TRAVEL Counsellors
is breaking sales
records, attributing
this to a “highly
differentiated business
model” that allows the
consortium to thrive in
tough times.
“Travel Counsellors
recorded its four biggest
sales months in its
12-year history in South
Africa this year. In July,
sales were 16% higher
than in 2018 and in
August we broke the record
again with sales growth
of a further 13%. We are
experiencing growth in
both the corporate and
leisure sectors and expect
this to continue,” says gm
of Travel Counsellors South
Africa, Mladen Lukic.
“In the current trading
environment, most of our
competitors are reducing
costs to maintain market
share. That then reduces
the quality of service to
their customers. This often
comes with even stricter
enforcement of preferred
partner strategies to
boost income. Contrary to
this, Travel Counsellors’
strategy consistently
focuses on achieving the
best possible outcome
for the client and never
restricts customers to a
limited number of supplier
offerings,” he says.
Don’t fixate on price
It’s tempting to compete
on price in difficult
economic times, but this
is to the agency’s and
industry’s detriment, he
says.
Mladen says, while
price is important, it’s the
overall value proposition
that is key. “Fixation
on lowest price point
is to fundamentally
misunderstand sensitivity
to price in depressed
market conditions,” he
says.
He uses the analogy
of shopping for shoes to
explain why this business
model works particularly
well during periods of
economic recession:
“Imagine your child needs
a new pair of shoes but
you have a very limited
budget to spend. In the
past, when you were more
cash flush, you may not
have been as invested in
the process of purchasing
shoes and may have
bought the first pair that
you came across.
Quality is important
“Now that your budget
is limited you are more
likely to put effort into
making sure you buy a
pair of shoes that will
last. It is in difficult times
that a customer seeks
an environment where
they are certain they can
trust in the quality of their
purchase. They may even
be willing to spend a little
more than they did on their
last purchase to ensure
that they achieve the best
possible outcome with
their limited means,” he
says.
From a corporate
perspective, Mladen says
TCs’ architecture (a large
consortium made up
of a collection of small
businesses) means better
service. “Counsellors can
be more precise and agile,
reacting to a situation in
minutes.”
The Travel Counsellors
business model is showing
outstanding growth, not
only in South Africa, says
Mladen.
“Our UK business
is exploding in an
environment where
Thomas Cook has just
imploded. Sales are up
10% and we expect to
close our financial year
with sales of £652 million
(R12,44bn) for our 15th
year of consecutive doubledigit growth. As long as
we continue to maintain
our genuine and honest
focus on the customer,
we will see customers
moving over to book with
us. The tougher the times,
the more discerning the
customer and in today’s
world trust is in short
supply,” he says.
Travel Counsellors bucks the trend
20 Nov 2019 - by Sarah Robertson
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