Leisure Travel News - July 10, 2000 Profiles in Success: Cruise Sales Superstars Mary Jean Tully - High Touch/High Tech Marilyn Green Few agents have been profiled in publications from Money Magazine to USA Today, and fewer have employees who unanimously echo the message that you couldn't possibly work for another agency after working for theirs. Mary Jean Tully has done both. In a 7,700 square-foot, airy office that looks as much like a cultural museum as an agency, 39 extremely dedicated people have joined Mary Jean and Brad Tully to create one of the most successful travel agencies in the world. The Cruise Professionals is valued highly by the agents who work with there, the suppliers who work with them, and, above all, it is valued by a high-end client list that stretches from the U.S. and Canada through Australasia, Europe and South America. A Midwest native, Mary Jean Tully was a travel agent in Chicago 20 years ago, then a district sales manager for Norwegian Cruise Line/Royal Viking. She moved to Toronto in 1983 because of a man she was dating seriously. The relationship didn't work out, but the relocation certainly did. With a luxury specialization and some premium sales experience, Tully quickly built a highly successful retailing business based on superior service. "I lost money the first year," she says, "and I've never looked back since. The business just grew and grew." Even 9/11, which brought the travel industry to a standstill, had a much shorter-term effect on Tully's business than most agencies experienced. "9/11 was awful for everyone," Tully says. "But by mid-October our business had picked up substantially." Part of the reason for her resiliency was her ongoing dialogue with clients. "I assumed the role of counsellor," she says. "I reminded them that this was not about travel, that the people who died in the World Trade Center were just going about their business, working, making coffee and so on." Her broad client base also helped. "People from Australia and Europe were not so reluctant to cruise," she says. Casting A Net The Cruise Professionals' far-flung clientele owes a great deal to word of mouth referrals, and family and friends of North American clients. But it is also partly the result of the agency's highly sophisticated Internet presence. A complex network of portals gives The Cruise Professionals targeted information about prospective clients and takes agents a long way toward qualifying them. Yet, eight years ago, Tully didn't even know how to send an email. She wasn't suddenly struck by a technological epiphany; the magic ingredient was her husband, Brad, who designed the proprietary Internet information and marketing presence for the agency, and has handled the marketing and Web-based side of the business for eight years. "If I weren't married to him, I couldn't afford him," Tully says. "The area that is his passion I don't understand. And it's so costly to set up a really effective Web presence; it's so easy to be ripped off. I'm doubly fortunate to have found him." Tully's staff is trained carefully to handle all Internet requests as if they are phone calls, putting a great deal of work into providing customers with an immediate, informed response. Sadly, one of the most time consuming problems they face is other agents trying to use their resources, and handling people who are not serious prospective clients. "Unfortunately, we have to spend about as much time filtering inquiries as we do responding," says Tully. "My husband weeds them out. He's like the Great and Powerful Oz - he knows all and screens the e-mail." "Despite all the investment in the online side, we are not an Internet travel company; we are a travel company with an Internet presence," she adds. "And that's very important." In The Know A vital factor in Cruise Professionals' success is the direct product experience the agents are given. "Today you have to be more on top of the game than ever," Tully says. "There's much more product awareness among consumers, due to the power of the Internet. You have to be more knowledgeable than they are, and you must have recent experience of what you sell. You can't have been to a destination five to 5 years ago and call yourself an expert." She invests heavily in her business philosophy, sending her agents out to experience the difference between the contemporary (mass market) and luxury cruise product. "I make sure they experience what it's like to ride a shuttle and what it's like to use a car and driver," she says. "I pay for a pre-cruise hotel so they can speak with conviction about the experience, and I fly them both coach and business class so they know the difference is more than space and food - it's points like ease of check-in and additional baggage allowance. They have to be able to communicate with confidence and ease to very experienced, very discriminating clients." Sticking Around Predictably, Tully's agents stay with her. "I still have the first person I ever hired, from 14 years ago," she says. "Nobody has ever left me to work for another agency, and clients love the consistency." Kelly Sousa, the company's sales manager, has been with The Cruise Professionals for ten years. "This is a unique office in many senses, a wonderful place to work," she says. "The office is really beautiful, filled with artefacts from all over the world. It's breathtaking, much more than a travel agency. Mary Jean is very much involved; she doesn't distance herself from the day-to-day work. She's had us all personally experience what the clients do: high end cruise ships and hotels. I do love my job and she's wonderful." Carol Kelly, the company operations manager, came to The Cruise Professionals six years ago after retiring from an agency chain. "Some former employees convinced me to come out of retirement and work here," she says. "The benefits are great. Mary Jean is a very vibrant personality, warm and outgoing, but expecting and offering the highest level of professionalism. You couldn't work at another travel agency after working here." The staff is also very encouraged that, with many other agencies struggling, business just keeps growing at The Cruise Professionals. "We are simply swamped. Business has never been better," says Tully. "I just hired four more people." David Morris, senior vice president of sales for Crystal Cruises, describes Tully's successful combination as "high touch/high tech. She's just an incredible person, focussed and knowledgeable," he says. "She is our largest single-office agent, and has taken personal service to the highest level, combined with an extraordinarily sophisticated website. She just keeps doing better and better. We're lucky to have her."   Back         Top of Page

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