TTG Toolkit On The Road
The Superman of Celebrity Cruises
Michael Graham, strategic account manager, central and Northern England, Celebrity Cruises spills the beans about his favourite snacks, top tunes and tea preferences
What’s your typical week? Monday is usually my admin day spent at home reviewing sales figures, marketing activity, adverts, setting up staff incentives… and trying to reduce my emails down to one page. From Tuesday to Friday I’m on the road visiting all my lovely trade partners.
What’s in your car? On the back seat of my car you are bound to find a piece of Lego that belongs to my seven-year-old son Isaac. My wife is very health conscious; you can find more vegetables in our spaghetti bolognese than mince, so I always hide a chocolate bar in my glove compartment. I tend to keep the boot reserved for brochures, flyers, pens and other goodies for my agents.
What music do you listen to? I grew up in the eighties so my iPod is full of cheesy pop music and the odd theme tune. The Superman one in particular gets me in the mood for exceeding targets. I also listen to Radio 2, especially when Jeremy Vine or PopMaster are on.
What snack keeps you going on the road? I sometimes pop into McDonald’s for breakfast and the free Wi-Fi; it’s difficult to open important email attachments on the mobile phone. As a snack, I love sushi! One agent even makes me lunch after our meeting, that’s taking service to a new level!
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that have been released. Also, I wish our head office was based in the north so I could spend more time with the team. Various trade shows, conferences and cruise events mean I can be away from my family quite a bit, but I strive to achieve the best work-life balance that I can.
How do you think agents would describe you? Persistent with a capital “P”, hardworking and that I focus on the best interests of my trade partners. I think they would say I am easygoing, approachable and always have a story to tell.
Which agency gives you the best cup of tea? They all do an amazing brew! I was with an agent recently while a lady was cleaning the drinks machine, and my contact said “come upstairs and have a proper cup of tea”, to which the cleaner said “charming” – it was much better though – has to be Yorkshire teabags!
What’s the silliest thing you’ve ever done as part of a sales visit? I very much enjoy being the “Celebrity” on Travel Counsellors TV – I love to use gameshow catchphrases and do impressions of Frank Spencer, George Formby and Bruce Forsyth.
What’s the best part of being on the road? Every day is so different and I get to meet new people each day. I’ve
managed to build some amazing relationships over the years. The variety of my job is what makes me love being on the road, it can go from a commercial meeting to training and giving out incentives and gifts. I love the buzz of seeing a sale while I am in a call centre.
And the worst part? Traffic is frustrating, especially on the M6, although it does give me a chance to call my agents hands-free and advise them on exciting offers
What’s your advice for agents who don’t currently sell your product but are keen? Get in touch with your account manager as we are here to help you learn, advise and ultimately sell our product. Our award-winning Cruising for Excellence programme is easy to do in bite-size chunks through
cruisingpower.com
If you didn’t work in travel, what would you like to do instead? Be a game show host on TV. Or work with my wife as part of our charity Reuben’s Retreat – it’s just working with my wife would be a lot harder than working on the road!
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