Norwegian: We Won’t Steal Your Clients Anymore

Norwegian Cruise Line acknowledged last week that it has solicited direct bookings with an unspecified number of travel agency clients. But the line said direct sales efforts with agency clients were inadvertent and that it has taken steps to ensure that it won’t happen again.

A commitment to protecting agency clients from direct business solicitation is part of a Partners First program announced by Norwegian executive Andy Stuart at CLIA’s cruise3sixty conference in Fort Lauderdale last week.

Partners First is a three-pronged company-wide initiative that also includes plans to invest $7 million in technology booking improvements and $16 million in marketing support tools for agents.

Database scrubbed
Perhaps the most radical aspect of the initiative is Norwegian’s commitment to travel agents that its direct business will no longer interfere with agencies’ clients.

Agencies’ client information will not be used to directly solicit bookings, and every prospect that calls the line to book will first be asked if they are working with a travel agent, Stuart said. Direct business “should not be in conflict with our travel partners.”

Stuart said the line has already taken steps to remove agents’ client info from the direct business department’s database.

Also, Norwegian’s direct business division will not have a price advantage. If anything, Stuart said, agents using Groups 2.0 have the price advantage.

‘Shouldn’t have done that’
Stuart blamed a change in tech processes for inadvertently identifying several agency clients as direct business targets. “It shouldn’t have done that, so we changed the process back,” he said.

Any process changes must now go through Stuart before they are implemented. And Norwegian will periodically audit its direct business database to make sure no agency clients have found their way into the system.

“We are focused on doing everything right,” Stuart said.

‘Easy to do business with’
“We do hope we’ve reached the tipping point of easy to do business with,” Stuart said, referring to behind-the-scene changes in recent months.

Among the changes: a guarantee on all rate quotes; Groups 2.0 initiatives; an inside sales team, and guaranteed overnight problem resolution.

New agency tools
Norwegian’s planned investment in support tools will include new customizable marketing tools, cooperative marketing opportunities and improvements to NCL University.

Additionally, Norwegian is creating a new marketing landing page for agents.

The Freestyle Marketing Platform, which launches in May, will provide agents with a toolbox of marketing items, including customizable flyers and emails, sample tweets and Facebook posts, images, videos and more. A special section will offer the same tools for the Epic.

Travel partner lens
Under the Partners First initiative, Norwegian promises to look at everything it does through a “travel partner lens,” Stuart said.

It is already in Norwegian’s DNA to see everything it does through the lens of what it means for travel agents, Stuart said. But Partners First makes it official.

Stuart told Travel Market Report that Partners First is not simply a top-down initiative. “We’re going to train across the organization, including on the ships.”

“As people [employees] do anything, I want them to put it through a lens of, ‘How will it sit with our travel partners? Is this something we could stand in front of a room of travel partners with?’”

Agent feedback invited
Norwegian also has launched a PartnersFirst.NCL.com website where agents can learn more about the program. Agents are encouraged to leave feedback, Stuart said.

In the future, agents who believe clients have been solicited for direct business should contact Stuart (astuart@ncl.com) or vice president of sales Camille Olivere (colivere@ncl.com) directly, Stuart told Travel Market Report.

“I’m going to research it. If someone has done something that doesn’t meet our objectives, there will be a sanction.”