Selling Cruises: Do Cruise Lines Want Our Business?
by John Hawks

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Here's the truth: We deserve every ounce of respect we get from the cruise lines -- but, sometimes, we still have to fight for it.

Like most travel suppliers, Holland America Line tries to walk the fine line between reaching out to as many potential sellers of cruises as possible without wasting its resources. Recently, questions arose among members of one OSSN chapter about whether this cruise line treated home-based agents in the same way as storefront agents. These OSSN agents felt they were not being taken seriously because they work from home or because they work as part-time travel sellers.

To be blunt about it, many travel suppliers look at sales volume first and ask questions later. If your agency sells a lot of cruises, then you'll have no trouble getting return phone calls from your sales rep and goodies like fam cruises and co-op funds. To its credit, however, Holland America is ahead of the curve in trying to adapt itself to supporting home-based agents who're working hard to build their cruise sales.

Take brochures, for example. In the days when traditional storefront agencies dominated cruise selling, many cruise lines depended on mailing printed brochures to them and following up with occasional visits from district sales managers and other reps. Nowadays, Web sites supplement brochures -- and Holland America actually offers E-Brochures (customizable online brochures that you can send to your clients and prospects in place of the bulky, expensive printed versions).

To separate serious home-based cruise agents from the rest of the pack, Holland America starts with those who have signed up for its comprehensive "@Home With HAL" online training program. Once you register for this system, you'll have access to Holland America's complete library of online brochures, photos, deck plans, port descriptions, and pricing (reducing a lot of space on your desk!) as you help clients on the phone and via email.

Beyond these online resources, however, the @Home With HAL program will pair you with one of the cruise line's inside Business Development Representatives (BDRs). While storefront agencies still hear occasionally from field-based Business Development Managers, you'll likely have greater access to the BDR assigned to you once you've registered with the cruise line. Your BDR (who works from Holland America's headquarters in Seattle) will help you identify target markets for Holland America bookings, brainstorm ideas, produce flyers, plan special events, and book groups.

"Professionals working from home have the challenge of generating interest [from suppliers] without a storefront or office network of agents," said Richard Meadows, Holland America's senior vice president of sales and marketing. "However, we know that they are adept and experienced, and our Business Development Teams are ready to work creatively with them to build business."

Errol Tim, an eight-year cruise industry veteran who works as a Holland America BDR, has helped his home-based agents book several types of affinity group cruises this year. "We are the only cruise line with a desktop publishing service to generate customized letterhead, postcards, and other pieces for agents," he said. "We will help them produce the necessary materials and develop sales events. It's rewarding to work with an agent and see them take an idea and turn it into a 60-passenger group."

About 7,000 travel agents have registered so far for @Home With HAL, with more sign-ups every week. When you go to www.hollandamerica.com, click on the "Travel Agent Headquarters" link, and you'll find more details about @Home With HAL. Or, you can call 800.544.0443 and select option # 6.

Now, here's the $64,000 question: Will simply registering with @Home With HAL put you in the running for co-op funds, and fam trip invitations, and personalized support from Holland America reps? Of course not. You must find ways to stand out in the crowd, just as you've developed strategies for staying close to your clients when they might be tempted otherwise to book through another agent or via a travel Web site.

Dave Stockert -- Holland America's well-known director of sales promotions -- offers these tips for branding yourself as a serious cruise seller with his company (or any other cruise line):

Develop an ongoing relationship with your BDR or cruise line rep. First, find out for sure who serves as your rep. If you own your own agency based at home, then it's an easy question to answer. However, if you work as an independent contractor with a host agency that's based in a different state than you are, you should talk to your host about which cruise line rep you should work with. (And, in some cases, the host agency may prefer to be the primary contact with cruise line reps, rather than allowing its independent agents to deal with them as well.) You should ask these questions and locate your specific cruise line rep before you do anything else.

Share your written business plan for cruise sales with your rep. Right away, the fact that you actually have a written business plan will set you apart from 90 percent of the pack (including many storefront agents). If your rep knows where you want to go, he or she can decide what cruise line resources to offer that will help you get there.

Show that you're serious about cruise sales by earning your professional certifications. Having your CTA, CTC, ACC, MCC, and/or ECC designations proves immediately that you're willing to invest the time and money to improve your selling skills.

Be willing to invest your own money into co-op projects. "Co-op" means exactly that -- a cooperative venture that involves money from your pocket along with funds from suppliers like cruise lines to pay for advertising and marketing projects to drive sales through your business. Your rep will pay serious attention, for example, to any proposal for which you're willing to invest 25 to 35 to 50 percent of the costs.

Keep your rep updated on your progress. Yes, every cruise line rep gets sales reports on his or her accounts on a regular basis -- but it makes sense to drop handwritten thank-you notes and holiday cards and periodic emails and voicemail messages to let your rep know you appreciate the cruise line's support (and that you're indeed closing sales for the company).

Finally, if you believe you're being treated unfairly by any travel supplier's sales reps, send OSSN an email. Emails like these have helped OSSN track problems with the acceptance of TRUE numbers, for example, and we'll gladly contact any supplier who seems to have problems dealing with home-based agents in a respectful manner.