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Fresh from their triumphs at the TTG Travel Awards, Charlotte Cullinan speaks to the Independent Travel Agent, Homeworker, and Multiple Branch Travel Agent winners.
Independent Travel Agent
Tiffany Woodley, Myriad Travel
This year’s award entrants were asked to select the song that would play if their name was announced on stage, and Independent Travel Agent of the Year winner Tiffany Woodley rather aptly chose S Club 7’s Reach for the Stars. “It definitely sums up how I feel. The future is bright,”
she says.
As the owner of Myriad Travel, one of Woodley’s shining moments of 2015 came in May, when she bought a high street shop in Woolton Village, a conservation area in Liverpool. Within a month sales increased by 50% year-on-year.
It is a move Woodley has built up to since joining the hotel industry aged 16, rising to sales manager for Six Senses. She set up Myriad Travel as a homeworker in 2004, moved to rented premises in 2006, and now employs three agents and is a member of the Global Travel Group.
This year has seen several innovations from Woodley. She converted the second floor of her new shop into a lounge, which has already hosted two events, and several more are planned. “We want to stand out, so for the Thai night clients will be collected in tuk tuks.”
She also focused on social media, with an active Facebook presence generating numerous bookings, while a Twitter competition in January resulted in eight bookings. “It’s all about brand recognition and awareness for us.”
Another new avenue is business travel, and Woodley met her first client earlier this month. Woodley also introduced an usual method of delivering quotes, brochures and tickets – courtesy of the Myriad Travel bicycle. She acquired it this year after winning a local grant, explaining: “Our clients love it, and we know everything is securely delivered.”
All clients are offered a concierge service, and when a client wanted to propose to his girlfriend in the Maldives, the team arranged a private beach dinner, complete with a speedboat sailing past carrying a “will you marry me?” banner.
The judges praised Woodley’s customer service, and she says: “It’s central for me, as we are in a small village community, so that’s the way we can set ourselves apart from the multiples and the internet.”
To promote her win, Woodley decorated the exterior of her shop with a large banner, mentioned it in her quarterly printed client newsletter, and was interviewed on her local radio station. She is also taking her team for a celebratory day out in Belfast. “I’d urge others to enter next year, as it made me really look at my business, and I feel so proud thinking what I’ve achieved. Winning is a real accolade.”
Stella Sharples, PTA, Midcounties Co-operative Travel
Having only started homeworking in 2013, this year’s Homeworker of the Year Stella Sharples is still in shock at winning. “When my name was announced I froze, and couldn’t believe it. To be the number one in the UK feels ridiculously good, and I’m so proud, as I do work hard.”
This is something of an understatement from the agent who can often be found emailing overseas hotels at 2am to ask them to give her customers the VIP treatment, and whose diary is frequently packed with training sessions.
Within three months of becoming a Personal Travel Agent with Midcounties Co-operative Travel in 2013, Sharples became one the five top-selling agents – a position she has retained ever since. In the past 12 months her sales have exceeded £1 million.
She also won the PTA Special Achievement Award in 2014 for her business growth, customer service levels and charity fundraising.
While homeworking has been a new venture for Sharples, she sold her first holiday during a work experience placement in 1993 in Oldham’s United Norwest Co-op Travel. After completing a Youth Training Scheme (YTS) at the branch she soon became a manager and has spent her career working for various arms of the Co-operative.
From her home near Oldham Sharples says caring for customers is key to her success, with repeat bookings accounting for 37% of her business. In the last year her dedication to customer service has seen her track down a beloved toy that a customer’s child left in Lanzarote, and secure a client a £6,000 upgrade at a hotel they’d booked with for numerous years. “I treat all my customers at my friends, and ensure I provide a highly tailored service. I’ve never let anyone down in 22 years, and aim for everyone to be totally satisfied. Some customers now give me their dates and budget and ask me to book them a holiday and then tell them where they are going, as they really trust me.”
Referrals generate 48% of business, with Sharples giving all clients business cards to pass on to friends and family. She is very proactive on Facebook, and uploaded photos of her award soon after winning. Within 48 hours she received enquiries from five new customers, and in the last 12 months the platform generated 10% of her business – a figure she expects to “easily double” next year. “Facebook has played a really big part in getting my name out there.”
Sharples also focuses on traditional marketing avenues, and regularly advertises in her local media, which has generated two local business customers, and she attended a local wedding fair which introduced her to three new clients.
Sara Short, Bath Travel
While still at school, Sara Short saw a poster featuring Bora Bora in a library, and decided she wanted to work in the travel industry. “It was beautiful, and really inspired me. I wanted to go there, and the rest is history,” she says.
While she has yet to visit the South Pacific island, as Bath Travel Titchfield’s assistant manager, and the newly crowned Multiple Branch Travel Agent of the Year, Short is adamant she made the right decision. “There isn’t a day when I don’t love my job.”
Short’s career started in 1984, when she joined a YTS, aged 16. She went on to become a senior consultant, before being headhunted by Bath Travel in 1995 to run its new Titchfield branch in Hampshire.
Short believes “every customer is special,” and has honed a proactive approach to customer service and a determination to add value
to bookings which impressed the judges.
She aims to give multiple options to those making enquiries, and frequently emails customers with specific new deals that may be
of interest. She also contacts clients following fam trips and recommends properties.
As a weddings and honeymoons specialist Short is arranging her branch’s first weddings and honeymoons event, and she sends clients a card on their anniversary. She also directly asks hotels to look after those celebrating special occasions.
Her work has earnt Short a 100% positive rating on independent review system Feefo, and the most positive reviews across the company. “People have written really lovely things. I’d be gutted if I ever got a bad report!”
Her efforts also secured sales of more than £1 million in 2014, earning her the accolade of Bath Travel’s Sales Employee of the Year – a title she also won in 2012. “It felt really surreal, as people kept saying I was amazing, but I’d just been doing my job.”
Following her win at the TTG Travel Awards, Short enjoyed a celebratory dinner with her Titchfield colleagues, arranged by Hays
Travel managing director John Hays. She says: “Winning has been the highlight of my career, as after 30 years in the industry, for someone to say I’ve done such a good job is wonderful.”
The branch’s local newspapers are expected to run stories on Short’s win, and she emailed her customers to inform them. “It’s good for me, the branch, and the whole company. I’ve had some lovely congratulations from customers, and a few joked they’d have to bow and curtsy next time they see me!”
