An Agent’s Life Well Led: After 48 Years in Travel, Mark Stone Keeps Sailing On
byCheryl Rosen/
最终推销员马克·斯通(Mark Stone)说:“永远不要忘记这是一家销售业务。”他开始了旅行业务,出售前往大西洋城的公共汽车之旅,通过参加一周的每晚参加当地的网络活动,使其新鲜,并最终经营着每年1500万美元的巡航强国。经过48年的业务,他每隔几个月就可以自由作为邮轮队航行,并且每年仍可售出约50万美元的游轮。
斯通说,总体而言,成为旅行社一直是梦想中的职业。但这并不容易。
他说:“我认识很多人每年赚100,000美元的业务,但您必须努力。”“每周投入60个小时,您会做的。”
对于Stone来说,这一切都始于1972年的蜜月。当时布鲁克林的一位老师走进了Rona Travel,开始与业主聊天 - 很快有了新的兼职工作。他仍然回忆说,他的第一个预订是为他的祖母戈迪(Goldie)送给他的奶奶,在北欧王子(Norist Prince)上两周,包括Air在内的820美元。
不久,斯通搬到了亚历山大百货商店对面的皇后区雷戈公园的皇后旅行 - 他认为未来是有利基市场,利基市场正在巡游。在我在我的车库中锻炼,他很快就成为了整个布鲁克林的顶级生产商之一。
除了他的祖母和他的朋友和邻居外,斯通还忙于新客户。他说,他最好的头脑风暴是安排前往大西洋城赌场的公共汽车之旅,每个赌场都有一个护送员的工作是填补他们并骑车。到第一年底,他每天开五辆公共汽车。每辆公共汽车都有49个座位,每个座位都有一个传单,宣传他的邮轮业务。
他说:“这就是使我脱颖而出的原因。”
15年后,斯通卖出了自己的业务,搬到佛罗里达并再次开始,担任Anchors Away Cruises的总经理,管理15位代理商。不久,他在佛罗里达州和夏洛特(Charlotte)开设了整页广告,并提供了Cruise and Tour Companies的合作广告,每年售出1500万美元。当业主出售时,他与儿子一起开始了Tourlink,经营19辆旅行巴士,前往比洛克西,布兰森,默特尔比奇和基韦斯特。
现在,Stone是半退休的,Stone是Cruise&Tours Unlimited的独立承包商,有两个子代理。仅今年,他就会出售价值约五十万美元的巡游。他每年航行六到七次巡游,作为陪同到独特的航行。他的下一个将是玛丽2皇后2号,航行19天前往德国,英国和法国。他说:“我举办了一次鸡尾酒会和一次海岸游览,有时我把一个人放在一起,带人带,做一个冰淇淋社交。”
Between now and May, he will host six cruises for Distinctive Voyages and three of his own groups; he will be at sea 18 days in September, in Puerto Vallarta for a week, then on the MSC Meraviglia, the Konigsdam for Christmas, Europe in January, Cunard in the Mediterranean in May, the Queen Mary in the Baltics in July, and Celebrity in the Caribbean for Thanksgiving.
“I come off a little aggressive sometimes; I’m a big guy with a Brooklyn accent,” Stone acknowledges. “But really, I am just a guy who loves his work.”
Pick a niche, and network
当他不航行或销售时,Stone指导全国其他旅行社。他关于建立业务的建议?“选择一个利基市场。然后确保人们认识你。对我来说,最好的方法是像商会一样的网络集团。一旦您起床并进行演讲,人们就意识到您是真正认识Cruises或Safaris的人。这就是您开始开展业务的方式。”
Stone used to go to four or five groups a week around the Tampa Bay area, so soon everyone knew him; he still gets calls from his contacts there. At the age of 70, he has cut back to just one, RGA (Revenue Generating Activity). They have about 30 chapters around Tampa Bay, so his annual fee goes a long way.
Then, “take all your training and flaunt it to your customers,” Stone says. “People like to travel with someone who knows what he is doing — my office is like a museum.” On the walls are certificates from NCL, Celebrity, RIU Hotels, Marriott, Cunard, Princess, Holland America, Disney, RCCL, Uniworld, Israel, Mexico, Vancouver, his original CLIA certificate from 1980 (signed by Bill Armstrong); and his favorite, “me and two show girls from the very first RCCL cruise to Europe in 1993.”
In the end, though, in the early days in the 1970s and still today, “you have to understand this is a sales job — and you really have to know how to sell,” he says. “You have to not hesitate to say the five most important words: ‘Is that cash or credit card?’ We’re not here to just give out information; you have to be able to ask for the money.”
If a client calls and then does not follow up, call them and ask if they would like to come back and finalize the business, he suggests. If they hesitate, ask what you can do to make it happen and throw in a little something extra. “If I have a $500 commission and it costs me a bottle of wine, so be it,” he said.
The one thing he regrets in his own business was not following up with clients post-trip, he says now. “I spent so much time before the trip with them that I didn’t feel like I had to, but I regret that now. The CRM makes it so easy, but I just haven’t been using it much. If I was a young guy, though, I would.”
不过,现在我们的采访已经结束(当然,除非您对他参加的MSC Cruise或Puerto Vallarta之旅感兴趣吗?但是就目前而言,他必须跑步。他正在为纽约打包行李,前往玛丽皇后2。