Episode 223 How to share contextual feedback on hotels after returning home

May 6

About the Guests:

Madeline Steuber is the driving force behind Steuber Travel Group. Her approach encompasses a meticulous focus on client segments, reflecting her deep understanding of customer profiles and travel aspirations. Her philosophy combines strategic business acuity with a genuine passion for delivering tailored travel experiences.

Madeline founded Steuber Travel Group with her mother, Kristen, who currently works as the President of Supplier Relations.

Summary:

How can you talk about hotels in a way that inspires and informs your clients? Joining Whitney this week is Madeline Steuber to shine a spotlight on the art of hotel and experience recommendations in the travel industry. Fresh from a FAM trip to Cape Town, they discuss the pitfalls of using superlatives (“the best hotel,” “must stay”) without context, emphasizing the importance of thoughtful, client-centered matching. And they dive into differentiating between luxury properties, understanding client priorities, and asking better discovery questions to ensure every traveler is matched with their ideal stay—not just “the best” one.

Key Takeaways:

Why superlatives like “the best” or “never” are not communicating what you think they are
How travel advisors can match, not just sell, by understanding the full spectrum of client profiles, priorities, and budgets.
The right questions to ask in your discovery call to help zero in on the perfect match for each client.

Related Episodes:

🎧 Episode 220 Beyond the Trip: Elevating the client experience in your travel business

🎧 Episode 196: Asking the right questions to best serve your client

🎧 Ep 184 How to curate a personalized selection of hotels for client proposals

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Whitney Shindelar

Undiscovered Sunsets was a long time in the making, even if I myself didn’t realize it. During my time at the University of Northern Iowa, I studied abroad in New Zealand. Upon graduating, I bought a one-way ticket to France, lived with a French family and studied with classmates from Turkey, China, Russia, Germany, Italy, and everywhere in between. In 2010 I began teaching English as a foreign language. This job quickly took me to China, where English teachers were in high demand and within three years, I began working in a 5-star hotel, speaking Mandarin throughout most of my day. In total, I lived abroad for 7 years.

I consider Undiscovered Sunsets to be the perfect mélange of my personal experience traveling the world and my professional experience working in the hospitality industry.

I look forward to designing your next adventure!