Travel Agent - August 27, 2007 - (Page 36) Cruises Cruise Views & News Set Yourself Apart From the Crowd With Marketing Savvy A decade ago, cruise sellers were exclusive specialists within a sea of generalists. Life was good. With the growth of consumer interest in cruising, though, many cruise specialists are discovering they have many skilled “peers” around town. How do you stand out in the marketplace? What PR and marketing tips are really revenue generators for cruise sellers? How do you enhance your firm’s SUSAN J. YOUNG travlsusan@aol.com “positive buzz”? Following are some gleanings from industry experts. I Soak Up Knowledge: Yes, there are a lot of cruise sellers—but product and cruise selling knowledge and professionalism are priceless. Soak in all that you can. Candi Ferguson, ACC, Cruises Etc., Fort Worth, TX, points to her achievements with Virtuoso’s local business development program. “The one-on-one supplier training with the focus on the luxury products has been perfect for me, because I have only been in the industry for three years,” says Ferguson. “With the customized marketing that Virtuoso supplies and product training, I’m now number one on the program’s Crystal team of 27 agents and have achieved 430 percent of my goal as of today.” I dig deeper. Scan the paper each week. Go beyond traditional. Pitch the “Go Kart” group, “Tae Kwon Do” club, a local comedy group or “Parents Without Partners.” Jan Swartz, senior vice president of customer service and sales at Princess Cruises, has seen agencies with only a small portfolio of cruise business “jump to the whole next level,” simply by picking a few dates and using Princess’s group program. Swartz stresses: “There is no deposit on smaller groups; there is no reason not to take a group; there is no financial risk.” I Cultivate Big-Screen Opportunities: Troll Deeply for Groups: Church and school groups are great, but The ever-popular cruise market can be a goldmine for agents who have knowledge and contacts IMAX theaters are terrific locales for high-powered cruise events, as the spectacular films shown are natural tie-ins, writes Holland America Line’s Dave Stockert in his trade book, The Idea Machine (www.theideamachine.biz). Arrange for showing of an Antarctica or Africa film during off-hours, invite clients and pitch a group cruise. Or, talk to the theater about sponsoring its own group cruise; they might hand out your flyer about the voyage to moviegoers with their tickets. I Partner with the Media: Host your own travel show on a local radio station. Send out press releases to local press about new “cruise certifications” your staff receive. Partner with local media personalities for agency events. AAA Auto Club South recently co-organized a travel expo with a charity. A local TV anchor (who was a charity board member) co-hosted with Jim Sweat, the agency groups’ managing director, travel agency services. But “be careful when you do an event with another entity,” says Sweat. “You do not want the attendees to lose focus on why they are coming and who the sponsors are. Continued on page 38 36 TravelAgent August 27, 2007 http://www.theideamachine.biz
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