 
By Les-Lee Roland
Welcome to the Flips and Flops column. We are able to do what we do here because of your input and information. If you want a supplier or a res agent or DSM to get special recognition, let us know. If there is something amiss with a company’s policies or actions, share them with us as well. Let us know which booking engines and Web pages are hits and which are misses! E-Mail your suggestions to packagedeals@comcast.net.
Last month, we only had FLIPS. This month, let’s first concentrate on some FLOPS that you — the agents — have been sending in.
I had a lot of messages about E-mails from Royal Caribbean and Celebrity listing their special offerings for consumers. There was some concern about the amount of links we had to go through to see the rates.
Before the FLOP was even in print, Home Based Trade presented the problem to RCI and immediately received a reply from Lisa Bauer, senior vice president, North America sales, saying they were changing the links. True to her words, they have done just that. So, try their new system, and let us know if it’s working efficiently. This is one company that wants to hear from agents.
My FLOP of the month — maybe the year, possibly the decade — is the following marketing plan.
The Runaway Bride package is being advertised by a Grand Bahama property. This property is offering a bride the opportunity to run away to their resort — in secrecy. After her arrival, her family and bewildered hubby-to-be will be notified that she is safe and being pampered. What secrecy?
While other resorts are offering bridesmaid or groomsmen pre-wedding packages, this small but upscale property just wants the brides.
What’s next — spend a weekend in a “cupcake prison” à la Martha Stewart?
Our next FLOP involves cruise brochures. Now that brochures are arriving earlier than in the past, I hope agents are looking at them carefully, and not just filing them away. But anybody whose brochure has no deck plans earns a big FLOP. Yes, a major cruise line has decided that if you or your clients want to see the cabins, we can go to the Internet. Are agents going to be happy with this?
I would like to know what you like or don’t like about the brochures — not only for cruise lines, but for tour operators and other suppliers, as well. (Beyond not being able to read the cabin numbers — nobody can do that!)
Who has the best descriptions, easiest pricing to read, best insurance info? Since brochures are so costly to produce and mail and they are the best sales tools, we should have some clout with the companies as to what we need for our clients. Furthermore, what do you do with the outdated brochures?
One suggestion: call your local school and ask if there is geography project that you can donate them for. Make sure your agency’s name is on each one, in case some wind up being taken home for parents to look through.
Sometimes the photos are so attractive that they can be framed or used in your newsletters.
But, if you are overwhelmed with the amount of brochures, follow this rule — when you file a new one, discard an old one. Keep just a few for various destinations; you can always order more. Take some to your beauty salon, barbershop, country club library, doctor’s office — always with your name prominently stamped or labeled on each one. Have a garage sale — put some out with a sign FREE or I WILL PAY YOU TO TAKE ONE — and give away a gift certificate with each one.
Keep those flips and flops coming. If you want to share an experience, good or bad, or give mention to someone who went far and above the expected, E-mail Les-Lee Roland at packagedeals@comcast.net |