'Why selling property made me a better travel consultant'
Jay Speller took on a new role at Your Travel Corporate after almost 20 years as a property agent. He tells TTG how his experiences selling bricks and mortar have aided his transition into a travel sales role
After two months as a business development manager (BDM) for Your Travel Corporate, Jay Speller feels fairly certain of one thing. It is unlikely he will lose a sale to a client’s dead donkey.
He explains that in his previous role at premium estate agency Fine & Country as manager of the West Malling office, a vendor pulled out of their property sale at the point of exchange due to their equine pet’s demise.
“I’m not sure they even had a donkey,” Jay laughs as he recalls the trials and tribulations of life in the property industry.
“Most transactions at that end of the housing market were difficult and lengthy due to the nature of the type of property we were selling: listed building restrictions; covenants on land; various title deeds – all of which could all throw a spanner in the works. Sometimes the problem would be a difficult vendor or buyer rather than the property itself, digging their heels in over the smallest of issues.”
Jay was at Fine & Country, where property prices typically start at £1 million, for around seven years and also held roles in other agencies in the Kent and London areas from the age of 28.
“I’ve worked in sales for 20 years, picking up the phone and speaking to clients – those skills are very transferable to the travel industry,” he asserts. “But the service side is important too – building relationships, keeping in contact, ensuring clients are happy throughout their journey with us.”
After various discussions with Your Travel Corporate, Jay took on a BDM role with the remit of going out to meet clients and generate new business.
“At Fine & Country I was used to sitting in front of people that expect a certain level of service and selling our business to them. It’s not so different to what I’m doing here – meeting chief executives, finance directors and PAs and selling a brand or a lifestyle to them.”
But he believes some of the challenges he has faced on the property side, dead donkeys included, will stand him in good stead.
“I think the clients I will be dealing with now, whilst they will obviously expect a certain level of service, will be far easier to manage. If there is a particularly difficult one, I think I’ve had more than enough practice to cope with most situations,” he asserts.
Technology advantage
While the product might seem the most likely thing to differentiate working in the property and travel markets, Jay says the thing that really stands out is technology.
“There are far more systems in travel from GDSs to CRMs that just don’t exist in property,” he insists.
He adds that travel is a softer sell, and a real positive in his opinion.
“There’s no steam rolling in and trying to get a meeting with someone from the first phone call. I think property could learn from that.”
On the flip side, Jay says that in his estate agency role the team would meet every morning for an hour and run through individual progress, any new clients, marketing that needed doing and HR matters. He has suggested it as a weekly fixture in his new role to help keep the team informed.
Ultimately his main take away for anyone considering making a move into travel is that he only wishes he’d done it sooner.
“I enjoyed estate agency but sometimes it could take a year to progress a sale, and that timeframe is growing with the current red tape. In travel, if a client books a flight, you get paid the following month,” he says.
Finally he notes that while it might take six months or so to build relationships and get to grips with new technology in travel, the rewards will come, and come quickly.
“In property there is a ceiling which doesn’t exist in travel. You can build more and more clients and keep building on that base.”
Property might have given Jay some firm foundations, but it seems in travel the sky really is the limit.
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