Cruise Planners 2009 Convention
Oasis of the Seas…Blog Entry #4
It’s now Thursday morning, Nov 19th. Yesterday was a full day of meetings followed by a booze cruise and dinner on the inter-coastal waterway.
We first met with the Cruise Planners “sales and technology” team to learn that in January, 2010, CP will be rolling out a new “one-stop” web site where members will be able to research, book, and make payment on all our future cruise sales. This will save time and allow us to provide our clients with information much faster. It’s no surprise that Royal Caribbean will have a prominent presence on the new site.
Next, we learned about all the new training opportunities as well as the new CPU (Cruise Planners University Accreditation Program. It will be on the web site as well. Agents can educate themselves, earn points, and receive status with Cruise Planners. The cruise industry is growing and changing and always adding new options for the guest. Education provides the sales professional with confidence.
We met reps from Azamara Cruises, Celebrity, and Princess during Wednesday’s sessions. We were also introduced to other CP members that were succeeding in their cruise businesses and learned first hand what was working for them. I would say the over-riding theme of the breakout sessions yesterday was networking. Networking is building relationships with your clients and communicating with them on a regular basis. Whether that communication is a mailing once a quarter or remembering their Special Occasions with a card or phone call, you need to let them know you’re thinking of them.
Networking also means joining a business leads groups like BNI, doing Social Media like Facebook, e-mail marketing, and joining community service organizations. All of these are examples of how people connect, learn to trust you and may eventually do business with you. You might do one, two, or all of these forms of networking.
On Thursday, we had presentations from Carnival, Norwegian, and Holland America. These cruise lines presented in forum style, all the different Special Fares available to our clients. Not sale fares, but Special fares, like Union membership, Military service, the Senior community, and community service providers like Policeman and Fire Fighters.
In the afternoon, I sat in on two classes that gave me a much better idea of what Social Media was all about; things like Facebook and Twitter, what fan pages, and Linked In.
We had the evening off to pack and collect our thoughts. Tomorrow, we have morning presentations and then it’s off to board the new ship, Oasis. One of the agents commented that he thought all this week she was probably being outfitted with her 26,000 plants in Central Park. That made total sense seeing she came from Finland where it was winter and her tugboat escorts were breaking the ice for her on the first few hundred miles out to sea.
Well, it’s off to bed. It’s a early and long day Friday! Wish I could watch good morning America before heading out to the ship!
Steve Lord and Jeff Gregory own a travel agency called All-Inclusive Vacations www.all-inclusivevacations.com