02/02/2017
Many thanks to the best travel partner! I am so honored Sandals! Love is all you need!
Join us in congratulating this month’s featured Home-Based Travel Agent Susan Mackley
Susan Sent Us
West Wareham, Massachusetts
At the age of fifteen, on a school trip to London, she took her first trip on an airplane and she became completely hooked on traveling! When she returned home to Cape Cod, she would stare at the pull down world map that was in front of the classroom and daydream about all of the countries that she would visit. She tacked up a Pan Am flight attendant application to her bedroom wall. She was too young, but when she was old enough she was definitely planning to work for them!
Still with a love of travel, it was during college that Susan realized that she and jet lag didn’t get along. Her dream of being a flight attendant was replaced with a desire to find another career in the travel industry. After graduating from college in Boston with a degree in business, Susan moved to Los Angeles and began working in a small store-front travel agency, but the land of make believe didn't hold a candle to the thrill of getting on a plane and visiting a new place!
Shortly after Susan got married she saw an advertisement in the Los Angeles Times for a TWA Reservation Agent. Back then, this was a very coveted job! Staff members could travel for just ten dollars in coach and twenty-five dollars in first class. Susan got the job and she worked in reservations for eight months. In 1985, still staying within TWA, Susan applied for a customer service agent position back home in Massachusetts at Logan Airport in Boston. It was in this position that she found happiness helping the people that she spoke to book their tickets for vacations and their business trips.
In 1991, Susan decided that she wanted to begin selling all types of travel, so she left TWA and became an outside travel agent for a small store-front travel agency. It was there that she developed a corporate client base. She learned that her value to her clients really depended on how comfortable she could make their trip! More often than not, business travel can be a grind. For her clients that were on the road a lot, she would think outside the box. Rather than booking the chain motel in smaller cities that they would require travel to, she would find a nice bed and breakfast for them to stay at. Her clients appreciated that she would go the extra mile for them and they looked forward to seeing where she would send them next! Susan quickly learned that it was the small details that can make all the difference. Adding value means everything!
Susan was really good at putting together trips for her clients, but she knew that she needed to sharpen her sales skills. With this need in mind, Susan went to work in a sales capacity in the tech industry. It was there that she was introduced to the original shark tank! That business was very competitive, but it gave her the skills that she was looking to attain, while still booking trips on the side. While working there, Susan spoke to a co-worker who told her that she had a friend that worked for a large travel sales company called National Leisure Group in Boston. Within 3 weeks, Susan was in their training class! Susan worked in their call center, but they even had an office inside of the famous Filenes Basement Department Store! Within one year, she became a member of their Million Dollar Club and each year afterwards. After selling computer equipment, selling travel was a piece of cake! Susan was back doing what she loved!
While working at National Leisure Group Susan got introduced to Sandals! Her introduction was on a week-long Fam Trip to Jamaica, which included spouses, with her husband David. Her first stop was Sandals Ocho Rios, where they she like she had died and gone to heaven! From there they stayed at Sandals Royal Caribbean and then Sandals Negril. One day at Sandals Negril, Susan noticed Sandals resort’s Chairman Gordon “Butch” Stewart having lunch. She recognized him from his picture in the Sandals brochure. Susan introduced herself to him and was completely stunned when he asked her opinion of the resorts that she’d seen. Susan can still remember thinking to herself “Who does that?" She was so impressed! She’s convinced that he genuinely cares about his guests and he’s a true visionary!
Although Susan has had numerous trips to Sandals and Beaches Resorts, the trip that she and her husband took in 1995 always stands out in her mind. The level of staff dedication couldn’t be missed! The couple was celebrating their wedding anniversary when hurricane Luis decided to pay a visit to the island! There was no electricity and there was a boat in the restaurant where Eleanor’s Restaurant is now! Cars were flipped over and the lobby floor was filled knee deep with sand! During the height of the storm, the employees risked their safety by checking on guests in their rooms. When the airport opened, Mr. Stewart flew in to the island to check out the damage. He saw Susan and remembered their conversation in Negril two years prior. He said to Susan, "You're the first ones out." The couple flew on his private jet to St Lucia to finish their vacation. Since their original flight home to Boston was on a charter flight from Antigua and not St. Lucia, Mr. Stewart assured them that they would get them home! He bought them tickets! Susan remembers thinking “that’s something your family would do for you!” When Susan returned home she wrote letters to the editor of two travel agent publications recounting her incredible experience with Sandals and both were published.
In 2010, Susan received her Master’s degree in Education from the University of Massachusetts. Susan’s plan was to teach Travel and Tourism at the college level. In her final semester, Susan attended the Boston Globe Travel Show, where she spoke to the local Sandals Business Development Manager and learned that the possibility of owning her own travel business could easily become a reality! She had always dreamed about owning her own travel business, so with her new education, she opened Susan Sent Us in 2010. With the assistance of her local Sandals Business Development Manager and other staff members, Susan felt that with their help she had the information that she needed to succeed in her new endeavor. She made it a point to attend Sandals Resort’s CSS Workshops each year and Weddingmoon training Fam Trips, where she became a Sandals Weddingmoon Specialist. Susan soon realized that she had to wear so many hats as a business owner. She had to constantly market herself, but along with that realization she gained clients and from them referrals!
As a home-based travel agent, Susan believes that it’s imperative to stay connected with the travel marketplace, so she makes it a point to attend the annual Sandals CSS Workshop. It was in 2013 that Susan was among a few select travel agents that was interviewed for the workshop training video. With her focus on destination weddings, Susan has also attended Sandals Weddingmoon Specialist workshop, which she believes has contributed to her success in that area.
Through the years in the travel business, Susan has stayed at all of the Sandals and Beaches Resorts, with the exception of Sandals Barbados. Susan has had many positive experiences at both Sandals and Beaches Resorts, but one of her Butler stays in Jamaica really stands out in her mind. Susan had to make a lot of unexpected phone calls back home during this trip. Her Butler went to the gas station on his own time and bought her a phone card. He had a solution to her problem within minutes.
For Susan, selling Sandals and Beaches Resorts is a win/win all around! Trust is everything in this business, so if your clients trust you, they will keep coming back. Susan’s advice to new agents is to introduce yourself to the managers at the resorts and ALWAYS send a thank you note after your visit. Your value to your clients is in knowing the Sandals and Beaches product first -hand as well as knowing the people who make their travel dreams a reality.
During the 2nd Annual Home-Based Travel Agent Conference at Sandals Ochi Beach, Mr. Stewart asked three travel agents that attended if they would like to extend their stay in Jamaica by one night and spend the following day going on his helicopter for a tour of the island. Susan jumped at the opportunity! One of the items that had always been on Susan’s bucket list was to tour the Jamaica that’s “off the beaten trail”. She envisioned herself renting a car and seeing all of the places that the average tourist never gets to see. Unfortunately, after Susan drove on the left side of the road in Australia, her dream of seeing Jamaica the same way had ended. In her wildest dreams, Susan never expected to see Jamaica from the air! They toured the entire island and then stopped at Sandals Whitehouse on Jamaica’s south coast for lunch. Susan says that Jamaica from the ground is gorgeous, bit seeing it from the sky, words just can’t describe it’s beauty! After the tour was completed, Susan and the trio were whisked away to Sandals Royal Caribbean in Montego Bay to overnight. They were completely amazed by the events that they had experienced that day!
Susan is very supportive of the efforts of the Sandals Foundation’s efforts in the Caribbean. The Sandals Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Sandals Resorts. One of Susan’s greatest memories was visiting the Parry Town Primary School In Jamaica. Her visit to the school was set up by the Beaches Ocho Rios General Manager, Brian Roper. She was able to donate a suitcase full of school supplies. Words couldn’t describe the joy and excitement that the children exhibited when they saw a paint set or a notebook. Travel Age West Magazine featured Susan’s visit in their feature about the Sandals Foundation. http://www.travelagewest.com/Travel/Hotels/Sandals-Brings-in-Travel-Agents-for-Caribbean-Philanthropy/ #.WGgAOChNFUQ . Susan “Packs for a Purpose” whenever she travels to Sandals or Beaches Resort. And she always suggests that her clients that travel do the same!
