SMALLSHIPCRUISES.COM

10 IMPORTANT GUIDELINES FOR SELLING SMALL SHIP CRUISES

• When you sell cruises, you are selling fantasies, dreams, and desires. This is doubly true of small ship cruises which have a romanticism all their own. It is to your benefit and to your client’s benefit to learn what your client’s real desires are.
   
• Listen to your clients and fulfill their needs. Their desires may not be at all like yours. They may want to participate in adventurous exploring and extreme sports, renew a relationship, simply escape to the sun and read a book, study the wildlife of the area, add new birds to their birdwatching list, visit a remote place in the world and get to know the people there. Or cruise on a luxury ship and have rejuvenating spa treatments. They may want a cruise with lectures by naturalists and historians or language lessons or to play local golf courses, hear local music, or may want to trace back to their roots. Listen to what they want. There is a cruise that’s right for everyone. Make sure you get the client matched up with the cruise that’s right for him or her. You want them to have wonderful time so that they will want to cruise again.
   
• Sell benefits, not features. The easiest way to do this is to state a feature of the cruise in terms of the client’s needs. Don’t just say "The ship stops at five islands" (feature); but adapt the feature to the client "The ship stops at five islands which is going to give you the sampling of diving experiences that you were looking for" (benefit). If you are selling to a group, tell them of the wonderful benefits of traveling in a group – lower fares, having a cabin-mate available so no single supplement is needed, the fun of traveling with their friends, the benefits of a tour escort if there is one.
   
• Always ask if they are celebrating a special occasion. If so, you may be able to recommend a cruise for them that will honor their celebration. Be sure to tell the cruise line when you get a fare quote and when you book. Some cruise companies give discounts for honeymoons or anniversaries, and most will arrange a special note of congratulations from the captain and other amenities such as champagne in the cabin or a birthday cake and a song by the staff at dinner.
   
• Small ships lend themselves to groups, whole boat charter, and incentive travel. Be on the lookout for groups that you might be able to work with. When you have worked with a client on several occasions ask them if they belong to any groups that might be interested in a small ship cruise, reminding them that they could get a free cruise by putting a group together. More and more people are also using small ship cruises as places for families to have reunions or celebrate holidays together. Offer cruises of Ireland to an Irish-American club, a cruise of coastal Africa to a black heritage group, a classical music cruise to members of the symphony, a wildlife cruise to the local zoological society.  Check the cruise company requirements for groups -- many small ship companies allow a smaller number to be called a group than big ships do -- and send letters to universities, zoos, museums, and to garden, wine, music groups offering to arrange group cruises.
   
• Whenever you make a booking, make a follow-up record of when clients are returning and send them a note or call them, welcoming them back and inquiring about their trip and if they loved it.  The clients will appreciate the fact that you are interested in them, not just forgetting them after you made the sale.
   
• Get the word out. Put a banner sign in your office "We sell small ships." Put an announcement in your local newspaper that you have expanded to be a specialist in booking small ship cruises. Put an item in your agency newsletter, send a letter to your client list, or simply tell clients about the new vessels you can now offer them. Refer them to the public area of the www.SmallShipCruises.com website to browse, or to read travel articles about an area they are interested in.
   
• As you meet people, talk about small ship cruises. If they seem interested, tell them you would like the opportunity of telling them about some of the small ships the next time they plan to travel. Meanwhile, invite them to check out the SmallShipCruises.com website to read about some of the ships. Give them your business card. (Never leave home without your business cards!) Remind them that a travel agent’s services are free. Ask them if they would like to get your newsletter or invite them to subscribe to ours to keep up on the news and the specials.
   
• Get to know the products. You will sell a lot more small ship cruises after you have been on a few and realize how special they are. And nothing sells more effectively than being able to say "I was on that ship in April and I loved it!"
   
• When you get a fare quote or make a booking be sure to tell the cruiseline that you have come through SmallShipCruises.com to be sure to get any preferred supplier perks. Some of the small ship cruise companies require CLIA or IATA numbers, but many do not. The small ship companies, by the way, tend to be very friendly, and after a few bookings they will recognize you and you will feel that you have built a relationship and made a friend with whoever is on the other end of the line.