New cruise sellers urged to listen attentively

FORT LAUDERDALE — Qualify, qualify, qualify, know your product — and don’t simply be a seller of cruises.

“When people ask you what you do,” said Vicki Freed, Royal Caribbean International’s senior vice president of sales, “you don’t sell cruises or vacations. You create memories. At the end of the day you are a memory maker. You don’t sell anything.”

Rooms 122 and 123 at the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention Center were standing room only for the CruiseWorld session “How to Kick Start a Career Selling Cruises.”

In addition to Freed, the panel of experts included Dondra Ritzenthaler, senior vice president of sales for Celebrity Cruises; Andy Stuart, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Norwegian Cruise Line; plus two travel agents: Kate Murphy, CEO of Wings Travel Group of Blue Bell, Pa., and Cindy Campbell, owner of Campbell Travel of Deltona, Fla..

The session, which was moderated by Nexion President Jackie Friedman, was geared toward new entrants to the travel industry. Most of the audience wasn’t new to cruising as a vacation, however; nearly every hand in the room went up when Friedman asked them if they’d taken a cruise.

“To sum it up, it’s a great vacation. Does everyone agree?” she said, to enthusiastic response.

The first section of the discussion was about the need to qualify customers. Ritzenthaler started with a sample question: Do you have children?

“If you stop there, you really haven’t done enough,” she said. “What’s the most special to you? What did you love about it? What did you not like about it? Tell me about those kids, what do they like to do. Don’t get in a hurry and ask them just the basic questions.”

Murphy’s advice was, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

“You need to listen,” she added. “Don’t assume what you know. You just have to keep listening all the time. Clients give you hints.”

In his turn, Stuart elaborated on the need for “strong partnerships and strong product knowledge.”

“We are differentiated,” he said of the various cruise lines. “That’s the cool thing. If they’re all the same, then there’s just one question and that’s, ‘How much is it?’”

As for the ships themselves, especially the largest and newest ones, he noted that the options and amenities onboard can serve the needs of several different types of clientele — luxury, family, spa or solo travelers, for example.

The panel told audience members to take advantage of the marketing and collateral material created by the cruise lines for travel sellers.

On social media: “I think you need to be a part of it,” Stuart said.

On client retention: “It’s important to stay in touch with clients in multiple ways,” Freed said. “You can’t assume because you took care of a person one time, they’re going to be loyal to you.”

On wooing new clients: “Three-day cruises … we don’t make any money on them,” Campbell said. “But for a new client, I’m going to send them. And I’m even going to send them some strawberries.”

On attitude: “You must make it personal,” Ritzenthaler said. “They must value you the same way you value your hair stylist … or your doctor.”

“Avoid indifference,” said Friedman as she wound up the session. “It’s your worst enemy.”