Become a Home Based Travel Agent

CRUISEWHIZ CRAIG OR
DOES THE CONCLUSION OF A BIG GROUP CAN GIVE YOU POST PARDUM DEPRESSION?
BY CRAIG SATTERFIELD, ECCS

The medical encyclopedia explains that postpartum depression is moderate to severe depression in a woman after she has given birth.  Can a big travel project that is now complete do the same thing to a travel professional regardless if you have the plumbing to actually give birth? 

I started working on this group in January 2011, a group of guests planning to cruise to Hawaii for 14-nights over Christmas and New Year’s.  First the blocking of cabins! Will we need balconies and inside cabins or only ocean views? Do I have enough deposit money?  Many of these guests have never cruised before.  Will I be able to answer all the questions and concerns to make them all happy and excited about this adventure?  The group needs meeting space.  Will I be able to arrange all the meeting rooms on the right days and times they need?  What about the meals?  Are they going to want to eat together or prefer open dining?

These questions first came thru my mind when I started working with the meeting planner for the group.  They wanted cabins for about 50 guests in the beginning.  I got together the details pretty fast and was able to get the meeting space they needed, provide the promotional material for their flyer and make the bulk deposit. 

Then you wait and you wonder.

Winter dies, spring has sprung and summer is here.  Tick, tick, tick, December seems far away but not in the world of cruising over the holidays.  I start to worry.  I hope my cabins stay available as a cruise like this is bound to sell out early.  Then if by magic the fog clears and there is an email with 140 names all ready to sail.  I am thrilled and terrified at the same time.

I am on full blast with all the details.  It really turns out to be almost a full time job.  The date is here. We board, we sail and our programs begin perfectly as we planned.  I watch over the events like a mother hen.  Two weeks fly by and we are home.  Back in the office… a clean desk. Now what?

Sure there are the daily projects, individual bookings, other important, but smaller groups to handle, writing a column, marketing and holding tight for a so called “wave season,” which I am always skeptical of. Any time an industry puts a name to something like this it is doomed. Funny, I just put a name to my feelings after finishing off this group.

A big part of your day is now free and gets you thinking.  Now I see how actors feel between shows.

After you come back from a long trip, you are blown away by the amount of email information that you receive every day.  I have the urge just to delete everything and start fresh but with human nature you want to know what you missed.  The first thing that came to mind while I was at sea: “A Kardashian-Free Zone! ”Onward and upward to 2012!  I hope you feel positive about it, I know I do.

One big thing I wanted to accomplish for 2011 was to finally earn my CLIA Elite Cruise Counselor Scholar designation.  Funny I started on this project back in 1991 or so when the program first started.  Many of life’s events got in the way over the years and I finally made up my mind to finish it.

I know some of you have looked at the CLIA programs and thought it might be way too difficult to achieve. I think that is what I like about it.  There is only about 75 agents that have the ECCS so it something I am proud of.  The training programs that CLIA offers are really a help for me.  I do my business 100% over the phone and remembering to sell the sizzle is important. These training programs keep you on track to work smarter not harder. I strive to get potential cruisers to realize that there is true value in working with a travel professional that is trained and has experience, that it is not all about price and wham, bam, thank you ma’am!  Just today, I got three phone calls from folks that had already booked their cruise (either directly with the line or with apparently a no-service company) asking questions about parking at the pier and other basic information. After determining that they were not one of my clients, I was happy to inform them on what they needed. Then I mentioned that “next time” they can call and book and get even more valuable information.  Maybe one of them will actually do it!

Happy New Year to you all and let’s hope it will be a prosperous and fun one!