A Silversea fam trip and her own filming efforts paid off for Hannah Vincent, owner and managing director of Select World Travel when she was faced with a client conundrum. 

Four years ago, the agency had begun booking a customer for land-based holidays and Hannah was delighted when he progressed to a round-the-world cruise with a luxury line. But when he tried to repeat the experience the following year, he missed the boat on a suitable cabin category. Hannah switch-sold him to Silversea, who he’d previously enjoyed on an expedition cruise to the Northwest Passage, reminding him of its all-inclusive advantage.

She explains: “I found a nice voyage from Tokyo to Southampton which was 89 days on Silver Dawn and I knew it as I’d been on Silver Moon, its sister ship. I showed him the ship tour video I’d made a few years ago on a fam trip.”

Not only did her client book and enjoy that cruise, but Hannah then persuaded him to take Silversea round the world for 140 nights the following year. “It was quite an easy sell to be honest!” she says.

Personal experience

Over the course of nine years, Hannah has enjoyed cruises and ship visits aboard Silver Shadow, Silver Moon, Silver Ray and Silver Endeavour. Her most recent voyage was on Silver Ray.

“I thoroughly enjoyed my time onboard,” she says. “One of the highlights was the Marquee restaurant, which offered a refreshing alternative a la carte breakfast in a relaxed, elegant alfresco setting – perfect for a quieter start to the day.

“I was also impressed by the new two-tier theatre, which brought a sense of grandeur and intimacy to every performance, making each show feel truly special.”

She adds: “If you’ve seen the product and experienced it, even if for the day, that helps.”

Hannah believes building up a good rapport with Silversea representatives and attending networking events has helped her secure such invites, and she advises others to build a cruise niche to make the same efforts. But she sees the relationship as a two-way street.

“The other side of it is, if they invite me on a trip, they know they are going to get exclusive content out of me as well on social media. Not just Instagram but full ship tour videos on YouTube as well.”

Curated content

Hannah built up her video skills during the pandemic and likes the "personal touch" they bring, but she supplements her own footage with that available on the My Silversea website. “You’ve got the marketing toolkit on there, which is really helpful,” she says.

Brochures, flyers, images and customisable marketing materials are also available through the resource. Agents can even set up a Silversea-branded website with their own call to action.

My Silversea is also a good first port of call for those getting into selling the line, Hannah advises. “They have the [Silversea Academy] training, so that’s good for anybody who is brand new. I did it years ago.” Trade-only webinars can meanwhile keep regular Silversea sellers up to date.

Tailored support 

Select World Travel has been consistent with its sales of the line, Hannah says, adding: “If you’re ever stuck [account manager] Donatella [Valzasina], or whoever else is on your account, can be really helpful… I think that always helps if you get on well with those people that are representing the brand.”

Silversea has also helped the agency by supporting its client events in person. “We have an annual one in October at the Chewton Glen Hotel where I invite 15 key suppliers, a mixture of cruise, tour operators and hotel representation companies. We have about 80 clients to that one, we have an informal chat at dinner and they rotate each course and that gives clients new inspiration, so it’s a bit of a soft sell. I’d say Silversea has attended 70% of them, which is really great.”

Hannah’s own experience of Silversea and the team’s backing has helped her clinch bookings, but once clients have enjoyed the product it can sell itself several times over, she says. And with fair dealing from the line, this can be particularly swift.

“We have quite a few regulars and they like the product. They will rebook onboard and that will come back to us. Silversea have a sales team onboard ship and if guests enquire, make an option or even a booking that goes back to the agency that got them onboard.”