Lancashire-based Greig Horabin recently secured a £77,850 cruise booking from a client, which he believes was partly due to the support he provided during a medical emergency on one of the client’s previous cruises.
Greig, who founded Just Ask Travel in Fleetwood in 2016, was originally introduced to the client, Michael, through a regular high-spending customer.
Michael booked two Uniworld river cruises through him, for about £15,000 each, but during one of those cruises, Michael’s partner became seriously unwell and was taken off the ship and hospitalised in Amsterdam.
Greig helped arrange a last-minute hotel near the hospital, got the couple’s luggage off the ship and stored at the hotel, and organised their return flight to Leeds Bradford.
“It was a very, very stressful situation, but we managed to help them out,” said Greig. “We just didn’t leave him on his own. It was just having a voice for reason on the end of the phone.”
He said the experience helped build the relationship with the client, who later approached him to arrange a high-value Scenic cruise holiday for four people.
Greig usually takes bookings from his garden ‘shed’ (pictured above), where clients sometimes pop in for a drink and stay for a game of pool, but on this occasion he was on holiday himself when he got the call.
Nevertheless, he managed to arrange the trip – which included a 13-night Eclipse II cruise taking in the Beagle Channel and the Chilean Fjords – while he was in Thailand and the clients were in the US.
It took several days to finalise because of the different time zones and the amount of detail involved.
His approach to clinching high-end bookings, added Greig, is based on being ‘very, very brutally honest’ with clients. “If I don’t like a product, I won’t sell it,” he said. “If I don’t think it’s good value, I won’t sell it.
“I can turn away as many bookings as I take,” he said, adding that he would rather walk away from a booking than have an unhappy client blame him later.
He said his clients often already know what they want and are looking for an agent who can add value through personal service and product knowledge. “If someone comes to me for a Scenic cruise, they’ve already researched it,” he said. “They want that personal touch.
“Anybody can ring up Scenic, but to ring up a travel advisor, have a debate, and set the time out in order to do it, it makes it far more interesting, and they also know that I pick up my phone at 2 o’clock in the morning.”
Greig believes agents selling luxury need to understand the products they are recommending. “You’ve got to be super well-travelled,” he said. “You’ve got to travel like them.
“If you go to resorts that don’t attract that kind of person, then you’re probably not going to sell that kind of product.”
He said he regularly provides clients with different options, explaining why he would recommend particular hotels or properties rather than simply selling the first option available.
For Greig, the service continues beyond making the booking, with a focus on door-to-door arrangements and ensuring clients have all the information they need before travelling.
He also likes to give something back to clients, including arranging additional treats or gifts where appropriate. For example, for a recent Vietnam booking, he sent Vietnamese flowers and Vietnamese beer to the client along with their travel documents, to thank them for the business.
“I’m not a greedy agent,” he said. “I like giving back.”
Referrals are crucial because he is looking for clients with similar expectations and interests to his existing customers, he said. “Referrals are the only way; the clients are already vetted.” He tells every customer: “Please don’t keep me a secret from your like-minded friends and family.”
