ഀ The Australia/New Zealand director on Virtuoso's Member Advisory Board was inഀ the middle of a fam trip to Spain when interviewed for this feature. She tookഀ a brief break from museum-going and wine-tasting to share her thoughts on aഀ few topics, including the impact of office design on client service and whatഀ being Virtuoso's first member Down Under has meant for her agency.

Youഀ were the first Australian agency to join Virtuoso. What made you decide toഀ take a chance on Virtuoso, and how has it made life different for Mary Rossiഀ Travel?

ഀ From the beginning in 1970, Mary Rossi Travel built its reputation on theഀ fact that we had friends in high places that opened doors and offered uniqueഀ experiences. As our clients became more avid travelers, I realized that weഀ needed more of those friends. Virtuoso opened that door. Now our consultantsഀ can confidently plan a trip to every corner of the world through our Virtuosoഀ contacts.

Yourഀ office has an open design to encourage collaboration among consultants. Howഀ has that design and philosophy resulted in better travel experiences forഀ clients?

ഀ Despite the fact that our friends all think we are travelling all the time,ഀ our clients actually spend more time travelling than any one of us do! Butഀ they can't compete with a whole office full of experienced consultants whoഀ are gathering feedback on a daily basis to share with each other. We hadഀ clients in the office last week who wanted to do a cruise along Australia'sഀ remote Kimberley coast. Their consultant had recently done one of theseഀ cruises but the client had heard good things about a competing company. Iഀ overheard the discussion and stepped in to help, as I had been on bothഀ cruises. The clients was delighted with that insight and booked the bestഀ cruise for them.

You'reഀ a former financial planner and have an MBA. What skills did you acquireഀ through your business background that help you run a successful travelഀ agency?

ഀ I still joke that I'm having more fun now helping people spend their moneyഀ than I did when I was helping them to save it. I love crunching the numbersഀ and running a successful marketing campaign. But there's only one skill thatഀ really matters — recruiting and keeping people that can look after theഀ clients.

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