Jamie Biesiada
Want to break into luxury cruise sales, but not sure how?
Dondra Ritzenthaler, CEO of Azamara, has some ideas on the topic that she shared during a recent episode of the "Trade Secrets" podcast.
It boils down to a few key questions, Ritzenthaler said, the first involving an advisor's database of clients.
"Who's taken at least one premium, contemporary cruise and came back and liked it?" Ritzenthaler said.
That group is the one to target with messages about a higher-end product, especially if they don't already have another cruise booked, she said.
The next question she suggests asking is where they went in the past, to avoid pitching a cruise in the same area.
With that information in mind, it's time to get in touch with the client.
"When you get them on the phone, you ask them three things," she said. "Would you like to actually stay in the destination longer, and live more like a local? Go to dinner with the locals? If that's a yes, great.
"Two, do you have more than a seven-day period of time? Would you like to actually go 11 or 12 nights when you go to these places and see so many more places, and really learn the culture and get immersed?
"And three," she said, "do you actually want to go in a way where you feel a little bit more intimate service, where it's not as crowded?"
If those questions get affirmative responses, those are the perfect clients to talk to about a luxury cruise product.
Some other clues that a client might be right, per Ritzenthaler: If they booked a suite on a premium or contemporary brand, or if they enjoyed a longer cruise but said the ship was crowded.
Assuming the client bites and books a cruise, the opportunity is ripe to make another sale, too.
"Please don't lose the opportunity to say, 'And let's take somebody with you,'" she said.
Same work, more profit
Selling a luxury product will also ensure an advisor's take-home pay is greater. Cruise bookings are hard work no matter what category they're in, Ritzenthaler said.
"You work just the same amount of hard, but with us, you make commission that has a comma in it," she said.
For more from Ritzenthaler, including more luxury sales techniques and her take on Azamara's differentiators in the market, give the podcast episode a listen.