Don’t have clients for Virgin Voyages? Think again! TTG VV Fest takeaways

Travelmax media and marketing coordinator, Savannah Bracewell, was interviewed by Day about her experiences selling Virgin Voyages. Here are some of her top tips. 

• "Last year we held our first conference at sea for Travelmax onboard Virgin Voyages and the girls just absolutely loved every second. Me and my mum (the “Max” in Travelmax) had been onboard before, but getting the staff to actually experience it first hand – they just can't sing highly enough about it."

• "If I have a client who might not think Virgin Voyages is for them, I ask a couple of simple questions. I've loads of footage and things I can show them but before I'd even get to that, I'd just say OK, well, 'Are you a food person?', 'Do you like more boutique-style accommodation?', or poignantly, 'How do you feel about a drag queen walking about the ship?' If someone says they’d love it, I know it’s going to be easy sailing from here, pardon the pun."

• "We have this lovely client who's new-to-cruise and he always travels on his own. He owns his own business – he's a farmer. He'd come in and he'd have dirty hands... he’s like a real rugged guy. A few years ago we’d sent him to Temptations and he absolutely loved it, but he didn’t want to travel that far this time. I said if he wanted the kind of vibe where people just let their hair down and you actually live in the moment, he was going to enjoy Virgin Voyages. Well he was just absolutely mesmerised. He hasn't stopped talking about it since he's been onboard. He can't wait to go on again. But if you looked at him, you would not think of him as a Virgin Voyages client. Now he knows that there's something right there for him, and he doesn't have to go to the same place every time, which he didn't like about previous holidays. I think he maybe left the ship once, and the rest of the time he spent onboard because he just loved it so much – he’s doing his dance classes, he’s mingling with everybody... but he knew he could have his own space too."

• "I love that there is such a variety of demographics and ages onboard – when I was there this lady was in her nineties and she was absolutely dressed up to the nines and having a dance competition with the drag queen, and it was just awesome."

• "My top three highlights of a Virgin Voyages cruise are the cabins – how unique and spacious they are, and how I've literally been on a sailing and barely left the cabin because I just loved it so much, just chilling in my hammock. Second would be the entertainment. Even if you haven't sailed on Virgin Voyages, it's clear to see how exceptional the entertainment is. Thirdly, I’ll say the food."

• "My top VV selling tips would be – use the visuals. If you've been onboard, get up those videos, get up the pictures. It doesn't matter if it's you by the pool a little bit drunk, dancing. If you haven’t been onboard, there’s loads of good content available. Talk about colleagues’ experiences, or get them to speak to your client. If you haven't been onboard before, getting on board makes the selling so much easier."