Meet Linda Schreiber: A Bad Trip Spurred Her Career
by Andrew SheivachmanLinda Schreiber was working as an accountant when she got an unexpected taste of what it takes to plan a trip. In short order, planning travel went from being an unfortunate necessity to her beloved career.
It was 1986 and Schreiber was traveling in Asia when her trip was disrupted by a supplier’s poor planning.
“I was a customer, and my trip got messed up en route,” said Schreiber. She responded by taking charge of her group’s trip to Japan, China and South Korea.
An agency is born
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Not long after, Schreiber founded Starship Travel in Arlington Heights, Ill.
“The tour operator wasn’t one of the best. They taught me everything not to do with my customers,” said Schreiber, who now serves on the board of MAST Travel Network.
Today, Starship Travel employs 25 fulltime agents.
Karen Kass, Starship’s longest-tenured agent, has been with the company since its inception. The agency’s second-longest employee has been on staff for about 20 years.
Value of diversification
Starship’s agents cover a wide spectrum of specialties, including destination experts on Greece and Poland, a Sandals specialist and a Spanish interpreter who facilitates the agency’s work with Spanish-speaking clients.
Schreiber learned the value of diversification when the airlines did away with commissions in the 1990s, prompting her to shift away from her transactional focus.
“I restructured after the airlines got rid of commissions,” she said. “I changed my focus and became a destination wedding and multigenerational travel expert.”
Hands-on
Schreiber said her agency thrives on referrals and repeat customers, with about 70% of her business coming from the two categories.
She is hands-on in her approach to customer care and client outreach.
“I pride myself on making sure all the documents go out on time, and that we touch our customers every month,” said Schreiber.
“People are going back to agents, because they want to work with a human,” said Schreiber.
The Internet factor
“Our best customers are people who have gotten lost on the Internet or burned; they come back begging for help.”
She cited one couple she knows who booked their destination wedding on the Internet, only to arrive and find the hotel didn’t exist.
She tells her agents to use the Internet as a research tool, but not to get bogged down hunting for discounts or the minutiae of online reviews.
“The Internet is a tremendous resource, but when it comes to booking travel, agents have to realize we are a service,” said Schreiber.
Looking to the future
Schreiber, whose agency employs a number of younger agents, said she considers hiring young people to be vital to the future of the travel agency industry.
“We’ve worked with our customers to hire some younger people,” said Schreiber. One now assists with the company’s marketing and social media while learning the business.
“I’m envious of anybody coming into the business now, because it’s so much easier for an agent to get in,” said Schreiber. “But I’m glad I came in when I did.”
