Spotlight on Simon Gilmartin: Building sales organizations in travel

If there was ever to be an official spokesperson appointed for the travel industry – someone who wholeheartedly believes in its future and opportunities – Simon Gilmartin would be a shoe-in for the gig.

A decade ago, you'd have thought the bank executive to be an unlikely candidate for the hypothetical position, but that all changed in 2009 when he took on his first role in the trade as national vice-president, group and travel sales at RBC Insurance. He spent five years in that position, during which time he made the most of connecting with industry professionals across the country and "drinking the Kool-Aid," as they say.

So when Gilmartin moved on in 2014, it was no surprise that it didn't take him long to resurface. He came back on the scene by launching DWG Performance soon thereafter, a strategic consulting company with a mission to drive performance, productivity and profitability for mid- to large-size companies through deep client insight, performance analytics & strategic sales and marketing execution.

"I fell in love with the industry within two years," he told PAX, describing the reason he felt compelled to continue his involvement. "I feel more a part of it than I did in banking or insurance, and I was in those for nearly 25 years. The people are unbelievable, the energy is amazing, and the passion – people do business in a great way."

Gilmartin and his colleague, David Holt, will be hosting a session at next week's Travel MarketPlace titled, 'Harnessing the power of the end to end sales process.' The topic touches on exactly what DWG is all about, and is in-line with Gilmartin's mission within the travel industry.

"We want to keep the entrepreneurial spirit, but balance that with some business discipline and governance so people can get real traction," he said, explaining his perspective that too often, the travel industry is reactive instead of proactive.

Where DWG comes in is to garner business intelligence, then quantifying opportunities and establishing strategies to help clients achieve recommendations, execute and follow through.

Taking this and applying it to travel businesses, Gilmartin said that ultimately, a good measure of his success would be if he could help the Canadian consumer appreciate the full value proposition of the retail travel professional as a result of guiding the trade to understand opportunities and build sales organizations & cultures.

"We have professionals who are great and passionate," he enthused. "I want to help tell that story. My part is in driving capability and engagement, and the ability to be professional in the marketplace. Travel professionals need to understand that 'sales' isn't a bad word – selling is just understanding a client's needs really well and delivering against them."

Scratching the surface of his observations and recommendations generally speaking, Gilmartin said that some simple adaptations could be useful in establishing stronger credibility for the occupation.

"In my opinion, today’s consumers want to deal with a travel professional, who can provide the advice and counsel they are looking for," he suggests.

Also of importance is a disciplined approach from management, to ensure there is “a sales model that makes sense” with required skills being developed in different areas and pairing certain agents with the right clientele, in order to drive the right conversations.

“For the most part, we need to focus on building sales cultures and driving capability so that we ‘wow’ clients,” he said. “The revenue & profit will come if we ‘wow’ clients and if we do that, we can tell the story across the board so people understand [the value of what we do].”

With Travel MarketPlace 2015 taking place June 16-17, PAX is profiling some of the notable presenters at the event. A full list of speakers and event details can be found at www.travelmarketplace.com.