Sceptre Vacations has been selling European travel for nearly 40 years. The tour operator has made it a core mission to empower travel advisors and help them sell through technology and extensive content. AGENTatHOME spoke with Jeff Klainberg, senior vice president and head of marketing, about what the company heralds as “the new Sceptre.”

What is the Significance of "The New Sceptre"?

It refers to two things. First we launched powerful new online tools for travel advisors in late 2018. Among them is PerfectFIT, our dynamic packaging engine, which enables them to put together customized trips online. We also have a collection of easy-to-book Prebuilt vacations, Travel Inspiration articles that educate and engage clients and a growing Agent Resources section on our website.

Second is our reintroduction to advisors who think of us mostly as Ireland specialists. We very much remain Ireland specialists, but we also have strong offerings elsewhere in Europe, and we can now put together programs almost anywhere in the world.

How Does Your Customized Brochures Solution Work?

Every quote created by an advisor online or on the phone becomes a custom online brochure that can be shared with clients. It is a beautiful virtual guide, branded to the advisor and with the client’s name on it. It features the actual vacation designed for the client as well as hotel information, maps and articles related to the itinerary. On request we can mask out any prices. And we can even add details booked on another platform so that it’s sent as one attractive document.

Could Your Elaborate More About Your Emphasis on Agent Empowerment?

Our differentiator from competitors is our massive focus on helping advisor partners run successful and growing businesses. We see it as the modernization of the tour operator advisor relationship. In the Agent Resources section, there are articles on topics like time management, effective communications and client handling. We offer short “snackable content” built around hyper-practical advice on topics like writing better emails and figuring out which clients are serious or not. And we conduct regular webinars on destination selling, managing group business, and growing your business.

What is New with the Product Line Itself?

We provide industry-leading availability at the top four- and five-star accommodations in the cities advisors are looking to book, and we are adding more hotels every day. All hotels are vetted by in-house experts, and the price on the site is what the price will be. We also now offer the ability to book private drivers between hundreds of cities in both Ireland and Italy, with or without sightseeing.

Tell Us About Your Compensation Package.

On our Prebuilt packages, we offer 12 percent commissions on everything, including airfare, accommodations, car rentals, rail, transfers and activities. For the itineraries built-in PerfectFIT, it’s 5 percent on the air and 15 percent on all the land components.

Explain Your Renewed Emphasis on Groups.

We have a separate groups department and many tools to help advisors sell and handle that segment. One of our specialties is golf, but we can put together any kind of program. I recently met an advisor on a fam, and we talked about putting together a scuba group. We can even help put together a trip that has the advisor as the leader.

Visit sceptrevacations.com