At the Signature Travel Network Owners' Meeting this month, Blaine Lambert, of CruiseExperts Travel in Vancouver, shared his company's strategy for recruiting a productive cruise-selling staff that skews younger in age than the industry norm.

One basic is to look for sales people as opposed to someone already in the travel industry. "Travel industry experience isn't always necessary, as we can always train," says Lambert. "But a sales background or a drive for making sales is critical."

With the assistance of a recruitment agency called Employment Office,
CruiseExperts looks to recruit about half a dozen agents per year. The
recruitment agency doesn't bring candidates to the agency but helps in the overall process. "First of all, we determine our ideal candidate criteria and place ads where that target market is looking," reports Lambert.

After the ads run, the recruitment agency helps craft an online applicant form with open-ended questions. "That really helps us flush out the ability of the applicants to express themselves and check their grammar," he reports. "It's eye-opening. From that, the recruiter helps us prioritize for telephone interviews."

That, too, is eye-opening. "It's important to see how someone sounds,
because so much of what we do today is on the phone," says Lambert.

Group Assessment Day

Then the agency sets up appointments. "We've evolved our recruiting
process," reports Lambert. "We used to do a personal interview, and after that we'd do behavioral testing." But last year, the agency added a new element called a group assessment day.

The interviewers ask for a full day on the part of the applicant. "I start off with a presentation on who we are," says Lambert. "A senior agent and a junior agent speak about what it's like to work with us. Then we sit in the back of the room and become observers while the recruiters take them through a series of exercises."

Lambert continues: "One of the exercises pairs up the candidates to
interview each other, followed by a presentation on selling the agency to hire the other applicant. We also have what we call power dates--five-minute interviews. From these, you get a real good idea if this candidate is worth further exploring."

Applicants then have a late lunch with the entire team. "Since our team
mixes with them, they get a real feel of what our office environment is like," says
Lambert.

Also, in the more relaxed environment of talking with staff, valuable information is mined. "For instance, one gentleman shared that he planned to be touring with his band later in the year, which he had not shared with us in the interview process," recalls Lambert.

A Thorough Vetting Process

The day concludes with behavioral testing and a final interview with favorite candidates. "It's a longer process, but we've learned that you know nothing with a resume and one interview," says Lambert. "This process really takes the guess work out. We've gotten some fantastic people, not just young people, but also right up to their mid-40s."

In his view, the approach also takes out a lot of bias against hiring young people that he believes exists in the travel business. "There's a perception that younger people lack work ethic," says Lambert. "But how they work is very different. They're multi-taskers. One of the first things that you have to realize is you can't cut them off from social contacts with their friends. You can't say, 'No cell phone, no texts, no FaceBook.''

Instead, look at their job performance. Says Lambert: "Are they meeting
expectations? If so, then relax. Yes, they can have their FaceBook open. It doesn't matter as long as they're getting the job done."

Dealing With the Youth Movement

What about higher turnover levels associated with youthful employees? "We used to have a turnover problem because we weren't objective enough in the early process," says Lambert.

But if you make the office environment conducive to their lifestyle, that changes. "You give young people a chance and they love it, because once you get into the travel industry, you don't generally leave," he says. "And we've built up some great retention benefit programs, such as giving three weeks off per year when you start with us."

Do younger sellers encounter difficulties selling to seniors or aging baby boomers? "Age doesn't matter as long as you're professional and you're good at what you do," replies Lambert. "If you're trained properly and you speak from a point of confidence, I don't think the consumer has a problem."

He sees it as a long-term investment. "We don't see immediate profits with a new person in the industry," says Lambert. "The first year is break even if they do well. It's the second year where they really shine."

(Courtesy of Cruise Weekly)