We are looking for a sales-driven, enthusiastic Reservations Consultant to work within our call centre department from home. The Reservations Consultant will be located within the busy Passenger Sales department working within a team of 13 other telesales staff and a further 17 administrative staff, handling all matters relating to cruise bookings. 

CMV operates five vessels ex UK and all direct sale and agent cruise bookings are handled by the call centre in our head office in Purfleet (located near Lakeside Shopping Centre).

Line Management

Each Telesales Reservations Consultant will report directly to the Reservations Supervisor and subsequently to the Head of Passenger Sales who oversees the Department.

Duties & Responsibilities

• To maintain a high-quality telephone sales service to direct passengers, Travel Agents and Tour Operators.
• To answer the Cruise & Maritime Voyages phone promptly & clearly at all times
• To accurately input all data given by passengers at the time of making their booking and ensuring it is complete before finishing the call.
• Whilst most callers do have a specific grade of accommodation that they may wish to book, try to up-sell to a higher grade of accommodation, so working to a tight sales conversion.
• To maintain and deliver a high level of customer service to callers at all times
• To try and sell ancillary products and additional cruise add-ons to customers
• To be able to work on a shift rota as the office opening hours are based on a 6-day working week with cover also required in the evenings
• To achieve monthly sales targets and conversion rates
• Hold a full clean driving licence as you may be required to attend cruise Embarkations when the passengers join the vessel for their holiday or company sales days where you may be required to assist
• To be able to fly to some ports where we carry out as some embarkations and the occasional overnight in a hotel beforehand may be required
• To be a team player and also be able to work on your own initiative.

Skills and Experience

• Previous sales experience is required
• Previous travel experience is required (preferably in the cruise industry, would be a strong advantage)
• Previous customer service experience is required (good communication skills)
• Organised
• Team player as well as being able to work on your own initiative
• Good attention to detail
• Positive attitude

Working Hours

The Cruise Reservations department operates from 09.00 to 20.00hrs Monday to Thursday, 09:00 to 18:00hrs on Friday and 09:00 to 17:00hrs on Saturday.

The Full-Time Reservations Consultant will, therefore, work eight and a half hours a day (including one hour for lunch) for five days out of the six in accordance with the rota prepared by the Passenger Manager. Within the rota, the Reservations Consultant will be required to work every other Saturday, with a day off in the week accordingly.

The standard shifts patterns for full-time Reservations Consultants are:

• 09:00 to 17:00hrs (including every other Saturday)
• 10:00 to 18:00hrs
• 12:00 to 20:00hrs

The standard shifts patterns for Part-Time Reservations Consultants can vary, but are:

• 10:00 to 14:00hrs (including every other Saturday) – Homeworking available
• 17:00 to 20:00hrs (ad-hoc during busy periods)

We are currently considering applications for both full time and part-time positions. Please specify which working pattern you are applying for when making your application.

Holiday Entitlement

A minimum of 22 days per annum, increasing to 28 days according to the length of service, pro-rated accordingly plus bank holidays will apply. Holiday requests will need to be completed and submitted to the Line Manager via our online system. At least one month’s notice should be given, where possible, in order to arrange appropriate cover.

Other Benefits

• A workplace pension scheme will be offered after three months of continuous service
• Free on-site car parking
• Newly refurbished office
• Discounts on selected travel services
• Excellent travel opportunities including the chance to cruise

CMV Summary

CMV is a progressive company who encourage organic career development. This position welcomes the right candidate to join a largely non-corporate, medium-sized and privately owned organisation. Unlike many other UK based cruise operators, CMV’s UK office is not just a sales operation but a fully-fledged and ‘hands-on’ cruise line closely aligned to both the product and customer.

CMV also have established sales offices in Australia, USA and Germany and are estimated to carry 120,000 ocean and river cruise passenger in 2017. In addition to the core cruising business, the Company also have other travel and leisure related interests within the group. These include a long-established coach wholesaling business, a high-street travel agency and business travel house.

This is an exciting time to join CMV as we enter into a rapid growth plan with the addition of our new ship to our fleet; Vasco Da Gama, this is our 6th Ship to join CMV.

For more information on CMV and this position, please contact our HR department on 01708 893258.