NEWS — GOCRUISE CONFERENCE
L CRUISE
Cruise agency conference report Continued from page 11
GoCruise aims to increase its
60-strong team of franchisees by five to seven a year
GoCruises’ top seller says ‘make it personal’
GoCruise top seller Martin Spence said his business really took off when he stopped competing on price and really got to know his customers. Spence said when he started with GoCruise seven years ago – after 20 years with BA – he sold solely on price, something he now realises was unsustainable. He told
delegates it took him 20 days to make his first sale, but he soon began to get a lot of business from Teletext and eventually about half of his business came from fielding calls. Over time he built up regular
clients and created a customer database. “I logged every detail about the customer that I could, as that would help me create a relationship further down the road,” he said. “The database helps a lot because when someone calls I have everything about that person in front of me on one screen – I know
“I have to have the
confidence to think I offer
something worth paying for”
where they have been and what they like.” Now nearly three-quarters of his business is from existing customers and a further 15% is through recommendations. He puts his success down to self-belief, having conviction and confidence, and paying attention to detail. “My attitude hasn’t changed since starting,” he said. “I have values that I hold dear. Self-belief and attitude are important, but I
have to have the confidence to think I
do deliver something people
want and offer something worth paying for.”
Spence said his customers appreciate it when he goes the extra mile and every year he sends his top customers a Christmas card and takes locals out for dinner. Spence helped the GoCruise team raise more than £800 for local charity, the Princess Alice Hospice in Esher, by shaving off his moustache.
Martin Spence: ‘I log every detail I can about customers’
Agents urged to follow up leads
Too many sales people never follow up with clients after an initial enquiry, sales and business consultant Duncan Jones told delegates.
Jones said customer service and “making extra efforts” to communicate went a long way with prospective customers. He said sales people fail to follow up on 48% of prospective leads, and that 80% of sales are made after the agent and customer have communicated between five and 12 times. He said: “We look at a customer and see one cruise, but it’s about looking deeper and going further in because there could be more potential there and your sales will increase off the back of that. “Put yourself in the client’s shoes. Once you do that, you will
increase your margins and your revenues will improve because you are starting to look at things from a customer’s point of view.”
‘Bookings to be quicker and easier’
GoCruise franchisees will benefit from a new booking system in the coming weeks. Geoff Ridgeon (pictured), head of cruise at
Fred Olsen Travel, said the new system would reduce duplication and would help agents to make bookings quicker. He said: “The new system will make bookings easier and will really help franchisees with the booking process.
“It will remove duplication and it will give the franchisee more confidence when they make a booking. They will be more self- reliant than relying on our support staff.” The cruise firm is continually looking for new franchisees. It
currently has 60 franchisees up and down the country, but Ridgeon said that figure could grow by the end of the year, but only if he could find “the right people”. “It’s definitely a case of steady growth for us,” Ridgeon explained. “We are continually looking for the right people. We work on the basis that we tend to take on between five and seven new franchisees a year. We don’t recruit for the sake of recruiting.”
16 January 2014 —
travelweekly.co.uk • 13
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CONFERENCE REPORT
GoCruise sales focus
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