How do you get your clients? How do you communicate with them? Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) electronically polled travel agents attending a general session at its Cruise3Sixty conference on Saturday, April 16, and the results revealed several interesting trends about the way agents do business.
According to the survey, 99 percent of agents said they mostly gained new clients through recommendations and referrals, 2 percent through the Internet, 3 percent via advertising, 4 percent via direct mail that their agencies sent out and 5 percent from emails sent by their agencies.
When asked how many clients whom they actually have met, 43 percent said “most” of their clients, 33 percent said “some” of their clients, 19 percent said “all” of their clients and 4 percent said “none” of their clients.
Perhaps the most surprising response, however, was the primary way in which agents interact with their clients. The results clearly showed the rise of the electronic age.
A whopping 62 percent said they primarily interacted with clients via email; 34 percent said the telephone remained their primary contact method; only 3 percent said “in person;” and 4 percent cited something else.
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