After winning TravelManagers\u2019 Top Sales Executive award for the second consecutive year, TTC Tour Brands\u2019 Ki Williams reveals how social media, authenticity and a distinctly Queensland warmth have helped her build relationships across the industry.<\/strong><\/p>\n There was a moment of hushed anticipation at this year\u2019s TravelManagers conference in Hobart as the crowd waited for the winner of one of the industry\u2019s most coveted accolades: Sales Executive of the Year.<\/p>\n At a conference centred on relationships, it was arguably the<\/em> award for a supplier representative to win.<\/p>\n The winner was a familiar face: TTC Tour Brands\u2019 Ki Williams, who had taken home the same award just a year earlier in Bali. As Williams made her way to the stage, the crowd erupted in applause.<\/p>\n It is immediately apparent that Williams was exceptionally well liked. She has an unmistakable Queensland warmth, something she later jokes about during our interview, and an infectious enthusiasm.<\/p>\n What is less obvious to the casual observer is just how strategically Williams has embraced social media as a tool for building relationships and driving business.<\/p>\n While the travel industry has no shortage of content creators, relatively few have mastered the art of using social media specifically to support travel advisors and strengthen trade relationships.<\/p>\n Williams, strategic account manager at TTC Tour Brands, is one of them. Being visible is at the centre of her success, she explains.<\/p>\n \u201cI would have to say, and it\u2019s probably coming from a lot of their mouths, is just being heard and seen,\u201d Williams tells Travel Weekly<\/em> when asked about the secret to her success.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of advisors that live in Victoria or New South Wales think I live in their state, which I don\u2019t. I live in Queensland.\u201d<\/p>\n Williams has developed a multi-channel approach to engaging with independent advisors, combining face-to-face meetings with Facebook groups, personalised videos, webinars and emails.<\/p>\n When she started her current role, she established a dedicated Facebook group for TTC Tour Brands\u2019 independent advisors, allowing her to share incentives, product updates and practical marketing resources tailored to their businesses.<\/p>\n She has also been experimenting with short video messages embedded in emails.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve even been trialling where I record myself and embed it in the email, and it\u2019s a quick one-minute video,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n \u201cThat has been super popular at the moment because they\u2019re sick of reading emails.\u201d<\/p>\n On Facebook, meanwhile, she shares ready-made marketing assets that advisors can save directly to their phones and upload to their own social media channels.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a small adjustment, but one that reflects her wider philosophy: make advisors\u2019 lives easier.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re doing the inquiries. They\u2019re an accountant. They are social media. They are marketing,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n \u201cJust how much they need to think in a day to make their business run.\u201d<\/p>\n For Williams, the role of a great BDM extends well beyond selling products.<\/p>\n \u201cHow can you be an exceptional BDM? It\u2019s about finding the shorter routes for them, making their life easier to help them grow business faster.\u201d<\/p>\n Williams\u2019 social media expertise has also become an unexpected source of practical support for advisors.<\/p>\n She recalls sitting down with one advisor to demonstrate how to use Canva, helping her build confidence with social media and attract more followers.<\/p>\n Another advisor, whom Williams met for coffee to discuss social media, subsequently increased her bookings with TTC into double digits.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes showing them that you care about their overall business helps them grow their bookings,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n And her training isn\u2019t confined to formal workshops.<\/p>\n During a recent trip to India, Williams found herself teaching advisors how to create Instagram Reels while travelling on a coach.<\/p>\n \u201cI went around and showed people how to make a reel on the coach when we had our travel days,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n She has also delivered advanced social media training at MTA\u2019s pre-conference sessions, helping advisors understand how to create more engaging content.<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t have to be a pro at it, and you don\u2019t have to be perfection,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n \u201cIf anything, being personable and rusty gets you more in social media these days.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite her digital approach, Williams is adamant that technology doesn\u2019t replace face-to-face relationships.<\/p>\n Her role spans independent advisor networks across Australia and New Zealand, and she schedules in-person meetings around industry events and conferences.<\/p>\n \u201cMy biggest part of meeting with everyone is introducing myself, getting them to know who I am and what I do, and how can I support their business, not necessarily going in with a product update.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s an approach shaped by a career that began in the Whitsundays, where Williams worked across multiple departments at Daydream Island, from food and beverage to reception, sales and events.<\/p>\n \u201cMy job was at the resort main bar, but I just wanted to learn everything about the resort,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n That curiosity has remained with her throughout her career, as has a belief that good salespeople need to listen rather than make assumptions.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about being authentic, and you\u2019re not going to get every sale, but it\u2019s about being there for the next time as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, there is another part of Williams\u2019 success that can\u2019t be explained by algorithms or sales targets.<\/p>\n When asked where she gets her seemingly endless energy, her answer is simple.<\/p>\n \u201cI just think we live a very short life, and you just don\u2019t know what\u2019s around the corner, and you just got to be happy, kind.\u201d<\/p>\n She credits her country upbringing and Queensland roots for her friendly disposition, although she admits her habit of greeting strangers doesn\u2019t always translate interstate.<\/p>\n \u201cI do it in Sydney, and I definitely don\u2019t get the same response back,\u201d she laughs.<\/p>\n Perhaps that\u2019s the secret behind Williams\u2019 two consecutive TravelManagers awards. In an industry increasingly focused on digital engagement, she\u2019s managed to use technology to achieve connection.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n kabarsula SLOT <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After winning TravelManagers\u2019 Top Sales Executive award for the second consecutive year, TTC Tour Brands\u2019…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4243,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kabarsula"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4242\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Ki](\"https:\/\/travelweekly.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/CORNERSTONE3369of472.jpg\"\/)
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Cutting through the noise<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Helping advisors grow<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Relationships before transactions<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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The Queensland factor<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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