Silversea has used the arrival of two ships in Southampton for the first time to reveal a new-look online training programme to frontline agents.
The luxury line hand-picked 60 agents from independent cruise specialists to visit Silver Whisper and Silver Cloud and participate in a dedicated training session. They were the first to be given details of the revamped Silversea Academy.
Two agent winners of a Travel Weekly competition – Lara Harris (Walsh International) and Anita Patel (Titan Travel) – took VIP tours and lunch on board as the company showcased both vessels.
Silversea UK marketing director Anil Swarup said the top 20 frontline agents from the line’s UK sales regions had been selected to attend the training and view the two ships.
With 2,000 agents registered for the academy so far, he said the aim was to encourage more participation and encourage newcomers with the release of new rewards linked to the training.
“We want to attract more agents plus encourage agents to come back and learn about what’s new,” he said.
The academy has been expended into two tiers – silver and platinum – and the number of training modules increased from nine to 12, each taking around 20 minutes to complete. These include how to sell luxury from a cruise perspective, added Swarup.
Agents who pass the training will be entered into a monthly prize draw, those who register and make a booking with the line within three months will win a prize ranging from Bvlgari products, vouchers, an iPod Shuffle or Nintendo DSi.
All agents who graduate from the training will be entered into an annual draw to win a cruise for two people.
New senior vice president UK, Europe & Asia Pacific Steve Odell said: “Silversea sells 95% of business through the trade, so it is imperative that we keep agents fully up to date and give them the opportunity to experience the luxury product they are selling.
“Having both ships in the UK is one of our ways of showing our commitments to the UK market and to continue the momentum of our recent successful year.”