Briscoe's Leisure
Travel: Smooth Sailing
for Your Vacation
Planning
Rockwall, TX
- Deidre Carter-Briscoe, owner of Briscoe's Leisure Travel is a leisure
travel specialist who has been in the business for three years. She
started the company after having initially been introduced to the travel
industry through a multi-level marketing (MLM) company. Though she did
not stay with the MLM company, she did stick with the travel industry.
"Due
to the constraints that the airlines have placed on travel agencies,
I only supply leisure travel packages," said Carter-Briscoe.
"My biggest hurdle in launching my business was determining which
marketing
tools to use. In the beginning I would buy into any marketing or
promotional opportunity that was offered. I initially spent my
promotional dollars inefficiently because I was so excited and
wanted to make my new business work."
Modest about her success, the agency has a steadily growing
customer base with repeat customers and many referrals. "I
would
attribute my success to patience and determination," added
Carter-Briscoe. "It doesn't happen overnight."
Carter-Briscoe's target market is what she calls unseasoned minority
travelers. She initially worked with a lot of customers who were
college students and that experience helped her realize that she
wanted to reach out to people that had not traveled before.
"Because of the unseasoned travelers I target, I offer payment
plans," explains Carter-Briscoe. "Some minority people tend to
believe that they cannot afford to travel. Many in the generation
before us did not experience international travel, saying that 'they
would wait until they
retire.' Then once they reached retirement, lack of money or poor
health often stood in their way. I enable the minority
traveler to overcome these barriers."
Carter-Briscoe endeavors to treat each customer as if they are her
'only' customer. She forms a friendship with them. She
remembers being a customer of travel agencies in the past, and not
liking the treatment she received. As a result, she goes the
extra mile to extend courtesies to her customer base.
The
mantra of Briscoe's Leisure Travel can be applied to any
minority-owned small business: "Be patient. Be
determined. Be kind. Treat the customer as you would want to be
treated. Realize that success will come if you work hard and smart.
And, if success doesn't come, you will have the comfort of knowing
that you gave it your all."
New and existing customers can reach Briscoe's Leisure Travel by
phone at (972) 772-9396, via e-mail at
leisurefuntravel@yahoo.com or via the Internet at
http://www.leisurefuntravel.net.
###
Thomas Brooks is the Vice-President of
Marketing and Senior Webzine Editor for Minority Professional Network,
LLC. Follow this link for
Thomas' Bio.
