Home-based agencies that have stemmed the damage incurred by the pandemic employed survival strategies from its onset, and continue to build upon those strategies in 2021.

“At the beginning of the pandemic, I realized I needed to have a plan to get through the storm. First, I contacted all my clients who were set to travel for the next six months to get a game plan,” said Becky Lukovic of Bella Travel Planning, a Travel Experts affiliate.

“To me, this was integral to my business plan, as they knew I was being proactive and actively working for their best interests. Because of this, I found myself to be very busy for the first several months of the pandemic.”

In the April-May time period, Lukovic suspended salaries for herself and her assistant. “Luckily, in Georgia, the unemployment process was relatively straightforward since I am an LLC operating as an S corporation, so I had payroll and paid into the unemployment system,” she said. “This was super helpful for both of us.”

Lukovic then assessed all of her expenses to determine which were necessary and which could be eliminated.

“Lastly, I found a side hustle pretty early on to bring in extra income,” she said. “Yes, it felt a bit like a regression and hurt my pride a bit to tell people in my community I had a second job aside from travel, but now, 11 months into this, I am very glad I did.”

James Berglie of Be All Inclusive also slashed expenses. “Luckily, as a home-based agency, our overhead costs are not too substantial even during normal times, but we’ve had to eliminate nearly all additional overhead expenses,” he said. “Planned home improvements have been delayed or canceled altogether, retirement savings contributions have been delayed, and overall we are in ‘survival mode’ ”.

At the start of the pandemic, Churchill & Turen, decided to advise its clients during the second week in March that they cancel all deposited travel scheduled for the remainder of 2020.

“We extended our hours, working seven days a week for the past seven months with no travel so we could work with each of our clients personally to rearrange and talk through their future travel plans,” said the agency’s owner, Richard Turen. “We did not lay off any employees and continued to pay full salaries.”

In 2021, “given the time requirements planning important vacations worldwide, we have determined that we need to reduce the number of clients we take on,” he said.

“We launched a successful private member club with no fees of any kind after an annual membership fee. Members enjoy 24/7 services and have access to a new website in our media group totally devoted to collecting the latest unbiased travel information and professional advice.”

Claire Schoeder of Elevations Travel, an affiliate of Signature Travel Network, focused her strategies on providing clients with high-touch service throughout the pandemic.

“I have kept in contact with clients via email and phone calls. Some I have discussed postponing and rescheduling trips,” she said. “But with many, I have simply chatted about how they are doing during the pandemic. I sent flowers to clients with milestone anniversaries when their celebrations were canceled because of COVID.”

While she discussed travel-related issues with clients, Schoeder put a focus on “family and how we were all coping, and what we were doing to beat the boredom while staying safe,” she said.

“I did a little marketing to some clients but noted it was just thoughts for the future. I have let clients know that I am here when they are ready to travel again,” she added.

Jemica Archer of TruBlue Travel also put a high premium on high-touch service. “The strategy that I employed during the pandemic was to provide the best service possible while assisting my clients who canceled travel plans,” Archer said, adding that she also pivoted to selling more domestic vacations. “They’ll come back to me because of how they were treated.”

Going forward into 2021, Archer said her focus on customer service remains unchanged. “If anything, it will only be elevated to provide an amazing client experience,” she said.