How Expedia® CruiseShipCenters®, OVC Took My Business to the Next Level
Here's what one of our most experienced agents had to say about their experience with ECSC, OVC:
I understand that Expedia CruiseShipCenters, OVC is the top Expedia CruiseShipCenters single location in the United States, how did they do it?
It’s really a team effort! I work with a lot of great agents that live throughout the United States! The home-office support team provides us with:
- Thorough on-boarding process, training, and coaching
- Sales and product support
- Weekly Marketing
- Back-end Accounting
You mentioned marketing. A lot of agents struggle with marketing, what does Expedia CruiseShipCenters, OVC do that has helped you?
They really focus on me, the agent, so all I have to do is sell the complete vacation to my clients.
I have a personalized website that’s updated daily as well as customized email campaigns delivered from my email address directly to my clients with leads linking right back to me. Also, I have access to six major promotions each year that are promoted both online and offline and they provide me with a variety of lead generation programs. Lastly, they maintain a strong social media presence that I can use to stay in touch daily with my clients.
As part of Expedia CruiseShipCenters, OVC, can you sell anything other than cruises?
Even though ‘CruiseShipCenters’ is a part of the name, I can sell a lot more than cruises! They provide me with tools for selling air, hotel, land vacations, travel insurance, shore excursions and more. The company really believes in selling the complete vacation to fulfill the Expedia CruiseShipCenters promise to “always be there”. We are available to help – before, during, and after a guest’s trip.
What about Leads?
The company provides me with leads, but more importantly, they work with me to build new relationships and acquire customers for life.
How about Commissions?
Expedia CruiseShipCenters has the power of Expedia, Inc, the #1 name in travel throughout the world! This affiliation provides me with two things:
- Top commission in the industry -up to 18% for cruise(!)
- Access to Expedia+ points where my clients can earn two points for every $1 spent on a cruise. They can use those points for hotel, air, car rental, you name it! It’s a great benefit to being part of Expedia CruiseShipCenters.
You mentioned Back-end Accounting, do they do everything?
Yes, thankfully! Accounting is not my strong point! I am much better at arranging spectacular vacations. The CRM we use, CruiseDesk®, is web based and all I have to do is create my booking in the system; add payments and accounting will handle the rest! Commissions are paid twice a month after the client travels and I can track when/what I was paid via reports in CruiseDesk.
It sounds like all of their tools are web-based, does that mean that you can work from anywhere?
Yes! CruiseDesk can be accessed anywhere throughout the world as long as I have internet access (even on my phone or tablet). Through it, I can receive emails, do research and quote vacations. I am in the travel business because I love to travel! Expedia CruiseShipCenters, OVC gives me the flexibility to work and travel at the same time!
Thank you for your time today. Do you have any advice for fellow agents just getting into the industry?
Actually, I have two pieces of advice:
Always carry a business card with you as you never know who you will meet.
Always offer the complete vacation (pre/post, travel insurance, air). You don’t want your clients to look somewhere else for a component of their trip. Provide your clients with all that they need, and they will keep coming back.
If you're interested in learning how Expedia CruiseShipCenters, OVC can help you start and grow your travel agency, take a look at our 10+ five-star reviews from other agents in our network.
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