PHOTO: Monograms’ tours, such as those between Florence, Rome and Venice, typically include transfers from the airport, sightseeing tours and train fare between cities.

Sometimes working harder really isn’t smarter – at least in the case of selling tour packages. That’s something that Jayne Holden Chambers of Travel Leaders discovered through experience. When she was new to the industry, she believed that the best way to service clients was to conscientiously check prices for airline, hotels, transfer companies and sightseeing operators to ensure she was getting the best deal for her clients.

“However, as our agency grew and efficient use of my time — as well as the time of other agents in the office – became a necessity, we came to rely more and more on package tours from our Travel Leaders’ preferred tour operators to meet our needs,” says Chambers, who is based in Jacksonville, N.C.

What she found was more lucrative commissions and better and more cost-effective tour options for her clients.

“First of all, booking directly with resorts, hotels and other suppliers usually pays only 10 percent commission or less,” she says. “Booking a package tour with a preferred tour operator, particularly once you’ve met certain minimum sales levels, typically pays 12 to 15 percent or more.”

Once she began relying on tour operators and their packaged offerings, Chambers found that she saved enormous amounts of time, enabling her to get back to her clients with answers more quickly.

“By using a tour operator, we get the added assistance from their customer service agents,” she says. “This helps in both hotel selection — they may have just returned from a fam themselves and can tell us about a new hotel property, for example — and in support if something at the hotel goes wrong. You can’t have too many people on your side in those situations.”

Furthermore, there’s basically a packaged tour option for any client. “There are really no limitations on who we would sell a package to,” says Chambers. “Package tours represent everything from budget hotels up to five-star properties.”

Judy Nidetz with Travel Experts in Chicago also frequently books with package tour operators. “I do it regularly because I come out ahead. The commissions are higher, and my clients get a better deal, since 98 percent of the time, the tour operators are offering a greater discount for the passenger than had they booked directly through the hotel,” she says.

She noted that tour operators have better contracts and are able to offer deeper discounts. “So it’s a win-win situation,” she says. “The client pays less and gets a better value and the travel agent makes more money.”

Then there’s the issue of added value. “The other positive thing is that, in many cases, the tour operators might be offering an extra added value that normally would not be included if the agent booked all the tour components separately,” she says. Such amenities as breakfast may be included in the package, or the operator may offer coupons that can be used for discounts on spa treatments, romantic dinners and bottles of wine. “Everybody comes out ahead when you book with a tour operator,” Nidetz added.

Like Chambers, Nidetz stressed the timesaving element afforded by booking packaged tours. “It’s a lot easier to make one phone call to a tour operator or even look online at their website,” she says. “I could even compare three or four different tour operator packages in much less time than booking and pricing each item separately.”

Jeff Eigel makes sure that he promotes the cost-effectiveness of packaged tours to his clients. “Communication with your clients is imperative by promoting the facts that package tours are less expensive than purchasing air, hotel, car rentals or transfers separately, said Eigel, who is with San Antonio, Texas-based Corporate Travel Planners, a branch of Tzell Travel.

He recommends targeting first-time travelers for these types of tours since tours and excursions can also be purchased along with air and hotel packages. “This can also save time and hassle for travelers who may not speak the languages of the destinations they may be visiting.”

Eigel actively promotes package tours. “We have effectively taken advantage of this opportunity through advertising [in partnership] with our preferred suppliers through co-op opportunities and promoting these vacations in our travel shows, website and social media avenues,” says Eigel.

“However, with this said, our professional agents and their expertise are our greatest assets in continuing to excel in these opportunities,” said Eigel. “The customers trust our agents to take care of the details they may not have considered and to ensure they have a great trip and get the most out of their vacation dollars.”

Bonnie Lee with Travel Leaders in Albertville, Minn., actually built her business on selling such packaged tours as Funjet and MLT Vacations. “The beauty of the product is that it’s perfect for the beginner and an absolute must for the advanced agent,” she says.

Tour operators make it easy for new agents to sell packages, she says. “Everything is there, so all you have to do is really work to understand the tour operators and what they offer and their marketing and how they deal with travel issues.”

There is, however, a learning curve to take into consideration. “Learning how to work their booking engine is half the battle, but once you do that the time savings is huge,” says Lee.

For new agents, learning how to field pricing questions could be another challenge. “For beginners, getting over the ‘I saw it on the Internet’ comment might be difficult if they are not working with a vendor who does indeed price-match the OTAs,” she says.

Lee recommends that agents forge strong ties with an eclectic array of suppliers. “Any vendors that make your job easier, stand behind their product and take good care of our mutual clients should be in every agent’s back pocket,” she says.

Other benefits of booking package tours include the camaraderie of a group, notes Peter Friedman, a luxury travel expert with Unique Travel in Delray Beach, Fla.

“These itineraries are tried-and-true itineraries so you know your clients are going to be able to see and do a lot more under a group tour because it’s been so well organized and it’s run week after week,” he says.

Additionally, clients are afforded other benefits, such as not having to wait in line at attractions, not having to worry about where to eat and having someone else deal with carting their luggage around.

When it comes to profiling clients for package tours, asking questions and listening to the responses is key, says Claire Schoeder of Atlanta-based Century Travel.

“For me, I talk to the clients and then I take time to become familiar with what each brand has to offer,” says Schoeder. “You can do this easily by reading about them online, looking at their brochures and attending webinars.”

All things considered, it goes back to knowing what your clients want. “If they say they want to go on a tour, ask them who they have toured with before,” suggests Schoeder. “If clients say they want to go to Europe but they don’t feel comfortable going on their own, I look at options based on what they told me they want,” she says.

If, for instance, clients say they want the comfort of a group but also want a bit more flexibility, Schoeder will book them with a company such as Globus’ Monograms brand. “It gives them help getting their grounding in any city they visit,” says Schoeder, “but it gives them a lot of time to do their own thing.”

Monograms’ tours typically include transfers from the airport, and get acquainted sightseeing tours, she says. “If they are doing Rome, Florence, Venice, Monograms takes care of the train travel between the cities.”

When Schoeder books Caribbean vacations she prices air and hotels separately and then compares the prices with package tours to see what the savings are.

Schoeder also pays attention to when the tour is guaranteed to operate.

“That’s especially important if you’re doing the air separately,” she says.

In the final analysis, according to Schoeder, success in matching the right tour to the right client invariably comes back to the same thing: “You have to listen to the client and then know the products that are out there.”