Challenge-

Change is inevitable but growth is optional – John Maxell. I work for a Cruise Company, doing  relatively well for the market I am in which is India. We have been nominated for various awards  across the world especially in India where we have been able to penetrate into hinterlands and get  sales for the company.  In India we have been pioneers in cruising with offerings like Indian Food on  board and free sailing for children below 18 years. Both these concepts are a huge hit with Indian  customers. Having established itself as a prominent global player, our company has now taken up the  challenge to deep penetrate India market by launching cruises sailing from Indian ports.And the  strategy is to get more of the local population sailing on these cruises.This challenge meant that the  India office has to  start concentrating on selling cruising to Indians and convince them to sail in India?  This would definitely require loads of work and training and may be more staff. They are launching  and moving ships to Indian ports by end of the year and we have to come up with a plan on how are  we going to sell it?   Questions- Are we prepared? Will Indians sail in India, as for most of them the  idea of holiday is travelling abroad.  How are we going to change mindsets, not selling was not an  option? Most of our livelihood’s depends on this job.

Selection-:

Since we were given the task to figure out how are we going to get Indians to sail on various  itineraries and dates that have been already decided by the head office. A task force was created and  we started working on our collective ambition for getting Indians to sail in India (get the extra bonus  and sales, but also remember to delve on it cautiously). We started to make use of the Storytelling   tool. To thrive in today’s ever-changing business environment, companies need to learn how to  remain flexible to meet their customers where they are. Companies that drive through continuous  change are already having a competitive advantage.

Application –

We started by creating task force and calling it “Sail in India”. We got together 30 families and gave  them a presentation of how we were the first ones ever to start cruising in Europe, first ones ever to  introduce Spa on Sea and free sailing for children below 18 years.  Asked them to share their happy  moments with us on the ship and clicked pictures etc with them for social networking websites.

With this extension of India sailings, we continue to keep their interest in mind and give them to see  India and they can do it any time as they won’t need Visas / passports for it ( which they claimed was  a gruelling process) . Also, can be planned as a weekend getaway as against months of planning  required for a regular holiday. Post presentation we gave all them questionnaires and a USB drive  with pictures of our ships and ports in India and tentative dates. Meanwhile started launching offers  for families / singles / going to be married etc also included our extended families in great story telling  exercise. The results of the questionnaire were astonishing to say the least. We realised that there  was a large segment of population who didn’t even have a passport and always thought “Cruising  “was meant for the rich. We had not even launched prices, but the fact they could “sail” in “big” ships  in their own country and decide on a vacation whenever made our future clients very excited. There  were some who didn’t like it, we kept them on a back burner for a later time.  But stories around our  ships and legacy and how we are going to support tourism in India, made us and other excited. In  office people were excited that they had something else to sell and they could afford cruising with  their families.

Insight and Approach –:

Then we tested with the same presentation on a larger sample size and we were happy to see that  clients were coming up with ideas on when they wanted to sail and for some of them, they were very  excited they could go on a  holiday and for small occasions like birthdays and anniversaries go  cruising.  We gave all the people who helped us an initial offer on price to sail with us with some  sight-seeing options thrown free. When the word got out, we were inundated with calls and emails.

So, starting from a shaky ground on how are we are going to convince people to sail in India. We  created a compelling story line with 30 samples to begin with “Sail in India” campaign. Now 70% of  our sales are “India Sailing” and the volumes are huge. I think to approach with a small sample,  present compelling stories about their travels with us and how we are as a company helped us with  the volumes that we have today. We get bookings as early as six months and as late as 24 hours  before.

I could also approach this by the Learning Launch tool, as we didn’t have any previous data on any  company sailing in India. We could have used module 4 – where we could ask the task force what do I  know / what I do not know. Collected quality and quantity data based on people who have sailed  abroad especially to countries closer to India and started with as a sample base. The idea could have  been tested with bunch of customers. To thrive in today’s ever-changing business environment,  companies need to learn how to remain flexible to meet their customers where they are. Companies  that drive through continuous change are already having a competitive advantage


Challenge- Change is inevitable but growth is optional – John Maxell . I work for a Cruise Company , doing relatively well for the market I am in which is India . We have been nominated for various awards across the world especially in India where we have been able to penetrate into hinterlands and get sales for the company . In India we have been pioneers in cruising with offerings like Indian Food on board and free sailing for children below 18 years . Both these concepts are a huge hit with Indian customers . Having established itself as a prominent global player , our company has now taken up the challenge to deep penetrate India market by launching cruises sailing from Indian ports . And the strategy is to get more of the local population sailing on these cruises . This challenge meant that the India office has to start concentrating on selling cruising to Indians and convince them to sail in India ? This would definitely require loads of work and training and may be more staff . They are launching and moving ships to Indian ports by end of the year and we have to come up with a plan on how are we going to sell it ? Questions- Are we prepared ? Will Indians sail in India , as for most of them the idea of holiday is travelling abroad . How are we going to change mindsets , not selling was not an option ? Most of our livelihood ’s depends on this job . Selection- : Since we were given the task to figure out how are we going to get Indians to sail on various itineraries and dates that have been already decided by the head office . A task force was created and we started working on our collective ambition for getting Indians to sail in India ( get the extra bonus and sales , but also remember to delve on it cautiously ) . We started to make use of the Storytelling tool . To thrive in today ’s ever - changing business environment , companies need to learn how to remain flexible to meet their customers where they are . Companies that drive through continuous change are already having a competitive advantage . Application – We started by creating task force and calling it “ Sail in India ” . We got together 30 families and gave them a presentation of how we were the first ones ever to start cruising in Europe , first ones ever to introduce Spa on Sea and free sailing for children below 18 years . Asked them to share their happy moments with us on the ship and clicked pictures etc with them for social networking websites . With this extension of India sailings , we continue to keep their interest in mind and give them to see India and they can do it any time as they wo n’t need Visas / passports for it ( which they claimed was a gruelling process ) . Also , can be planned as a weekend getaway as against months of planning required for a regular holiday . Post presentation we gave all them questionnaires and a USB drive with pictures of our ships and ports in India and tentative dates . Meanwhile started launching offers for families / singles / going to be married etc also included our extended families in great story telling exercise . The results of the questionnaire were astonishing to say the least . We realised that there was a large segment of population who did n’t even have a passport and always thought “ Cruising “ was meant for the rich . We had not even launched prices , but the fact they could “ sail ” in “ big ” ships in their own country and decide on a vacation whenever made our future clients very excited . There were some who did n’t like it , we kept them on a back burner for a later time . But stories around our ships and legacy and how we are going to support tourism in India , made us and other excited . In office people were excited that they had something else to sell and they could afford cruising with their families . Insight and Approach – : Then we tested with the same presentation on a larger sample size and we were happy to see that clients were coming up with ideas on when they wanted to sail and for some of them , they were very excited they could go on a holiday and for small occasions like birthdays and anniversaries go cruising . We gave all the people who helped us an initial offer on price to sail with us with some sight - seeing options thrown free . When the word got out , we were inundated with calls and emails . So , starting from a shaky ground on how are we are going to convince people to sail in India . We created a compelling story line with 30 samples to begin with “ Sail in India ” campaign . Now 70 % of our sales are “ India Sailing ” and the volumes are huge . I think to approach with a small sample , present compelling stories about their travels with us and how we are as a company helped us with the volumes that we have today . We get bookings as early as six months and as late as 24 hours before . I could also approach this by the Learning Launch tool , as we did n’t have any previous data on any company sailing in India . We could have used module 4 – where we could ask the task force what do I know / what I do not know . Collected quality and quantity data based on people who have sailed abroad especially to countries closer to India and started with as a sample base . The idea could have been tested with bunch of customers . To thrive in today ’s ever - changing business environment , companies need to learn how to remain flexible to meet their customers where they are . Companies that drive through continuous change are already having a competitive advantage