Agents must be educated to have confidence selling cruise, says Seabourn VP

Trade partners must educate themselves and become confident in what they are selling if they are to be successful in the cruise sector, agents have been told.

Vice-president of Seabourn UK and Europe Lynn Narraway encouraged agents to take the time to study their chosen speciality within the cruise sector to ensure they have the breadth of knowledge to advise customers.

“Agents must educate themselves so they can look through their database and know which of their customers are likely to respond positively,” she said at a recent Clia event.

“Those agents who want to specialise in areas such as Antarctica or Arctic expedition cruises must learn all they can and be confident in what they’re talking about.”

Jo Rzymowska, Celebrity Cruises EMEA vice-president and managing director, went on to urge agents to come up with their unique selling point and to use that in their branding to entice customers to book with them.

She warned brand differentiation is key to being successful in the cruise industry and while some agents do this well, others need to improve.

“When we pump the amount of investment into the trade as we do, the agents need to grab the opportunity to say ‘Book with me’, and they need to put the work in to show why they are different and why customers should book with them instead of anyone else,” she said.

“Some agents do this very well but a lot could do better. Brand differentiation is key and agents need to learn if they are to be successful.”

Giles Hawke, Chief executive of Cosmos and Avalon Waterways UK, said: “Agents need to give customers a reason why they should book with them by showing off why they are unique or special.

“Agents need a unique selling point, much like cruise lines do.

“They do not need to specialise in the entire sector, but they can pick an area to specialise in, such as ex-UK luxury, ultra-luxury, Caribbean cruising or dealing with the whole service from door-to-door.

“There are so many areas so agent must ask themselves what they want to be good at and make themselves stand out.”

David Duff, Azamara UK managing director, said: “Cruising is no longer a niche in the industry, it’s a core part of the travel portfolio and an affluent sector which is performing well in the industry.

“Agents have to pay attention to it and decide how deep they want to go with specialising, but they need to do something if they want to be successful.”