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Dwain Wall |
CruiseOne franchise owners and Cruises, Inc independent hosted agents who achieve more than $1 million in revenues will soon be recognized with a new “Circle of Excellence” elite level of rewards and exclusive support. Dwain Wall, the two organizations’ senior vice president and general manager, announced the program on Friday during the closing moments of annual conference onboard Norwegian Epic.
Benefits apply to both groups, or in some case, to one of the two groups, based on the specific business model. These include such tools and perks as Circle of Excellence logos, lapel pins, personal stationery supplies, recognition in a headquarter’s newsletter, a distribution list of fellow Circle of Excellence members for networking purposes, dedicated priority phone access and technical support, headquarter’s reconciliation support for large groups, one day of free on-site business development assistance in the franchise owner’s home office, free CLIA membership for the agency owner and his or her partner; some complimentary direct mail pieces and more.
During the next national conference, Circle of Excellence producers also will receive one free double occupancy cabin and access to private VIP functions including one-on-one meetings with cruise line executives.
Also New for 2011
Wall also outlined many other new projects that will support all franchise agency owners and independent hosted agents. For example, the groups will undertake more in-depth cruise market analytics. There will be more marketing focused on home ports. For example, agencies along the Gulf of Mexico coastal region will have new promotional tools related to selling cruises from New Orleans or Galveston.
“In the area of operations, we are making an increased investment and focus on groups,” said Wall. “We’re going to be depositing more [for groups] with the cruise lines -- to make sure we’re holding the right amount of group space to make sure that you have an advantage in the marketplace.”
He also said that increase in funding will allow the organization to hold the group space longer.
But he also challenged agents: “Sell it. We need your support [for 2011] or we will not be able to do this again in 2012.”
Wall also said the corporate group will provide training and certification to agents who hold space as well. He would like to see more agents book FITS into their fellow agents’ group space.
“We’re also investigating charter opportunities and escorted groups for the first time,” Wall said. And, Wall said his group is creating a contract compliance department “to tighten contract compliance and enhance our standards in an effort to build a stronger and more consistent brand.”
Wall and Vicki Freed, senior vice president of sales, Royal Caribbean International donned Shrek ears to tell the crowd that the CruiseOne and Cruises Inc. 2011 National Conference will be onboard the new Allure of the Seas.
The seven-night conference cruise will sail from Port Everglades to Labadee, Jamaica and Cozumel on October 9-16, 2011. Conference pricing for CruiseOne and Cruises Inc. agents will be from $959 per person with a deposit of $200 per person.
“We’ve always been a good company, but we want to be a great company,” said Wall, who stressed that the company now has the right team in place and the investments the company is making are starting to pay big dividends.
“You are all part of history at this year’s conference, but you haven’t seen anything yet,” emphasized Wall. “We will have over 1,000 owners, agents, suppliers and other national partners onboard the 2011 conference on Allure of the Seas. This company will have 900 franchisees and 650 individual agents by this time next year, ensuring that we will continue to be the leader and not follow the industry.”