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February 2007
Supplement to Travel Trade

After working for her husband for 10 years, Nancy Bogert, MCC, of Williamsport, PA, was ready to do “something different.” After exploring a number of opportunities, she decided that, since she enjoyed cruising, selling cruising would be ideal.
This was some 10 years ago and, as Nancy recalled, there were only several cruise franchisers/Host agencies. After some research, Nancy said she determined that, “Cruise Planners was the place.
“The owners were very involved. If you had a question, they’d answer it promptly. There was no doubt in my mind that this was the way I wanted to go.”
Nancy went for training in Ft. Lauderdale while retaining her other job. She opened a storefront for a short time, but was forced to close it because of an illness in the family.
“Since I continued with my previous job, I sold cruises from their offices. After a year, I received so many phone calls and got so many repeats and referrals that I decided to quit my job and sell cruises from home,” said Nancy.
She noted that her home office is different from many others since it has a private entrance for clients who prefer to come in. She has a full-time employee.
Nancy has clients from all over the map. She has a Web site at www.planningcruises.com
Many sales have come through her affiliation with the consumer Web site CruiseMates.com. She recently worked with the site on a New Year’s cruise for a group of 145 and also occasionally advertises on cruise-oriented consumer sites such as theirs. Seventy-five percent of her clients are groups. Word of mouth plays a “very strong role” — in fact, she said, “I feel that referrals are the most important part of our business.”
Bogert lauded Cruise Planners for offering “every type of marketing program imaginable.”
“Cruise Planners offers a full sales program, including mailers that go out weekly, for a very small amount of money.” She praised the Cruise Planners magazine that comes out twice a year, including promotions and is customized with the agent’s photo.
Since Bogert is one of Cruise Planners’ top producers — she has been named to its Millionaire’s Club for five years in a row, achieving $2.5 million in sales in 2006 — she receives the marketing tools free of charge.
She has earned numerous cruise line awards. For instance, in 2005, she was named the Number One agent for Carnival and Princess and was a Bronze Medal winner with Royal Caribbean.
Bogert calls Cruise Planners’ support “exceptional.”
“Call any day and the owner will take your call or return it the same day.
“My affiliation with Cruise Planners, now an American Express agency, makes it so much easier to sell my product. With a name recognized everywhere in the travel industry, it makes my life a lot easier.”