Blackpool retailer Philip Nuttall believes his new cruise homeworking business has a better chance of prospering after commission cuts in the sector.
Nuttall, a third generation travel agent, has begun recruiting for his new Cruise Village homeworking business, saying the move away from discounting and to customer service will play to the firm’s strengths.
Having ditched his old price-led Save ‘n’ Sail brand he is now looking for experienced cruise agents to become Cruise Villagers in their local communities across the UK.
He has restructured his business in Blackpool where he operates a store and he already has Cruise Villagers in Kent and Cumbria.
The restructure of the Blackpool shop led to a reduction in the number of sales consultants, most of whom were redeployed to roles in the new product and homeworker support teams.
Nuttall said the move was a response to what he said was a “wind of change”, which commission-cutting has helped to precipitate.
“My vision is to have Cruise Villagers in villages, towns and cities across the UK where people could book with someone who was part of a business community that cared and had a support structure that really puts the customer first.
“I want cruise ‘village people’ to work within their communities to introduce more people to cruising through their passion and knowledge.”
Nuttall is operating two homeworking models: one offering 60% commission, the other offering 30% with leads provided.
He has worked closely with technology developer Vertical Systems for 12 months to develop a customer relationship management system to run alongside its Tarsc back-office software.