Learning To Sell Luxury With Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Ming with Samantha Jervis of Regent Seven Seas Cruises.

Samantha shares her tips and techniques on how to sell luxury.

Todd Hancock & Dean Nelson of Sea Courses celebrate their success with groups on Regent.

Attendees from Expedia CruiseShipCenters: (l-r) Patrick Fok, Nancy Hughes, Catherine Iannella, Annette Lillie, Elaine Saint & Dale Graham.

Regent Seven Seas Cruises hosted 50 agents for dinner at Vancouver's Marine Drive Golf Club last week. Samantha Jervis, Director of Sales & Marketing for Western Canada, brought the group up to speed on company news and developments, as well as delivering advice and tips on how to sell the luxury brand.

At dinner, I enjoyed a good conversation with Dean Nelson & Todd Hancock of Sea Courses. The agency is a big supporter of Regent, bringing several medical conference groups onboard each year. Both agents have cruised with Regent numerous times and describe the experience as "Effortless Luxury". Their clients love the onboard quality & experience, with the best part being no bill at check-out. They also praise Samantha and her Sales Support team for making the group booking process easy and effortless, while the ships' staff does a terrific job in catering to their groups' every need.

Hearing such good feedback is encouraging - but according to Samantha, many agents are still struggling to sell Regent. The most common reasons? 1) the perceived higher pricing and 2) agents say their clients aren’t "rich" enough.

The first reason is easy to overcome. Regent has created a wonderful marketing piece, comparing its value to other premium, luxury and river cruise brands. Study this piece and you will be convinced that Regent is not expensive. And when you are convinced, it is that much easier to convince your clients, and close that sale.

Secondly, not all Regent clients are in the ultra-rich upper class. Our clients may have a conservative budget for their yearly vacation, but they will splurge for special occasions and milestone celebrations. Or they may refer friends or family who do have the budget, whom you have not yet met. In short, don't make assumptions. Talking about Regent is the only way to get a booking.

Please allow me to share my success story. I once spoke to friends about a Regent cruise and listed all of the inclusions, specifying the benefits of each feature. When I got to the price at the end of the conversation, I got a booking on the spot. They thought it was such great value, it was silly "not to go"! Did it surprise me? Completely! My friends live a modest lifestyle, they had only been on one previous cruise, and I really didn't think they would spend that kind of money. But I told them about it anyway, and they booked.

Will this happen every time? Probably not, but even if it happens once, it will be a very rewarding experience. Please try it, and I am sure you will have a success story to share in the future.