On my recent trip to Peru I was faced with a big dilemma. Traditionally, it is busiest for travel agents starting in January. Additionally, it was rumored that Disney Cruise Line® would be releasing 2013 sailings on the Disney Magic® and Disney Wonder®. I had a wonderful opportunity from Adventures by Disney® to go and experience their product in Peru.
I couldn’t pass up this opportunity, but had no choice in the dates of the adventure. This was a great chance to share with so many people what Adventures by Disney was all about. When I told people I was going to Peru with Disney, many said “I didn’t know there was a Disney park in Peru”. This meant a lot of education needed to be done! So I set out to show everyone all about Adventures by Disney. I had an incredible time, but it was coming at a cost.
We are a small agency, so going away during a very busy time of year is difficult. A good friend of mine offered to come in and handle the phones while I was gone. Little did she know how busy it would be! She is a retired travel agent so she knew the job, just not the new procedures, etc. that we follow.
One of my agents is my sister and she totally stepped up! Maybe she felt she owed me, maybe she now feels I owe her, I don’t know, but it was great! She hopped right to the challenge. She took off time where she could with her other jobs and worked nights and weekends to make sure that all of our clients got the best possible service we could give, without noticing that I was gone! It worked! The feedback from clients has been great. We managed to get everyone what they were looking for in terms of new dates, including many last minute requests and changes. She organized what had to be done and set up the appropriate agents to assist.
While Deb was the person who the clients dealt with, it was also the dedication from Deb, Regina and Debbie that got it all done. I sincerely thank them for all of their hard work and from what I’ve heard, our clients thank them too!
