I lost my temper at a client today. I didn't call her names or anything, but I wanted to quite badly. She had begged me to bend our rule about giving out tour and package quotes on the phone, claiming to be a repeat client, and I had finally agreed to it because I thought maybe she really was, and anyway, I wanted to be nice. She then proceded to string me along for a week. "Oh, yes, I promise I'll give you the business, you're the only agency I ever use, we're really going to buy two packages to Disneyworld," which would be a very nice bit of commission, of course. I probably spent two hours on the phone calling around to get quotes on her vacation, about one hour and fifty five minutes longer than is normal for a spec call from a new customer. Then today she said, "Okay, it's down to you and another agency," and that was it. I lost it. I told her, extremely politely but with exquisite clarification, to use the other agency because she wasn't getting one iota more out of me for free, and the next time she wanted information she would have to come in to get it, plus she'd have to give me a credit card up front. Her reply was pretty darned sheepish.
Before you start feeling sorry for her, or dismissing me as a whiner, please understand: if you don't have time to sit with me and work on your vacation, then I don't have time, either. The reason we don't do spec calls on the phone is because people just don't book very often. If we can get them into the office it means they're serious about the trip, and they'll probably book. That's all we ask: give us the commitment of your time, and we'll gladly give you plenty of ours. If you want general information, go to a bookstore. If you want broad ranges of prices, check the Internet. If you want particulars on a cruise or a tour, come see me. I mean it. Come see me. I love to sell travel. I love to talk about travel. I love to help people narrow down just what they'd like to do on a vacation, and help them choose how to spend their money wisely. What I don't love is people who try to get something for nothing.
Naturally, we give out information all the livelong day to clients who don't book at that very moment, or whom we've never heard of before, or who state up front that they're not ready to buy, or who don't live in our town and couldn't possibly come in. It's like driving. You sort of steer the conversation, testing the road, trying to decide when to stop and when to kick into 5th gear. I don't feel bad every time someone gets a lot of work out of me without booking. I just feel stupid when I decide to be nice and get bupkis in return.
The thing is, I don't lose my temper very often. I feel sick to my stomach as soon as the adrenaline ramps down. So I try to figure out why I've gotten so angry, and the mental list kicks in: Tired? No. Mad at someone and taking it out on others to avoid confrontation? Nope. Not feeling well? I feel fine. Drugs? No, thanks, I gave them up in 1984. Oh, wait. Wait a minute. Caffeine. Definitely a drug. I'm ultra sensitive to it. And I've been drinking a Diet Coke every day with lunch after having a coffee for breakfast. Hmm . . . .
Yes, that's right. Coffee for breakfast, nothing else. I admit it, I don't eat breakfast. I like breakfast food quite a lot, just not in the morning. Mornings are rough on me, always have been. My mom always made me eat a good breakfast, and my stomach always hurt through first and second periods. As soon as I went out on my own I went on my own natural eating cycle which meant no food until lunch. And that's still the way I prefer it. Of course, I don't need much energy in the morning, I'm just at work sitting like a root vegetable in front of my computer screen coordinating complicated travel arrangements. No physical exertion required. But coffee, oh man, gotta have that one essential cup o' joe to get the old synapses firing. That one cup is what allows me to juggle 40 or 50 sales reps' territorial sweeps without even taking notes.
I'm guessing the extra caffeine in the soda at lunch is pushing me over the top. Time to snap out of it. Life is full of clients who won't commit, and being in a service industry means always having to say you're sorry. Besides, for every wiseguy who suckers me into going beyond the call of duty, there's a nice person who really appreciates the extra mile. I'm not going to stop believing in humanity.
But I'm not giving out tour package prices on the phone any more unless I personally know who's calling.
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