Destinology’s head of cruise Lauren Wood tells Ella Sagar about similarities between sales and the performing arts
Q. What did you do before working in travel?
I was a full-time musician for 10 years, living overseas. I signed up to an agency when I was 18 and worked with companies such as Neilson, which meant I was always travelling with my job – for example, I would be working a season in a chalet by singing and playing guitar during après-ski. The final thing that I wanted to tick off my list was performing on a cruise ship. I’d never even been on a cruise before when I ended up getting a job with P&O Cruises Australia.
Q. How did you move into selling travel?
One day I got a call from my mum asking me to come back to the UK. She had never asked me that before and always wanted me to do what I wanted, but she said my little brother was unwell and Australia was a long way away, in case anything happened. So, while I was still on the ship in Sydney, I started looking at jobs in travel in the UK. My only transferable skills were that I am good with people and that I’ve travelled pretty much everywhere. I’d never had an office job before or an interview that wasn’t an audition, so it was all new to me.
Q. What jobs have you had in travel?
I applied for two jobs, one with Gold Medal and one for Cruise118. It just so happened that the first interview was with Cruise118 four days after I got back to the UK from Australia. They are based in Chorley, which is where I’m from and live now. They offered me a job in sales and in my first month I won Travel Weekly’s Mystery Shopper, which was the first time the company had won it.
There’s a big difference between selling something meaningful and selling a necessity
After six months, I was promoted into the training department, and then ended up as a sales manager at World Travel Holdings – I absolutely loved it there. Then the pandemic hit, which was an opportunity to try a different industry, so I worked for an insurance brokerage. I learnt lots of skills and it was probably the best thing I could have done for my career, because it made me realise how special the travel industry is. There’s a big difference between selling something meaningful and selling a necessity.
Q. How is cruise developing for Destinology?
I moved to Destinology 18 months ago and we launched cruise 16 months ago. Before that, we probably had done a handful of cruise bookings each year, but now we are the number-one account for some big, ultra‑luxury brands in the UK. I want to do double what we did last year [in sales]. I’m really lucky that I inherited people on the team who already knew how to sell cruise, and had done so at previous companies. They just needed the leads and the products to sell. Expedition [cruising] is huge for us and the next big opportunity I am really excited about is yachts.
Q. What tips do you have for agents to help sell cruise?
We want to book people on the right product for them – that is absolutely essential. We are also very selective about the product that we have on our website. We only put up something that we have actually been on ourselves, so that we have no issues selling it. I feel lots of agents don’t use all the tools they are given to bring cruises to life. I remember winning a spot on a seven-night fam trip on Carnival Vista’s maiden voyage because I used the fancy marketing videos they had put together. I asked potential clients to show them to their kids while I was on the phone with them, which got everyone really excited and helped close the sale for their family holiday. There are a million deck plans and virtual tours available out there, so use them!
We sell memories and you cannot put a price on that
Q. What makes this industry so special?
We sell memories and you cannot put a price on that. I play a game with new salespeople, asking them about the first trip they took as an adult. It’s funny how they can always remember where they went, what they did and even what they ate, but the cost never comes up. People have memories of trips from 20 to 30 years ago – how that makes you feel is what we are trying to sell. I honestly love the industry, and love spotting an opportunity in the market before anyone else.
What does music teach you about selling travel?
I read a lot of books about selling because I find it completely fascinating. One of the best things I have ever read said that sales is like the performing arts. When someone is in front of you, the ‘dance’ is their body language, which you can use to read them, and they in turn can use to read you. The ‘music’ is how you sound: whether your tone of voice makes it appear like you’re interested, whether it comes across as authentic. And then the ‘acting’ is setting the scene and building it up to a crescendo where you make the sale.
Obviously, if you are on a call, one of those is taken from you because you are not there in person, so you can use what you do have to work smarter, not harder. I suggest to the team that when they first speak to a client, ask them about the last time they went away. Forget about ‘taking their order’, just get them remembering how it made them feel, which will get them into the right space. With cruise, you need to use these things to bring it to life, especially for those clients who have never seen or experienced it.