Sandals BDMs Justin Anderson & Michelle Lanoue
Jacqui Mills, Sandals certification trainer
Flight Centre's Stephanie Catricala, Gina Taboika & Gleiamour Robles
Agents learn about whole mind selling
It’s that time of year again. Like a Serengeti migration, travel agents across the country migrated from office to classroom to become Certified Sandals Specialists or to renew their certification. Whoever said travel agents were on the verge of extinction better check the numbers again. Over 4,000 agents registered for the workshop series, almost double the number of registrants compared to last year.
Out of these 4,000, 32 agents gathered at the October 10th Toronto workshop, which was themed “Mind Your Own Business.” Interestingly enough, the majority of the attendees were 1st time students. Looking around the room, the proportion of younger agents in attendance was a pleasant surprise as well.
One of these fresh faces was Stephanie Catricala of Flight Centre who has been with the company for 1 ½ years. “I think it’s important to get the certification,” she said. “The products are constantly changing and it’s an opportunity to be more knowledgeable. It creates competence for booking agents. We also get to meet and access Sandals’ internal reps.”
This is why the in-classroom workshop is hosted on an annual basis across the country. “People ask why we don’t do the certification series as a webinar,” said Jacqui Mills, Sandals’ certification trainer. “Well, we want to see agents’ faces, interact with them, get to know them. That way, when we get a call, we know who we’re talking to. We want the training to be interactive.”
The 4 hour training session included product updates and reviews, but the main element was how to use “whole mind concepts”, an idea adapted from Daniel H. Pink’s award winning book, A Whole New Mind.
What is whole mind selling? You are either a left brain dominant thinker (someone who is analytic and thinks in terms of usability) or right brain dominant (someone who is creative and more in tune with design). Whole mind selling is to use both sides of the brain to produce the ultimate sale. Sandals applied the concept to all areas of its product from dining to picking the right destination and encouraged more right brain directed concepts to appeal to clients’ emotions.
“Why is it important to care about what side of the brain you are using?” asked Mills. “Because you deal with different clients every day. Even though we’re training you to sell Sandals or Beaches. At the end of the day, it’s your business. Use the whole mind concept and Mind Your Own Business.”
