Want to Qualify for a Cruise FAM or Be Invited to an Inaugural Event? Here's How
经过多里·萨尔茨曼(Dori Saltzman)/You don't have to have sailed on a cruise line to sell it. But having experience on different cruise lines does make matching up clients with the right line easier. Cruise lines understand this and offer familiarization (FAM) trips and discounted rates (often called FAM rates) to incentivize advisors to experience their products. FAMs and special events – like ship namings and inaugural sailings – are also used to reward advisors for their loyalty.
New entrants to the travel advisor industry might assume that only the highest producing advisors have access to these FAM trips or get invitations to inaugural events. And while high-producing advisors do get invites, they're not the only ones.
In no particular order, here are the most common ways travel advisors can qualify for FAM rates, FAM trips and inaugural events.
海上研讨会
研讨会在海上是传统FAM的混合combined with a multi-day workshop. Most cruise lines offer at least one Seminar at Sea each year. Additionally, CLIA has been known to offer Seminars at Sea.
海上研讨会can be invite only, as with Princess Cruises and Royal Caribbean, or first-come, first-serve as with Celebrity Cruises. Most cruise lines will list available Seminars at Sea in their calendar of events in their travel advisor portal. You can also ask your BDM if such an opportunity exists.
Graduation Perk
几条邮轮公司以FAM费率甚至免费巡游奖励其教育计划的顾问毕业生。
“当您从名人学习毕业时,我们会让您巡游,”美洲销售副总裁Dondra Ritzenthaler for Celebrity Cruises告诉TMR。
Princess does the same, a spokesperson said. "After becoming a Commodore through our Princess Academy, travel advisors can earn one free graduation cruise as a culmination of the online learning."
成为Cruise Line教育计划的顶级毕业生也可以帮助顾问参加就职典礼之类的活动。
"It helps if the advisor has reached Commodore level via Princess Academy," a Princess spokesperson told TMR. "We do give preference to those who have taken the time to learn about and understand our product."
在荷兰美国,顾问必须完成HAL学院的四个核心课程,甚至有资格获得任何类型的FAM机会。
积极的伙伴关系
迄今为止,接收FAM或就职活动邀请的最成功方法是成为Cruise Line的积极合作伙伴。
与您的业务发展经理建立关系,并与该人合作进行营销计划或活动,这些动作告诉您,您不仅可以免费旅行。
"We do not have a threshold of sales that are required to attend a FAM or an inaugural event," a spokesperson for Holland America told TMR. "They are available to any advisors that are working with our account managers to build a plan for growing their Holland America Line business."
Be a Top Producer
While you don't have to be a top producer to qualify for a FAM, it certainly doesn't hurt. But where top producers do tend to have an edge is with inaugural events.
例如,在名人邮轮公司中,顶级生产商收到了自动邀请函,例如船名(例如船名)。在大多数情况下,这些顶级生产商是大型的东道机构或特许经营公司。然后,这些公司决定他们的高管和成员中谁将去。
Ritzenthaler说:“如果您是顶级制作人 - 我们在每个地区宣布五分之一的四分之一 - 您将成为标志性的顾问俱乐部会员,并且您会自动邀请参加董事会前。”例如,可能会为下一个就职前活动获得10次邀请。年度或年度财团帐户的家庭帐户也是如此。
因此,作为您自己的主机代理机构或财团中的顶级生产商,可以帮助您获得其中一项邀请的资格,具体取决于您的主持人/特许经营/财产如何分发它们。
旨在成为地理区域中的顶级生产商是增加邀请就职典礼的另一种方式。根据Ritzenthaler的说法,每个区域销售经理也获得有限数量的邀请。这些通常用于各个机构(与较大的主机,特许经营,财团群体相比)。
"When we have a pre-inaugural, we'll say that each region gets a certain number and then the regional director will say to his or her sales managers each gets this many [invites]," Ritzenthaler explained. "They will then go to their top producers, but a lot of the time, those top producers already got invited from all these other ways, so they go down to the next level."
参加行业活动
Industry events, whether it's your host, consortia or franchise's annual conference, association conferences (like CLIA's Cruise360) or publisher-led conferences (like Travel Market Place) are great for education and networking.
但是,他们也是赢得FAM旅行的机会,其中一些巡航线捐出了多次免费游轮(我们甚至参加了每个出席会议的顾问都有免费巡游的节目)。
寻找家族
Whether you're looking for a FAM rate or a FAM trip, most cruise lines will list upcoming opportunities on their advisor portals or send alerts via email.
For instance, Royal Caribbean sends emails to travel advisors with "friends and family" rates every week.
在名人旅行顾问可以找到顾问门户网站上的FAM费率以进行近距离航行,这条线想要填补,通常是出发前两到三周。
"Open FAMs will be listed on OneSource.com and your Holland America Line account manager will also be sharing FAM opportunities, as they are releases," a HAL spokesperson told TMR. "To ensure you are seeing FAM dates, work with your account manager to create a sales strategy and express your interest in first-hand onboard experience, as part of that plan. All applicants will be approved by their sales manager to be confirmed on a FAM departure."