When Royal Caribbean International concocts a plan to visit 5,000 agents globally in a single day, everyone has to pull their weight. And that includes associate vice-president and general manager Jo Rzymowska, who does her bit on the cruise line’s global sales blitz last week.
I accompany her to Hempstead Valley and Bluewater shopping centres in Kent, helping her distribute cakes, bunting, and collateral about cruise deals to eight agencies throughout the day. She tells them about the bonus shopping voucher incentive that’s ongoing throughout June. And we also hand over golden tickets, with the promise that one of the agents we meet will win a cruise.
First stop, Thomas Cook in Hempstead Valley. It is encouraging for Jo to see print-outs displaying Royal Caribbean cruise deals on show. Manager Alison Shaw is optimistic about trading - the shop has already hit its target for June. But customers have raised concerns over using the euro in Spain and Greece, she says.
Ever quick off the mark, Jo quips: “Another reason to promote cruising.” Alison explains that each of her staff “adopt” a Royal Caribbean ship to specialize in, so they really get to know the product.
"Jo goes over and gets stuck in, highlighting an onboard credit offer of $100, which won’t be available after today"
Over in the Thomson shop, manager and regional cruise expert Marie Carpenter tells us about another tactic her shop employs: “We each pick an offer a day to really focus on selling.” Marie is a great advocate for Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises: she even switch-sells customers who come in asking for city breaks on to cruise.
She tells us how one of her agents switch-sold a customer who had come in asking for Secrets Jamaica. “When it wasn’t available, Holly asked the customer: ‘what is it you love about Secrets?’ ‘It’s luxurious and the food is fantastic’, was the reply. So she sold him Celebrity and he’s on the ship now.”
The only issue Marie raises is in selling 2013. She says it is hard to convince customers to pay the higher prices for next year when last-minute prices are so low. So Jo reminds her about some of the early booking offers and incentives available for 2013, including free coach transfers or car parking.
When we walk into Thomson (First Choice) in Bluewater our timing cannot be better. Star cruise agent Carl Stoner is sat with a customer keen to book a Royal Caribbean cruise. So of course Jo goes over and gets stuck in, highlighting an onboard credit offer of $100, which won’t be available after today. The woman and her son are convinced, but they are unable to finalize the booking as her husband (presumably chief banker in the family) is tied up in a meeting at work and can’t come to the phone!
Over in the busy Thomas Cook store Lorna Ovett tells us that sales have picked up in May and June after a slow start to the year. She says the store’s varied cruise sales are driven by the diverse clientele at Bluewater. People travel long distances to visit the shopping centre, so you never what to expect in terms of sales, she says. The store’s strategy is to pick a few key deals to focus on, and Lorna says that putting offers on to customer-facing boards really helps drive sales.
