Collaborative Mentoring Grows Travel Business

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MENTORING

A good friend will go to jail with you. A true friend will go to jail with you and say “Dang! That was FUN!” At least that’s what my grandpa always said, and he’s the guy that taught me what I know about wisdom and Mentored travel agents earn more money. This is why mentors should be “all in,” offering more than a static list of tasks, they offer the insights to help you mitigate risk and maximize returns. That’s right, they’re willing grow your business with you, and endure all of the ups and downs along the way, with you. We like to think this is one of the reasons our agent education and mentoring programs win major awards every year for the past 9 years.

No, our mentors are not trying to get you into trouble with Johnny Law. They are, though, there for you all the way. Business isn’t a straight line to the top. Some decisions you make will work out better than others. A good mentor knows this and a great mentor lives it. They will help help you navigate the challenges of business. When you stumble (as we all do), they’ll be there to pick you up, brush you off, and get you back on your feet. They’ll show you all you learned from a well intentioned stumble and how you’ll grow from it.They’ll reinforce the idea that, when you are doing what you want to do, as best as you can do it, you can still end up in a place other than the one you wanted to be in. With a great mentor, you’ll know that it’s not how you fall but, rather, how you rise. 

Top travel industry professionals are hard-pressed not to have been impacted by mentorship in some way. Be it through casual interactions with more experienced peers, travel agent social media groups, or formal mentoring programs, the experiences, knowledge, authenticity, and wisdom they share is as invaluable as it is unpredictable. They don’t have all the answers; nobody does. They don’t have a generic list of next steps for agents. What they do have, though, is experience. They’ve been in your shows and have helped thousands of other agents. A great mentor wil take you to the next level. 

Developing this relationship benefits mentors and mentees alike, as they gain lifelong learning, expand their professional networks, and develop more fulfilling careers. Mentors are learning daily as they work with agents one-on-one every day, just as their mentees are learning every day. It’s a cycle of recurring benefits from which you can accelerate your business in ways you hadn’t yet thought of.

With these benefits in mind and so many more people joining the travel industry every year, it is definitely worth finding a mentor on your own or through your host agency. OutsideAgents.com, for example, offers free one-on-one mentoring from professional mentors with at least a decade of front-line experience as a successful home-based agency owner. Why wouldn’t you want to talk with an expert that’s been in your shoes?

KNOWLEDGE and GROWTH

In addition to providing practical knowledge, training, and quality assurance, mentoring can empower newbies from day one with encouragement, moral support, and practical knowledge. Agents with some experience, and even veterans, though, can benefit even more as mentors provide peer-to-peer feedback. This feedback gives the mentee insights to allow them to focus on the most rewarding aspects of their careers to save them time and help them make more money. From their own experiences, mentors collaborate with mentees to explore the most effective ways to become even more successful. By sharing something as simple as a keyboard shortcut, guidance on how to best present a project, or even where to find an unpublished price, mentors help newcomers, and seasoned agents alike acclimate, accelerate, and build confidence. For veterans, mentoring helps to calibrate their confidence and identify areas for improvement while sharing tricks, tips, and ideas the agent would likely not find on their own.

TRUSTED ALLIES and CONNECTED CHEERLEADERS

Mentors can provide support and encouragement when mentees face difficult challenges or career roadblocks by reminding them of their strengths, boosting confidence, and providing motivation to continue. Typically, mentors also have more industry experience and a large professional network, which allows them to introduce new opportunities and individuals. When a mentor is at his or her best, he or she has the mentee's best interests in mind and provides honest, accurate, and prudent guidance, as well as maintaining confidentiality and trust for their mentees. A great mentor will encourage you, and tell you the ugly truth when it’s needed. It’s about trusting and being trusted, plain and simple. After all, a great mentor has nothing but your best interests in mind.

GOAL-SETTING and ACCOUNTABILITY

Great mentors know that setting goals isn’t easy since they’ve done it themselves back when they were agents. They can help you set goals and stick to them.

It is easier for mentees to focus their efforts and measure progress when mentors offer their objective perspective and career experience. Mentors can also provide follow-up and accountability, ensuring that the mentee stays focused on the goals they've set and the career path they want. In the same way a gym membership motivates people to show up, so does the commitment to each other you share with your mentor.

ROLE MODELS and AUTHENTIC CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK

When a trusting relationship is established, honest feedback and authenticity in constructive criticism can flow more easily, accelerating professional growth and business development. In addition to setting professional expectations, mentors can assist in defining best practices, workarounds, hacks, and boosts for your business. These examples can help mentees establish productive work habits, which enables focus and improved business performance.

It's important to remember that mentoring is a two-way street.  Both mentor and mentee can offer each other fresh ideas and different perspectives. Learning is always a two-way street as the mentor revisits their wisdom and expands on it for the benefit of their mentees.

FINDING a MENTOR

Mentorship most often occurs through networking and paid 3rd party industry programs. Many agents find mentors by getting involved in industry organizations and events and keeping an eye out in trade publications, social media groups, and websites. Be sure to turn to your host for mentoring first. Many hosts offer paid mentoring. A precious few like OutsideAgents.com, though, offer the benefits of working with a veteran agent and mentor at NO COST or at cost to their agents. Like OutsideAgents.com, these few hosts have realized that mentoring is an investment in their mutual futures. So, put yourself out there, ask lots of questions, and, most importantly, stay curious! Be sure to share why you chose to reach out to them and what your goals are. Remember, mentors share their time and insight because they're interested in helping others grow and are enthusiastic about establishing more authentic personal connections. When you find a great mentor, invest your time and energy in working with them, it will pay off in spades!

BOTTOM LINE

Business involves a constant flow of calculated risk-taking. Find a great host, like the ones at OutsideAgents.com, and dive in. Let them help you make those calculations and, when you end up in jail, you’ll know you’re there for the right reasons, and that your mentor will be there to bail you out and get you back on the right track.

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