knowledge selling from home TTG Agent of the Year
‘I don’t sit about drinking coffee’
Jo Rigby is a homeworker for Cruise Thomas Cook. After being nominated for “Agent of the Year” at the TTG Travel Awards for the past three years, she finally won this year
Do you have a specialism?
Cruise – my first one was in Alaska eight years ago, and since then I’ve been on more than 40 ships. Many of my customers wait for me to try a new ship first before asking me to book it for their own holiday.
Why did you become a homeworker? I wanted to concentrate on cruise because that is my passion. I worked on tailor-made itineraries for Thomas Cook Signature before, but when I spotted the opportunity to specialise in cruise, I had to take it.
What’s the best advice you’ve been given as a homeworker?
Be organised: make sure you’re on top of your daily admin and paperwork. When a customer phones I access my system and check what ships they have previously sailed on, where they have sailed to and in which cabins. It impresses them when you know their travel history so intimately.
What was the turning point – when your business started to take off? It takes a little while as a new homeworker to bed yourself in, but after a few months I really started nailing bookings, and since then my business has grown year-on-year. Last year 52% of my bookings came from repeat clients and customer referrals. This year it has been 57%.
What advice would you give to agents coming into homeworking? Sit with a homeworker for the day to see what the job entails. There’s a perception that homeworking is easy, that we sit about drinking coffee all day. But if you want the financial rewards you have to work at it. You can’t expect to make loads
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of money with little effort. Officially I work part-time, but I answer my phone whenever it rings. I can’t afford to lose the business.
What are your plans for the business? I’d like to increase my expertise in a niche area, specifically river cruising. I’m doing my first river cruise at the end of this month, from Frankfurt to Basle, stopping at Christ- mas markets. At this summer’s Ace Cruise Convention I attended a free session by a river cruise specialist agent and it really fired me up. River cruising is not a big market, but it’s an extra string to my bow because it opens up a new area for my customers.
Who has been the biggest help to you? My manager. I work quite independently but she offers good support when I need it. She comes to see me regularly and brings resources from head office. Plus she’s always on the end of a phone. I also read the trade press regularly. Working on your own you sometimes miss out on the snippets of news that go round offices, so it’s good for keeping up-to-date.
How is business for 2010? Despite the ups and downs of previous years, people who cruise are still cruising, and many are cruising for the first time too. Customers want all-inclusives for the security of paying upfront.
How do you create business opportunities? By networking as much as I can in the local community. I want to build up my local
Jo picking up her award at Grosvenor House in London
customer base because it is easier when you can pop round and talk to your clients in person. When I’m on a cruise I check if any of my customers are onboard – I’ve met some for afternoon tea on Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth. And when I was on Norwegian Jade at the same time as a hen party I had booked, I dropped off some party bags to their rooms. All homeworkers should try to meet their customers as it builds rapport.
What did it mean to you to win the TTG Agent of the Year award?
CV: Jo Rigby
It was my third year as a finalist and while you like to think third time lucky, I honestly thought I had no chance. I was over the moon when John Barrowman said my name – it made all the hard work and effort of the past year even more worthwhile. I am so proud to be able to tell people I won.
Age: 44 Works for: Cruise Thomas Cook Based in: Rutland How long in travel: Nine years How long as a homeworker: Four years
Best thing about the job? The peace and quiet, plus not having to drive to work Worst thing about the job? Working too many hours – it’s often seven days a week, but I do enjoy it and wouldn’t have it any other way
How has winning helped your business?
The Thomas Cook press office sent my photo to local newspa- pers. My regular clients know and sent congratulatory emails, cards and even flowers. I’ll put it in my Christmas newsletter with my Christmas cards. It really brings it home when my customers realise I didn’t just fend off competition from cruise agents, but from all agents across the country.
ttglive.com
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