When Barrhead Travel agent Sarah Perry served a customer who wanted foreign exchange, she had no idea she was about to bag more than £75,000 worth of cruise sales in one day.
But that’s exactly what happened when a new client popped into the Northwich branch in Cheshire for £500 in euros – and walked out hours later having booked four cruise holidays.
Perry, senior sales consultant and a cruise and Canada specialist, said: “The lady came in for some euros and we just got chatting. I built up an instant rapport with her; we just clicked.
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“She was a retired widow and nervous about a weekend trip to Amsterdam as she’d not travelled since before Covid, but she really wanted to see the Norwegian fjords and had been thinking about a luxury cruise.”
Perry immediately told the client about a 14-night cruise from Copenhagen this October with Silversea Cruises for £12,000.
“The lady said she normally booked holidays herself, but asked if I had time to sit down with her for a while,” recalled Perry, who added: “She was in the branch for about four hours.”
After booking the cruise, and upgrading to business-class seats from Manchester, Perry told the customer about one of Barrhead’s own group tours to Canada in May 2024, costing £13,500, which included a Silversea sailing and Rocky Mountaineer train journey.
A lot of customers book two or three trips at once, but I’ve never booked four luxury cruises in one day
“She wanted other holidays to look forward to and she’d already told me she’d love to go to Alaska, wanted go on a world cruise and that she hated being in the UK in January and February,” added Perry.
After booking the Canada and Alaska trip, the client went on to plump for two separate trips instead of one world cruise: a 30-night sailing with Regent Seven Seas Cruises from Buenos Aires to Florida in January 2024, costing £31,270; and a 20-night Silversea cruise in January 2025 from Sydney to Auckland, which was £20,000.
“A lot of customers are booking two or three holidays at once, but I’ve never booked four luxury cruises in one day,” admitted Perry, who has been an agent for 23 years.
She added: “When she walked out the door, she said she’d never go to anyone else to book her holidays.
“There’s nothing better than getting it right for your customer.”
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