• Home
• Book
• About Us
• Why Book a Cruise
• FAQs
• Testimonials
• Cruise Specialist Sign Up

Top tips - Get the best from Cruise 121

At Cruise 121 we pride ourselves on providing only the highest quality leads. If a cruise request is unrealistic in any way we will not pass it on to you. The average conversion achieved by our cruise specialists is running at around 15% - however, some of our best performing specialists are achieving over 20% or 1 in 5.

Here we share some of the best practices, gained from 20 years of selling cruise, which will help you to increase your cruise request conversion rates and your profitability! Our goal is the same as yours, a truly satisfied customer is a customer who is going to cruise again!

	First Time. We all remember our first time. Your first response needs to sell yourself and your company more than create the perfect cruise holiday. You do not need to provide a complete itinerary or finalised price at this stage, simply sell yourself by demonstrating that you have read the request and offer a few ideas and personalised recommendations. The idea is to show that you are the cruise expert that will find the client their ideal cruise holiday. Finally, you need to get the client to come back to you, either via email or ideally on the phone - try asking a few astute questions that will help prompt the customer to respond. Once you've gained a level of experience, the initial response should not take you more than around 15 minutes. See an example introduction message that became a $96,000 booking (opens in a new window.)
	Call. All request come with a phone number, use it! They want to hear from you, that is why they have given you their number. Ideally, call soon after your first email, which will give you both something to focus the initial conversation around. Please remember time zones - it maybe 9am in Sydney, but in Perth it is still 6am/7am...
	Be Quick. Not wanting to labour on about early birds and worms, etc...but, it is amazing how often customers book with the first specialist to respond to their request. You're under a contractual obligation to respond within 24 hours - you'll be more successful if you respond within 24 minutes!
	Don't Call. Umm, didn't we just say the opposite (point 2?) Every customer is different and some customers, quite frankly, would rather not talk to you! Make the process for them as easy as possible - if the customer requests that the entire booking conversation and transaction to happen via email, make it happen!
	You are you! You are a cruise specialist and a real person. You are going to deliver a cruise holiday based on the client's specific and unique needs and it will run smoothly. You will be there to help with things like ticketing and if things change or go wrong, you will be there to assist. Remind your customers of this - you are not Expedia or www.faceless-cruise-company.com.au - this is good!
	Your Profile. Make sure that your profile on Cruise 121 and your website (if you have one) is as good as it could be. Customers will rely on these when deciding whether to use your services or not.
	Be professional. Almost goes without saying, but anyway...Read the client's request thoroughly, format your respond neatly, use the spell check, don't use all upper case, if you are linking to your website or a supplier's website, make sure the link works and goes to the right place. When you detail the itinerary and costs, do it on headed paper in a customer friendly format, explain why you've included the cruise you have and give tips and ideas for further things to do (excursions, etc...) Sorry, didn't mean to sound like your mother!

How it works

Already invited or interested? Please provide a few more details and add your profile by completing a cruise specialist application form. Thank you.