03 Sep Personal Development: 3 Tips for Making Your Training Successful

With so many educational opportunities available both within and outside the travel industry, it is important to make the right choices in order to gain the most from your training sessions. Use these three tips to set a training course that will make a difference for your personal development.

#1.  Don’t become a training junkie! As an educator, I can definitely appreciate the enthusiasm; however, there is no need to sign up for every course offered. It is not realistic to expect you’ll know everything about all things. Narrow your focus to what is most important to your professional growth right now, six months from now and within the next year, and plan accordingly.

Agents in NEXstart (a program exclusively for new sellers of travel LINK TO THIS ONE WEBSITE from Nexion® that lets you earn commission while you learn) have a set training curriculum to start with, and we also provide them with a professional development plan template that they may use to plot their own unique training course. 

#2.  Just schedule it! Schedule time for your training and development. Whether you are attending an event, virtual classroom training or viewing recorded sessions, it is important to schedule your time and stick to it. Create a training plan, select your courses and schedule it on your calendar. When that calendar reminder pops up, take the course!

Nexion University is our learning management system that gives you access to a virtual education 24/7, so you can schedule your training when it’s convenient for you. Topics include Nexion® tools, industry and destination knowledge, managing your business and supplier partner presentations. Nexion University provides every Nexion® agent access to all of our virtual educational opportunities.

#3.  Use it or lose it! Put your new knowledge to use immediately. While attending a session, take note of those “a-ha” moments – you know, those times when you just learned something that you know will apply to your professional development. As soon as you are back in your office, decide how you can apply what you just learned.

At a recent Boot Camp (a Nexion-exclusive, three-day event on how to be an incredibly successful travel agent), an agent asked a great question. “Why use SNAP! (Nexion’s graphical air, car, hotel and rail booking tool) to book hotels rather than another popular online booking tool?” Our answer is by using SNAP! for hotel bookings, Nexion® agents have access to our exclusive hotel program rates and special amenities, and booking this special rate will guarantee commission. Also when booking in SNAP!, the reservation is automatically posted in our back-office system. Now she knew that she had access to these special rates and amenities for her clients, and guaranteed commission and less work for her by not having to manually post the booking!