Do you own your own company?
Do you work with the cruise lines?
Do you have key operational employees that are your company’s link to the cruise lines?
If you answered “yes,” then this warning is for you.
Over the last year, I have seen several shifts in cruise business contracts which were all based on a single employee. As an owner, you have spent years building your business, fostering relationships and have finally come to a place where you can delegate certain day-to-day activities to entrusted employees. But are they really trustworthy?
At what point does your key employee become more important than your company to the client? It happens and more often than you might think. Most recently the change has been in destinations where it is easy to rent equipment, hire guides and negotiate entrance rates, but the threat is elsewhere too.
This year alone I have heard several different versions of this story from multiple cruise companies and executives. Well, we have always worked with “Company A” and they had “Bob.” “Bob” was our man. We love working with “Bob.” We just found out that “Bob” is now working at (or starting his own company), “Company B.” So if “Company B” can match “Company A’s” pricing, then we will move our business so we can continue to work with “Bob.”
That’s a scary prospect, but it is happening.
The cruise line executives become comfortable working with a specific person. If you, as an owner. allow this person to take the lead on all sales calls and communications, then the cruise line executive no longer sees the “value” of the company, but only the “value” of the employee in question. They feel that the employee has the “know how,” not the company.
What to do?
First, continue to foster your relationships. While your key employees are important and their relationships to the clients are important, ensure that you also maintain your relationships with the cruise executives at all levels.
Next, do your key employees have a non-compete? Are they free to walk out the door to work for your competition or start their own business right in your backyard? Obviously, every country has different rules and regulations, but it is something you should think about. Why do you think advertising firms make their employees sign non-competes?
Be prepared and don’t let your lucrative cruise contracts walk out the door with a key employee.