Cruise Execs: To Make it Profitable, Make it Personal
by Andrew Sheivachman /It’s time for cruise-selling travel agents to consider new ways to specialize and reach potential clients, according to executives who spoke at the recent Cruise Planners annual conference in Atlantic City.
Execs from top cruise lines were on hand to share sales tips and encourage agents to focus on learning about new products, destinations and selling tools.
Here are the top takeaways from the conference’s cruise executive panel.
Find yourself a niche—or niches
“ I don’t think you can specialize in everything. It’s not possible with everything you have to know and learn. We have some agents who are Alaska specialists and have gone through our academy; they have that niche and really take advantage of it. There are a lot of different destination opportunities out there.
“You will always sell anything when a client comes to you, you’re not going to turn business away, but take opportunities to promote yourself in these niche areas.”—Michael Revnes, regional sales director, Princess Cruises
Make social media personal
“[One agent] promoted a Wicked cruise on the Norwegian Breakaway, for Wicked’s tenth anniversary on Broadway. She posted on Facebook and got staff of Wicked engaged with the promotion. She had a dedicated page with information and a countdown to the cruise. She ended up with over 70 people on this cruise, and she promoted it all through social media.
“This is the difference between you and your competition; today, one year later, she is putting together a cruise to celebrate the one year anniversary of the last cruise. Continue to engage, and you are going to hit it out of the park.”—Alex Pinello, director of national accounts, Norwegian Cruise Line
Concentrate on your passions
“Concentrate on the thing you are passionate about, because when you feel that passionate about something it doesn’t seem like so much work. . . when you do that, you’re going to be very successful. And use all the tools available to you [from online booking tools] to brochures. That is what separates you, and if you don’t use it, then you don’t feel the separation. . .
“If you don’t make it personal, [your client] is going to cheat on you. Three out of five customers go to a different travel agent than they used before.”—Dondra Ritzenthaler, senior vice president of sales and trade support, Celebrity Cruises