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Education
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Build loyalty, collect reviews, and grow a referral engine after the trip is booked.
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If you’ve ever felt like the sales process ends when a trip is booked, you’re not alone—but that mindset is costing travel advisors real revenue.
In Episode 4 of Travefy’s The Lounge Sales Workshop Series, CEO and founder of Travel Bash and The Biz Huddle Courtnie Nichols explains why the booking isn’t the finish line. It’s the starting line for retention.
Because here’s the truth: new leads are expensive. Retention is profitable. And the advisors who grow the fastest aren’t only great at closing new business, they’re great at keeping clients coming back and bringing their friends with them.
This article breaks down Courtnie’s post-booking strategy into a practical workflow you can implement right away to strengthen loyalty, capture testimonials, and build a referral engine that runs in the background of your business.
Courtnie frames post-booking as the “stewardship” stage of the sales cycle—the part clients remember most.
Clients rarely remember the exact quote or the hotel name you sent first. What they remember is:
When you nail the post-booking experience, your clients don’t just come back. They talk about you.
One of the best parts of the episode is Courtnie’s approach to “surprise and delight.” Her rule is refreshingly simple:
The more you know your client, the easier it is to wow them.
She gives examples of thoughtful touches that are often low-cost (or free), like:
Courtnie also shares a powerful mindset shift: gifts and touches shouldn’t be about the advisor’s brand.
In other words, if it’s covered in your logo… it’s more about you than them.
Instead, think: What would make this traveler feel known?
Many advisors worry they can’t afford wow moments. Courtnie breaks it down with a smart business lens:
Even if you’re just starting out, she emphasizes that some of the most meaningful “wow” moments cost almost nothing:
Courtnie compares it to relationships: some people stop dating their spouse once they’re married. The same thing happens with clients. If you want loyalty, you have to keep showing up.
A major reason advisors don’t collect reviews is simple: they feel awkward asking.
Courtnie’s fix: systemize it.
When the request is part of your process, it doesn’t feel personal or uncomfortable—it feels expected.
Her workflow is tight and time-based:
This works because it captures clients while they’re still on the post-trip high, before life kicks back in.
Courtnie recommends framing feedback like this: “Your feedback helps us create even better experiences for travelers like you.”
It feels like co-creation, not a favor.
This is a standout idea from Courtnie’s team: they don’t just collect reviews—they use them.
After trips, her team builds a “lessons learned” doc that tracks:
This turns reviews into operational improvements, which means the experience gets stronger with every booking.
Courtnie’s referral approach is warm and simple—no pitch needed.
Try language like: “If you hear of someone planning something special, I’d love to take care of them too.”
It’s sincere. It’s not pushy. And it teaches clients how to refer you.
She also makes an important point: if you simply say “I’m a travel advisor,” most people don’t know what to do with that. Instead, you want to clarify who you serve and what you specialize in so referrals are aligned.
If you want a quick win, Courtnie’s advice is clear: Audit your workflow and automate one touchpoint.
Start small with one of these:
It doesn’t need to be perfect, it just needs to exist.
Here’s the post-booking pipeline Courtnie outlines in distilled form:
This article was inspired by Episode 4 of our Sales Workshop Series with Courtnie Nichols. For more real-world strategies to help you turn bookings into repeat clients and build a referral engine, listen to the full episode of The Lounge by Travefy podcast.
💙 Share this with an advisor who’s ready to build loyalty that lasts long after the booking.
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