Ambassador Cruise Line divisional sales manager Karen Cameron emphasises the need for quality, not quantity, when it comes to in-store visits and training.

How has being ‘on the road’ and meeting agents changed in recent times?

It’s about the quality of store visits, rather than the quantity, so we need to ensure each visit is mutually beneficial to both the agent and Ambassador Cruise Line.

While it’s great to meet people in person, we recognise some of the constraints our partners have, which is why we’ve increased the focus on our online presence with webinars and virtual interactions.

We are hosting more online training than ever before and sharing a lot of content on social media, which has seen our Facebook page grow to more than 2,500 likes in a very short time.

What key Ambassador selling points are you focusing on when meeting agents?

We are focusing on our premium value, no-fly brand proposition, and it’s a priority for us to educate our agent partners on all aspects of Ambassador Cruise Line.

To this end, we are increasing brand knowledge when meeting and supporting our agent partners.

What do you have planned over the coming months to support agents?

We will introduce even more trade incentives to reward our agent partners for all their hard work supporting Ambassador, such as giving them the chance to win shopping vouchers, entertainment packages or even their mortgage paid for a month.

We’ll be hosting agents on a programme of ship visits until the end of the year, which include a complimentary five-course lunch and tour of Ambience.

We’re also very excited to have recently announced that key agent partners will be welcomed on board Ambition in November for our first ever fam trip, sailing from London Tilbury on 26 November 2023.

What are the current challenges in agent training?

We are finding that a lot of stores no longer close for training hours and that team members aren’t always able to stay late for training, meaning it can be hard for store managers to make the time for us to meet all the agents in the places we visit.

To address this, we’ve substantially increased our presence on the road, working closely with our partners to ensure we’re as flexible as we can be.

As work environments evolve, we’re always looking at ways to better engage with the agent community, so we’ll be introducing dedicated agent coffee mornings in cities across the UK later this year.

How do you anticipate agent training/engagement changing in the future?

As the industry moves forward, training and engagement techniques will undoubtedly evolve to keep pace with changing attitudes and behaviours.

It is more important than ever for agents to be trained and supported if the industry is to continue attracting, retaining and developing talent.