Book ‘Em Danno: From Cop to Cruise Consultant

After more than 25 years working in law enforcement, Bryan Villella thought to himself, there must be a better way to earn a living than dodging bullets. A fan of cruising – his first cruise was with Disney back in the 90s – and the organizer of several large friends and family group cruises, Villella realized he was already doing the job of a travel advisor. Why not get paid for it?

Though he’d keep his job at the Orange County, Florida, Sheriff’s Office for another 12 years (he retired in 2022), in 2010, he stared selling cruises part time with Cruises Inc.

“I like to say I traded my vest, badge, and my gun for a backpack, passport, and Hawaiian shirt,” he said.

Despite only working part time, it didn’t take long to achieve a real measure of success and Dream Vacations (Cruise One, at the time) awarded him ownership of a franchise in 2013.

Today, he runs his Dream Vacations franchise with his son and the help of seven associates.

His success, he believes, can be attributed in part to the skills he mastered as a cop and detective.

Salesmanship
First and foremost, he told Travel Market Report, working in law enforcement hones your sales skills.

“The biggest quality in law enforcement is salesmanship, which surprises people,” he said. “You know, you’ve got this big giant guy and you’ve got to get him in the back of your car to get him to jail. He doesn’t want to go to jail. You’ve got to sell the back of the car.”

A big part of salesmanship is selling the value, not the price.

As a police officer, for instance, Villella had to sell speeders on the “value” of their citation.  

“I’m not going to talk about the ticket I’m writing you,” he said. “I’m talking to you about the five that I’m not writing you, and about what a great deal you’re getting because… I could have got you for careless driving. I could have got your for running that guy off the road. I could have got you for flipping me off.”

“That equates to cruisers where this price is not bad, you’re getting a lot of value for this.”

Another piece of salesmanship that he honed during his 38 years on the force? Painting the picture, which he equates to giving testimony in court.

“When I got in front of a jury, I have to paint the picture of everything that happened on that scene. What articles did I see? What evidence was collected? What did people say? If I could capture that and bring it into a courtroom effectively, we’d get a conviction.”

The same thing is true with travel, he said, adding that it’s important to “build up that wow factor.”

“Oh, you want to go to Alaska. You’ve got to do this. Make sure you stop by this place. Make sure you do that. Of, if you’re going to the glaciers, make sure you have binoculars so you can zoom in on the otters and seals. I paint that picture so well, we reach a point where they’re like, okay, how do I book this? Do I just give you my credit card over the phone?”

Powers of observation and interrogation skills
In order to paint a vivid picture (whether testifying or selling a cruise), Villella has learned to pay attention to everything.

“When I look at a ship, I look at it from a brand new cruiser’s perspective. What are they going to enjoy? What are they going to get out of this experience?”

(His acute powers of observation also help him excel at finding cruise ducks, he said.)

He also puts his questioning skills to use to find out what other people think, sitting down with families at the pool to ask how they enjoyed the buffet or whether their cabin is working for them.

“Being able to communicate effectively and trying to put myself in someone else’s shoes and view the world from their perspective, to me, equates to an effective law enforcement officer and it also equates to good sales.”

Overcoming objections
Another skillset that’s important to both law enforcement and travel advisors is the ability to overcome objections.

Remember that “big giant guy” Villella might have had to get into the back of his cop car? He surely had objections to getting in the car.

“When they have objections, you want to approach it from a different angle that maybe they hadn’t thought of,” he said. “Yes, its hurricane season, but you know what? The prices are much cheaper because of it. And you need to understand that this ship is worth $18 billion. The last thing they’re going to do is drive it into a storm or endanger you because when you have a rough ride, you’re not buying drinks at the bar and they’re not making money.”