3Qs for Cruise Month: Daren Autry, Montrose Travel

What do you plan to do differently in 2016 than you did in the past as far as selling cruises?

We are planning to further educate and encourage customers to experience river cruising. The buzz for river cruises is at an all-time high, and while customers have heard about it from a friend or perhaps a neighbor, there are still opportunities for us to educate and suggestively sell this type of travel to experienced ocean-cruisers looking for something different.

Regarding ocean cruising, we hope to maximize our earning potential by marketing and selling into select group departures. We’re also focusing on selling longer voyages as well as new ships which have been deployed this year, and those that will deploy in 2016.

What do you wish the cruise industry better understood about working with travel agents?

We would like for cruise lines to compensate us for our efforts. If cruise lines want us to get behind selling ancillary products through them, we need to be able to earn commission on each component at the point of sale.

What advice do you have for other agents trying to sell cruises?

To be a successful cruise professional, agents must be willing to hone their craft by constantly absorbing information. Agents need to know the differences among cruise lines, and when to recommend one cruise line or ship over another to enable a proper client fit and to avoid a pure price-driven sale.

With the wealth of information available to consumers on the internet today, it’s our responsibility to prove that we’re knowledgeable enough to counsel and guide our clients in the right direction based on their preferences and expectations.

A great start is to study the brochures – including ship features, itineraries, things to do, etc. Learn from cruise conferences (i.e., Cruise 3Sixty) as well as Business Development Managers and other senior agents in the office.