Closing a lead? Payment Practices? Trust?

This week’s Friday 15, we're welcoming Betsy from Uniglobe Travel Center! Let’s have some fun, plus some questions to discuss this Friday at 12 pm CST. Join us! I just started as a travel agent this past September. And I do have quite a few sales, more than I expected. However, There’s been a few instances lately, where people have reached out to me and seemed eager to work together, and I’ll respond back to them to try and set up a quick phone call or video chat to get a vision for their trip, and before I can even really provide them with a proposal, they’ve kind of moved on. Do you think there’s something else I can try and to do to progress the conversation and get closer to a sale? Am I missing something? - Travel Dad Matt Hello! I'm trying to figure out best practices for situations where the client does not pay for everything outright.How would you recommend handling payments done in installments (either paying a deposit and balance due, or using a tool that breaks up the payments even further)? Do you send the client a credit card authorization each time there is a payment? Should you send regular balance statements or simply forward the conformation/invoices from suppliers? What are the best practices? I'm just starting out in the business. I'm about three months in and I'm working on setting the foundation of my business. I'm completing trainings, learning about suppliers, listening to podcasts, creating a logo and social media, along with plenty of other items on my to-do! I was even able to complete my first booking for some of my family! With that said, I'm worried that because I don't have more of a legitimate business, it's going to be difficult to complete bookings with any of the leads I get. What do you suggest I do to help build up my business and get potential clients to trust in me as their travel advisor when I'm so new? - Laura RESOURCES: Getting leads - https://hostagencyreviews.com/blog/travel-leads Great article about payment security in general that you might want to check out - https://hostagencyreviews.com/blog/tis-q4-2025