7 tips to success

On her first trip down under, Cindy D’aoust, President and CEO of CLIA left Cruise360 Australasia delegates with seven strategies for success:

1. Staying connected: The most exciting thing that your passengers and your clients will do on their vacation is post their experience. Be part of the conversation, you need to be engaged and show up in that community.

2. Be one step ahead: Don’t wait and be the person that’s only available to clients and thinking of them when they call you because they want to book a trip. Get to know your clients, what their life milestones are and suggest trips for future events.

3. Create an itinerary for yourself: Understand where your business is today and where do you want it to be in five years and then create the plan to get there.

4. Build your brand: There is no industry that is better at building their brands than the cruise industry. In addition to the research that shows that if you invest in yourself, you earn more, we also have research that shows if you specialise, you will earn more.

5. Personalise: A cruise can be personalised down to a single individual and what they want to do day-by-day. Match what they’re looking for in their experience with the product that is the cruise.

6. Narowing the search: We know that there are thousands of ports, many different itineraries, destinations and amenities. That does not help when you talk to a client. It just overwhelms them. Know them, know what they’re looking for, use that personalisation.

7. Learn to earn: Invest in yourself. Whether it’s being a member of CLIA, participating in communities, continuing to take training or accreditation. The more you know, the more value you bring for your customers.