5 Sales Tips for Cruise Selling Success
经过多里·萨尔茨曼(Dori Saltzman)/
尽管没有魔术长生不老药可以保证成功销售巡航(或任何旅行产品),但有许多可靠的策略可以推动旅行顾问朝着正确的方向发展。
Client qualification, planning for the future, and staying engaged with clients were some of the tips and tricks that cruise executives shared with attendees at Travel Market Report’s Travel Market Place West conference, held in Vancouver earlier this month.
(Toronto-area advisors, Travel Market Place East is just around the corner, June 22-23.立即获得票.)
使您的客户获得胜利
小组成员强调,成为成功的巡航销售商的主要要求之一是将正确的产品与合适的客户匹配。
挪威邮轮公司销售副总裁德里克·劳埃德(Derek Lloyd)说:“您出售的每条邮轮公司都有合适的客户。”“您需要确保将合适的客户放在正确的巡游中。首先要知道产品本身之间的差异。我们每个人都提供略有不同的体验。”
加拿大/美国西部地区狂欢节邮轮公司的区域副总裁贾斯汀·法国(Justin French)回应了劳埃德(Lloyd),但补充说,顾问需要保持自己的假设。法国人说:“最重要的是要确保您通过他们的眼睛而不是通过您的眼睛出售产品。”“这就是他们要寻找的东西,也是他们要做的事情……将合适的人与合适的产品交配,而您将不会损失。在未来很多年中,这是您保证的胜利/获胜/胜利。”
合格的客户对豪华邮轮公司与主流线一样重要。加拿大摄政和营销总监贝弗利·维克斯(Beverley Vickers)说,仅仅因为有人有钱,他们想要一条小型豪华巡游。
“你可以在加拿大最富有的家伙运气的人pens to love Go-Karts and going on roller coasters.” He’d be better off on Norwegian or Carnival than Regent Seven Seas.
“It’s really important that you ask the questions and understand the customer’s desires and wants, and where they see themselves,” she added.
Create a Long-Term Vacation Plan
Panelists also talked about the importance of creating long-term vacation plans with their clients, as a means of ensuring future business.
“Don’t only know what the customer’s next trip is,” said Alan Brooks, director of market sales for Canada at Celebrity Cruises. “Know what their next trip is and the trip after that and the trip after that… have a five year plan at a minimum for your client.”
Creating these longer-term plans requires getting to know your clients on a deeper level, the panelists said.
制定长期计划的最简单途径是围绕里程碑构建。
维克斯说:“这是一个理想的起点,因为您知道人们倾向于花更多的钱。”
Ask thoughtful questions, Lloyd added. Where do you dream of going? If you could go one place in the world, where would you go? As a kid, where did you picture yourself traveling to?
Then layer in questions about their interests. Do they love history or culinary experiences?
通过这些答案,您可以根据明年的旅行或第二年来定制建议。例如,如果他们喜欢历史,您可以建议一条充满历史和城堡的欧洲河流巡游。
布鲁克斯说:“也许有一个巨大的周年纪念日即将到来,这可能是他们挥霍的那一年。”
“Know what is on the horizon,” he added, “because that way, you’re in a position of picking up the phone and saying ‘I know you just traveled three months ago and you’re not ready to go quite yet, but I wanted to let you know I saw this good deal on this thing that you’ve been talking about, maybe for 2024.’”
布鲁克斯说,这是个人服务水平,将旅行顾问与OTA或DIY预订工具分开。“那是你的价值。”
参与是关键
Related to the above is the need to stay engaged with your clients. You can’t know what your clients dream about if you’re not having conversations with them.
“The ones that are reaping the rewards [of the travel resurgence] are the ones that stayed engaged and present,” said French.
他说,如果这也意味着活跃于社交媒体或开始播客上,那就这样吧。
包括Avalon Waterways在内的Globus品牌家族的业务开发总监Carla Brake和NCL的Lloyd都同意,在社交媒体上存在很重要,尤其是在分享您自己的旅行方面。
“Now is the time to get out there, showcase that travel is back. Showcase that you’re willing to travel and share it on social media,” Brake said.
Lloyd echoed the sentiment. “You need to start traveling yourself. You need to be posting. You need to be showing people that travel is back and it’s back with a vengeance. You need to be inspiring them with destinations, not just what’s the next deal on the table.”
Be Proactive…
Engagement takes proactivity. You can’t wait for clients to reach out to you.
布鲁克斯告诉与会者:“您迫不及待地等待客户打电话给您。”“人们倾向于从与之交谈的最后一个人那里购买。而且,虽然您非常意识到自己出售旅行,但有时他们会忘记。拿起电话,给他们打电话,给他们发送电子邮件。”
“One of the big things is just suggesting a river cruise to someone,” said Brake. “They only know what they know… I think your client will go anywhere that you tell them to go. They really rely on your expertise. Sometimes it’s just opening that conversation.”
……战略性
Who you choose to focus your attention on also matters, Vickers said, speaking of advisors she’s seen having the most success.
“他们意识到,他们必须对自己的出售人员更具战略意义,并且试图缩小销售渠道的范围。他们并不是想成为所有人的一切……他们决定有意识地想将客户移动起来。”
While she agreed that it’s tempting to grab whatever business you can when the going gets tough, she said staying intentional is better in the long run.
“Turn away business, fire clients that aren’t going to get you where you want to be.”
That also means putting the suppliers you want to work with in front of your clients, even if they’re not quite ready for it yet.
“Whether the client knows it or not, they [the advisors] have decided that Regent should be on their radar and they’re going to keep it in front of them until they realize it themselves.”
Multi-Gen Groups
Carnival’s French also recommended advisors focus on multi-gen travel for the moment.
“人被锁在家里their grandparents on Zoom for the last two years. Now they’re all coming together. It’s a great opportunity to plant the seed of a multi-gen [cruise] where there’s something for everybody on board.”