MIAMI -- Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCCL) is dividing its sales force
into camps dedicated to its Royal Caribbean International and
Celebrity Cruises brands, effective Oct. 4.
The company will hire about 30 new salespeople to accommodate
the split, said Dan Hanrahan, RCCL's senior vice president of sales
and marketing.
Once hiring is completed, Hanrahan said, 83 district sales
managers (DSMs), key account managers for top accounts and inside
sales reps will focus on Royal Caribbean International; 63 sales
personnel will be dedicated to Celebrity.
"We feel we'll be able to provide better consultative selling
and partnering," Hanrahan said.
The decision is the latest step in reversing a process that
began about two years ago when RCCL created brand-specific
divisions of sales reps for top accounts. Earlier this year, RCCL
split its reservations and group sales departments, revenue
planning and guest-sales teams into brand-specific groups.
The company combined its sales divisions in 1998 after it
purchased Celebrity.
Hanrahan said the company has been "very happy" with its
decision in June 2002 to split the sales teams for RCCL's
top-producing agencies, which the company calls key accounts.
"That was sort of the groundwork for doing it the rest of the
way," he said.
Key account agents contacted by TravelWeekly.com said that
brand-focused DSMs would be better able to assist agents who might
not be as sales-savvy about the two cruise lines.
"If [sales reps] could concentrate on just one [cruise line],
that would better expand the education through the community," said
Kathy Stacken, the owner of Cruise Holidays of Topeka (Kan.).
But Stacken said she hasn't really noticed a big difference "as
far as the knowledge or the support" since RCCL split her key
account managers.
Lori Cunningham, the owner of Skyscraper Tours in Fayetteville,
Ark., said the split sales was a positive change.
"It's especially important for the Celebrity brand because it's
not as widely recognized," she said. "To have someone dedicated,
who knows the benefits and knows who needs to book a Celebrity
cruise ... makes so much difference, in my opinion."
To contact reporter Rebecca Tobin, send e-mail to [email protected].