When Bryan and Tricia Cox decided to buy a CruiseOne franchise last summer, they viewed the purchase as the first step toward developing an Internet travel business.
"We were information technology geeks," Bryan Cox confessed. "We didn't know anything about travel except for what we learned from the 20 vacation cruises we'd taken over the years."
After making the investment last July, the couple traveled to CruiseOne's offices in Fort Lauderdale for a week of training.
That's when their perception of the franchise changed from "Internet business to relationship business," thanks to Vicki Freed, Royal Caribbean International's senior vice president of sales and trade support, who spoke to the group of new cruise retailers during a training session.
"At the time we didn't even know who Vicki Freed was," Bryan recalled. That soon changed, however, and today Freed is something of an unofficial mentor to the Coxes as they build their franchise in Highlands, N.C.
When the trainees heard Freed describe her philosophy -- that building "connections and personal relationships" with clients is key to an agency's success -- "it was like a light bulb went on," Bryan said.
Tricia Cox added that Freed "really impressed upon us the importance of providing a personal touch" -- things like sending handwritten thank-you notes to clients.
After that first training session, Bryan introduced himself to Freed and gave her his card. The Coxes and Freed didn't meet again until the CruiseOne/Cruises Inc. annual conference last October aboard Royal Caribbean International's Allure of the Seas.
"We were blown away by that conference," said Bryan, and that's when the Coxes' mentoring relationship with Freed began.
"She took us under her wing and provided us with the capability to reach out to her, bounce marketing ideas, discuss how things are going and talk about sales," Tricia said.
Freed also recommended that the Coxes stay in close touch with their Royal Caribbean International representative.
"We've done some co-op advertising with Royal, and we advertise in our local newspapers," Tricia said. "We're trying to inform the community that we're here."
In an interview last week, Freed recalled that she "could immediately tell that the Coxes were energized and excited to be in the travel industry."
"They asked a lot of good questions on how to build the business and made it clear that selling travel was serious business to them," Freed said.
Tricia Cox grew up in Highlands, where the couple now lives with their two children. They said they see themselves working in the agency business full-time and long-term.
"We stay logged into the franchise 800 number all night," Bryan said. "Since this is a home-based business, which we wanted because we have small children, sometimes we'll work until midnight."
For cruise news and updates, follow Donna Tunney on Twitter @dttravelweekly.