Think like Aldi, not Tesco, cruise director tells agents

Specialise, focus on a limited number of suppliers and become an expert in your field, CLIA UK and Ireland director Andy Harmer told agents attending this year’s Advantage conference in Bodrum.

He said agents need a single ‘cut-through’ message in order to thrive.

Citing the success of the SNP and UKIP political parties in this month’s General Election, Harmer said they were able to ‘cut through the noise’ by each delivering just one message. SNP’s message was anti-austerity, UKIP’s was anti-EU.

Labour, on the other hand, was demolished in the election because it didn’t have a clear message to rival the Tories’ ‘longterm economic plan’ mantra.

“You can be a generalist, but if you are you have to do things really well and you have to cut through the noise with a clear mantra,” said Harmer.

To stress the importance of ‘cutting through the noise’, Harmer told delegates that 204 million emails are sent, 571 new websites are launched and 48 hours of video are uploaded to Youtube every minute.

“This is why you need a message to pin your business to, without it you get lost in the mayhem.”

Looking at the recent fortunes and failures of other high street retailers, Harmer said John Lewis was successful because it focused on customer service. Woolworths had failed and Tesco was ailing because they sold too many different products without a clear message.

“40,000 products are sold by Tesco, but they’re not the cheapest or the best, they have no cut-through message,” he said. The grocery store chain has just announced a £6.4 billion loss.

“Aldi has only 1,500 products. Tesco has 20 types of olive oil and deals with 20 different suppliers so it can’t negotiate the best terms but Aldi has only three types of olive oil from one or two suppliers and they are the biggest customers for these companies which means they can get lower prices.

“The same is true in selling travel. Focus on a number of suppliers and you can get the best relationship with those suppliers.

“Woolworths failed because it was generalist. HMV has survived because it specialised. Waitrose has turned its business around because if you want to buy a book on the high street and you want expert advice, you go to a specialist book seller.

“One of the reasons customers will come back to you is because you are an expert. People like buying from experts.”

During a rapid fire poll at the conference, a fifth of delegates said they specialised in cruise, another 20% specialised in luxury holidays, 17% in longhaul and 14% focused on particular destinations.