Travel Counsellors is supporting its corporate and leisure franchise owners with a suite of virtual training materials to boost their businesses.
For the entire month of May, the company has launched a dedicated training schedule to support its business owners during the COVID-19 pandemic, by enhancing their knowledge and skills during the lockdown period.
The company is calling on its business owners to take part in the ‘TC Training Festival’ by subscribing to a bespoke-built, internal digital hub housing six webinars a day, and tackling themes including technology and tools, sales and marketing, plus product and positioning themselves and their business for the future.
Launched at the beginning of this month, a host of the company’s travel supplier partners have contributed content, with spotlights on airlines, hotel products and destinations. In the first two working days of the festival launch over 600 Travel Counsellors had completed at least one of the training modules.
Travel Counsellors Global Sales Director, Jim Eastwood said, “In spite of the immensely challenging backdrop we all face, Travel Counsellors is recognised as providing a high support, high touch, flexible working environment. That flexibility extends into our comprehensive, award-winning, learning and development platform.
“Our expert training and support has helped our Travel Counsellors navigate this period, and the feedback from our business owners across the globe is that they want to use this time to ensure their business is in the best shape possible for when the world is open for travel again, with many already seeing enquiries and bookings coming through for the end of this year and for 2021.
“We’re putting every effort into supporting our people to make the best use of this period by sharpening skills and increasing knowledge though the dedicated training initiatives we’re providing. Using the pledge ‘I will’, our business owners are taking advantage of the chance to learn something new to support the personal relationships they create with their customers now, and in the future. The message is clear – ‘sharpen skills now to win later’.”
The global training festival is accessible to all of the company’s 1,900 business owners across seven countries, with live webinars produced and available on demand to suit all time zones.
The company has also continued its established training initiatives virtually, including induction courses for new Travel Counsellors, and a dedicated ‘Leisure to Corporate’ training course that delivers the knowledge and skills required for leisure business owners to grow through winning and managing corporate travel accounts. Business travel was a key growth area for Travel Counsellors pre-lockdown, and the company is preparing for an upturn in corporate travel once lockdown is lifted.
Manchester based Travel Counsellor Karen Moore, who launched her new business in March, says, “My aim has been to hit the ground running and take advantage of the training support available to me during this time. I’ve been working my way through all the online course content – from cruise product modules to spotlights on DMC partners and destination guides, plus advice on how to market myself as an independent business owner in the current climate.
“My mantra is that the more knowledge I have, the better my business will be, and more importantly the better the booking and travel experiences I can provide for my customers.”
The TC Training Festival comes after the company has ramped up its internal communication efforts to support its remote-working community, with daily ‘TCTV’ shows produced by webcam, and a dedicated ‘TC Support Package’ which forms part of a series of support platforms for the company’s franchisees to access, including information on budgeting and finances, Government support available, as well as hints and tips on how to maintain health and mental wellbeing throughout this time.
Eastwood continues, “It’s been wonderful to see the community pull together to help each other and their customers over recent weeks, and the suite of support platforms we have put in place highlights our focus on taking care of our people at this time.
“We’re keen to support everyone within our global community to do the very best they can to navigate this period and come out of this stronger, by putting every effort into positioning our Travel Counsellors’ businesses for a bright future.”
The TC Training Festival is the latest addition to the company’s continuous learning and development initiatives centred around an in-house training platform, COACH. The digital training hub includes dedicated courses on sustainable travel in collaboration with the Travel Foundation, and cyber security modules following a £50,000 investment in bespoke training on the topic, which was written and created by Hollywood producers last year.
The COACH digital platform won the 2018 and 2019 ‘Lenny Award’ for Best Sales Training Programme, and is facilitated by the company’s ILM Coaching & Mentoring-qualified training and business development team.
