Re-Booking Your Cruise Clients
by John Hawks

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However, it doesn’t take long for savvy agents to understand that their best sources of future sales and profits are the happy, satisfied clients who’ve already booked cruises with you!

It’s no secret that closing more sales with your existing clients is much less expensive than prospecting, qualifying, and closing brand-new customers again and again. It pays in the long run to focus on more than just the immediate sales you’ve made with clients – instead, think about their lifetime value to your travel business. A one-time cruise sale makes a customer worth anywhere from $25 to $500 (depending on cruise fares and commission rates), but the value of that customer to your business grows immensely if he or she books a cruise with you every year or two!

How can you re-book your cruise clients to capture those lifetime earnings?

Pull out all the stops to make sure their first booking with you is perfect. It’s so unusual these days for consumers to encounter warm, personal, trouble-free service – so, you’ll earn immediate points if you make that first cruise perfect. From the initial deposit through final payments, from cruise document delivery to packing tips, give your first-time clients your personal attention and as much hand holding as they need. And, if they have problems on the cruise, step in and work with the cruise line to fix those problems right away.

Discover their cruise dreams before that first cruise. Sure, the first sale may be a long-weekend Caribbean voyage – but, your clients may really be dreaming about a Galapagos voyage, or a two-week golf cruise, or an around-the-world retirement sailing. There’s no better time than the present to begin collecting ideas for these clients and breaking down budgets for them to make plans now for these dream voyages. Your clients will appreciate your going the extra mile to help them start thinking right now about making these dreams a reality. Even simple steps like sending them a brochure describing the dream voyage will set you apart from the online cruise agencies that are simply competing on price, not service.

Track your clients’ future cruise deposits. Many cruise lines have staffers on their ships promoting specials for future sailings, encouraging passengers to pick up brochures and place deposits on these trips down the road. While these lines typically credit you for commissions on these future bookings, it’s our job as agents to follow up on these bookings, advise our clients on their plans, and close the sales. In fact, Princess Cruises (an OSSN supplier member!) just added a tool to its online booking engine that allows agents to track these future cruise deposits.

Don’t forget the post-cruise follow-up. You’d be amazed how many agents never say thanks to their clients once the cruise is over. Whether you use handwritten thank-you notes, a welcome-home gift, a personal phone call, or a mix of these tools, it’s important to touch base with clients once the first cruise is over to see how things went and to begin the conversation about next year’s cruise.

Automate your future-cruise promotions with existing clients. It’s so easy for your first-time clients who’ve returned home to get lost again in the busyness of their everyday lives. Use a calendar or tools like ClientEase to schedule reminders for you to contact past cruise clients on a regular basis with deals, specials, new brochures, and other information to keep them dreaming about their next voyage!

(Credits: Klobetime; Ulf-Esdert Schmidt; Starliner)