A day in the life of ... Margaret May
01-Oct-08
She enjoyed many years living and working in Zambia's Luangwa Valley, running safari camps and later as a station manager for Zambia Airways. When she married her husband Peter, she moved to England and set up her award-winning agency, Journeys a la Carte - literally from the kitchen table - in 1995. Based in the small, market town of Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, it boasts a nationwide client base and a turnover of £4m.
9:00 AM May arrives at her office, just 10 minutes away from her home, and immediately catches up with emails which she has already checked beforehand at home. In the traditional office space, with travel posters around the walls as well as a map of the world above a fireplace, there are five desks, hers included, all of which are manned by female staff. "That wasn't a deliberate decision, it just turned out like that," says May.
The team - four full-time and two part-time staff - are mostly local, unlike 80 per cent of her clients. "But those 20 per cent who do climb the stairs (to the first floor office) are very likely to book if they have made the effort thus far, as there are other agents in the town; although not specialists in luxury, they can provide brochures, which we now keep in drawers."
10:00 AM May discusses alterations to the agency's website home page with her colleague Claire. Having just returned from a family trip to her beloved Africa, she is keen to upload a photograph - currently framed on her desk - taken of herself with the Big Cat Live BBC TV star and Masai guide Jackson Looseyia. "It was a huge thrill to meet him and I am sure this would be of interest to many of our clients."
May emphasises that her marketing strategy away from the website is purely word of mouth. "I have never advertised, even when I started out with just an airline ticket franchise. Enquiries from our website have to be followed up - we won't touch the business unless we actually speak to the client, it's what we are best at," she says. She claims they have an 89 per cent conversion rate.
11.00 AM Having checked the Guardian/Observer Travel Awards website, prior to her attendance at the awards ceremony in Fez later that week (her agency was voted as Best Travel Agent), May consults with colleagues about a booking now affected by the demise that morning of wholesale travel provider Bluebookonline; it appears the hotel does not have a voucher from the company.
"We will just have to pay for a room with the company credit card. I try to keep my hand in with bookings; only yesterday, two clients popped in on return from their holidays with a bottle of wine for me, to say how much they enjoyed themselves." May then tells me of a letter from a client who recently booked a villa in France and followed up the trip with reams of paperwork complaints. "We sorted things out and he followed up his rant with a polite thank you letter, apologising for his previous bad humour."
Her next task is to review the agency's branded 2008 Christmas card design; painted by a friend, they "have become collectors' items", she claims, always using the globe as a central visual theme. The company sends out about 800 each December: "We send a card to anyone who has booked with us in the past two years, as well as remember those who haven't booked for a shortish period."
Working closely with "tour operators who do personalised itineraries for us which we present to clients as jointly organised trips", May says they need to talk to someone "who knows as much or more about a destination than we do, so we seek to have a good rapport with first class operators, such as Carrier. I do hope they retain their individual identity now that they have just been bought by Kuoni." (And right on cue, her key contact at Carrier calls her on the phone to discuss the takeover and its implications, which she later says was a very reassuring conversation.)
While discussing the economic downturn, and the fact she is proud of the fact that the agency is not on the high street - it is based on the first floor, above an upmarket gift shop - May claims that the credit crunch has not affected her business so far. "We are just up on the last three months of last year," she says. "It has affected what our clients want from us, however. They want more than just the product now - they want knowledge, as well as attention to detail.
"We have never been mass market - but we have been known to organise a ballroom dancing weekend in Blackpool for one particular client," she jokes.
1.00 PM Over an open sandwich in a coffee shop next door, she recounts how her new quarterly newsletter, which she launched earlier this year, contains itinerary suggestions and hotel news. It is distributed locally, as well as sent out to about 700 of her clients. "We will also put it in the local dentist's reception area, even hospital waiting rooms. It's an expensive thing to print, but it's excellent for leads." May also plans to distribute the newsletter in the dressing rooms of local bridal shops, along with strategically placed TV monitors which will give destination information for potential honeymooners.
3.00 PM May checks on several clients who have been abroad recently. "We always call clients on their return and make copious notes on their feedback. We also keep a quote book, with details of every quote; if booked, if chased and information, if relevant, on why the client did not book."
She is also adamant that if they don't book with an operator, they will always call them and explain why they haven't. "I am not keen on getting operators to price match; if it's like for like, that's fine, but it's not fair on the girls who do all the work if the cost is then lower." The most any client has ever spent with her agency is £70,000 on a family trip to Australia, but she is reluctant to give an average client spend "as it varies so much".
5.00 PM The day ends with a presentation by one of her team on her recent fam trip to Sri Lanka and the Maldives. All staff have attended a presentation skills course. "They are good ambassadors for the brand," says May.
MY FAVOURITE
Hotel: Little Lodge in Maroni, Cyprus and Peponi on Shela Beach, Lamu, Kenya.
Destination: With my background, it has to be Africa, but I also have a passion for India.
Transport: Tracking tiger on elephant back in India.
Career highlight to date: Opening The Sunday Times several years ago to the huge headline that we were Britain's Best Travel Agent.
Top tip: Travel with an open mind.
Luxury is: Different things to different people: I opt for a two-bucket shower when in the bush.
Travel firms I admire: Kuoni (great training programme); Carrier (for great rapport with their staff); Safari Consultants (attention to detail).
MAY'S THOUGHTS ON ...
Fam trips: "Educationals are the lifeblood of an agency. First hand knowledge is a major tool. Journeys a la Carte is lucky to be offered some amazing trips and we take advantage of as many as possible (recently these have included horse riding in South America, an Amazon journey, a Caribbean trip, and tented camping in East Africa)."
Staff recruitment and retention: "We have been very lucky - only two members of staff have left in the past few years (to move house and travel). We do have people applying for positions, but very few realise the depth of experience and knowledge they need.'
