly expensive tour. In both cases, further communication may be interrupted without leading to a purchase. Meanwhile, obtaining information about the client’s price range is not difficult. During the conversation, you can offer him a catalog of hotels and ask about the desired star rating, duration of the tour, and mode of transport. This information allows you to get a very accurate idea of the client’s planned expenses.

The approach to the client must be individualized. Working with clients' passports, a travel agency manager can record their birthdays in the computer and, if they coincide with the date of travel, arrange for congratulations with the host company. If the birthday falls at a different time, you can congratulate the client with a postcard, sending it to his home address, or, in extreme cases, with a virtual postcard. It is advisable to congratulate regular customers on the New Year and other holidays (for example, professional ones).

Since the client’s place of residence is not indicated in the foreign passport, and the corresponding column of the “Tour-1” voucher is often not filled in, you can ask the client for his home address, telling about the traditions of congratulations practiced at the travel agency. You should ask to what address you can send congratulations, as very often the registration address does not coincide with the place of residence, or clients do not want to receive personal correspondence at their place of residence.

Adequate facial expressions and moderate gestures help to communicate with visitors. These nonverbal techniques show the client the manager’s confidence and self-sufficiency.

The modulation of the manager’s speech as a whole should correspond to the speed and sound register of the client’s speech. However, if the visitor speaks very slowly or quickly, stutters, burrs, i.e. has obvious deviations from generally accepted language norms, you should not adapt to it. It is also unacceptable to play along with the client by changing the emphasis in words that he pronounces incorrectly.

An important quality of a manager is the ability not only to hear, but also to listen carefully to the client. Emotional deafness is unacceptable in the travel industry. If the client is angry, you need to give him the opportunity to speak out. At the same time, it is necessary to control your emotions and not become defensive. The visitor must be convinced that the manager sincerely wants to help. The phrase: “What can I do for you to solve this problem?” has a pronounced reconciling effect.

Effective work of a travel agency manager with clients is possible with a differentiated approach that takes into account the types of tourists. It is obvious that different types of tourists will use different tourism services.

In addition to psychological communication techniques, close attention should be paid to the organizational aspects of the relationship between the travel agency and clients.

Travel agency managers should work on speed of customer service and strive to minimize the number of repeat visits (for paperwork, full payment for the tour, obtaining tickets, etc.). Visitors to travel agencies usually plan the time they can spend communicating with travel agency staff and experience strong psychological discomfort in the event of significant delays in the office that are not directly related to service. Most often this is waiting for your turn to see the direction manager. Therefore, if it is necessary to meet again with the client, it is advisable to set a time convenient for him.

But if the destination manager is busy serving a client, and at that moment another visitor comes to the travel agency’s office, you can offer him the following (listed from the least rational method to the most preferable):

Wait until the manager is free;

Solve crossword puzzles, humorous problems designed specifically for a specific tourist destination or emphasizing the importance of a travel agency. As an incentive, you can provide small gifts: from desk calendars at the beginning of the year to souvenirs;

Study catalogs or watch videos. For this, it is advisable to have headphones, since the office can be noisy, and the sound of the video will disturb employees. We must not forget about the hygienic requirements, according to which the headphones should be treated before use, for example, with a disinfectant aerosol;

Drink tea, coffee or a soft drink (if there is such an opportunity and desire of the travel agency staff, and first of all its manager);

Entrust the client to a free manager who, during a forced pause, can resolve non-key issues.

Sometimes situations are possible when the client who arrived first is suddenly distracted by a mobile phone ringing and communicates with the caller for quite a long time without freeing up his seat next to the manager’s desk. These minutes are painful both for the second client, who usually tolerates this disdainful attitude towards himself, and for the travel agency employee. The latter, “saving face,” works with documents or studies the tour operator’s website, often pretending to be busy. This is an example of the manager's bad behavior (the tourist's bad manners are obvious and therefore not discussed). It is more advisable to contact the second client and try to resolve issues with him that do not require a lot of time. Naturally, there should be no educational remarks or facial expressions showing dissatisfaction or impatience. A travel agency is not a clinic, not a theater, and posting an advertisement asking visitors to turn off their mobile phones is undesirable here. Indeed, for many clients of travel agencies, vacation (or the dream of it) begins long before the trip.

If desired and with certain organizational efforts, you can create a “Tourist Club” at the travel agency and invite clients to apply for a club member card after returning. Naturally, the card should be given free of charge, just as membership fees should not be charged to club members. On the contrary, club members can qualify for discounts when purchasing tours. To do this, they need to accumulate a certain number of points, awarded depending on the cost of the purchased tours, their frequency or the degree of usefulness of the club member for the travel agency, for the anniversary of the travel agency or annually for International Tourism Day (September 27), you can publish your own two or more page newspaper, always with color drawings or photographs. The newspaper area is filled with information and entertainment materials (tourism news, tourist horoscope, crossword) and with advertising of tours. Such a newspaper can be handed to visitors and distributed directly to mailboxes, attracting students doing internships at a travel agency.