Miles Morgan argues conferences offer a prime opportunity for business owners to invest in their staff
Crumbs, we’re nearly a quarter of the way through the year already and the industry hasn’t really had chance to come up for breath.
Brilliant! I have been waiting for sales to slow down, but as yet there is no sign of that happening as we continue to achieve huge sales volumes throughout March.
Like most travel businesses, we embargo staff annual leave during the peak trading period to ensure we have enough hands on deck to cope with demand, but that has now ended as we move out of the traditional peaks period, and some employees are getting away on their holidays. However, the events calendar is now starting to ramp up – the Clia RiverView Conference in Vienna took place recently – while booking volumes remain incredibly high. As a business owner I am faced with a conundrum: do I keep staff away from the conferences or get as many of them as possible to each one, meaning more pressure for the grafters who remain at the sales coalface?
At Miles Morgan Travel, we are very lucky that all members of staff understand the importance of conferences and educationals and the benefit and fun they bring. Those staff who remain at the coalface know they will be placed under increased pressure for the duration of the event, but that next time it will be their turn to get away, with the workload shifting to others. It’s teamwork at its best.
Conference trips dividend
Keeping more staff behind desks in branches would 100% result in more short-term sales, but is that really worth it? This decision is a real challenge for a small business like mine at any time, but especially after we continue to build back from Covid.
Nevertheless, I can categorically say that the answer to that question is no!
This was demonstrated last month when I popped into one of my shops and chatted with Judi, who has spent 30 years in travel.
After she had finished serving two clients, I asked what they had booked. “A river cruise,” she replied, before enthusiastically adding: “I can’t stop booking them!” She told me she had never “got it” with river cruising until we sent her to last year’s RiverView Conference, where she went on several ships to experience them first-hand.
She absolutely loved it and now she suggests a river cruise as a holiday option to all her clients. After attending the event, she can not only recommend a river cruise, but also match the right ship to the right client with her new-found knowledge. With Judi’s experience in mind, the decision to send 10 team members to Vienna for this year’s conference was a no-brainier.
Morale and knowledge boost
The photos and banter in the group chat were brilliant, and the feedback on the business sessions and ship visits excellent. The conference has brought 10 members of the team closer together, boosted our first-hand product knowledge and, ultimately, it will make us more successful. The opportunity this conference presents to see multiple ships in one location is not to be missed. But more than anything, the conference, and others like it, is a prime opportunity to invest in any business’s most important asset: its people.
Sometimes you have to pay out and speculate to achieve success, especially if you are playing the long game in your business like I am. Sending staff to conferences and educationals doesn’t just result in more sales and improved product knowledge, it also leads to increased morale and a greater sense of fun in this fantastic industry, which was was so dearly missed for the two years of Covid.
There are lots of opportunities to achieve these goals, but I for one am a huge fan of this Clia event and its benefits. I would like to say congratulations to all who were involved in its organisation and to the river cruise lines which worked hard to ensure their ships were there to be showcased. We’re already looking forward to next year’s event!
More: Gallery: Clia RiverView Conference 2023
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