Your Stories: Blue Bay Travel’s Vivien Pearson was named Hero of the Year

The newly promoted sales team leader and consistent top-seller talks to Juliet Dennis

Q. Where did you start your travel career?
A. I started at independent agency Downes and Bartlam Travel in 2002 at the age of 18 and worked there for about a year. I always wanted to work in travel from when I was at school. When I got the opportunity to apply for a job I wrote my CV by hand as I didn’t have access to a computer and it turned out that was one of the reasons I got the job. When they got the CV, they loved the fact it was handwritten! I wanted to work for a bigger company and so I moved to the First Choice Holiday Hypermarket at the Festival Retail Park in Stoke-on-Trent in 2003 as a worldwide sales consultant, then I was promoted to assistant manager at the First Choice store in Asda in Wolstanton, Newcastle-under-Lyme.

I wrote my CV by hand as I didn’t have access to a computer and it turned out that was one of the reasons I got the job

Q. You later worked at The Co-operative Travel during its merger with Thomas Cook. What was that like?
A. I went to work for a Co-op branch in Stoke-on-Trent in a sales role and within 12 months I was customer services manager. I later became an assistant manager. Under Thomas Cook, we went to Birmingham for a ‘transformation’ day to find out about different ways we could serve customers. It was a big learning curve – discovering how to push Cook’s products. We still sold third-party product, but the priority was to switch customers to Cook. There were a lot of changes at work and a lot of managers leaving or changing jobs. I decided to leave to become a sales person at an estate agents.

Under Thomas Cook, we went to Birmingham for a ‘transformation’ day to find out about different ways we could serve customers

Q. Why did you leave the travel sector?
A. I was going through changes in my life at the time. But I realised how much I missed the travel industry and I regained my passion for travel and joined Virgin Holidays’ retail network. We sold loads of Florida and cruise. I was only there six months, but I learnt a lot!

Q. Why did you join Blue Bay Travel?
A. When I was at Virgin we were due to have a new store in Stoke-on-Trent, but it didn’t happen and I had to drive an hour to the Tamworth store every day. I had taken a wage drop to go to Virgin, but it wasn’t feasible to stay on. That’s when I went to Blue Bay Travel as a personal travel advisor based in the call centre. Ten years prior I had been approached by Blue Bay so I knew people who worked there. It was nice to see familiar faces.

I have been hybrid working since Covid. I tend to do two late shifts a week from home and I’m in the office for the other shifts

Q. What has it been like since Covid?
A. Covid was quite hard at first because we were working on amendments, but it was good experience; it was extra knowledge we picked up as we hadn’t done the administration side before. I have been hybrid working since Covid. I tend to do two late shifts a week from home and I’m in the office for the other shifts; it’s a nice balance. It’s a very fast-paced environment. The phone can be ringing or you can be working on web leads.

Q. Tell us about your promotions at Blue Bay.
A. In February I was promoted to a senior personal travel advisor – they sometimes run the ship when team leaders are off. I have just been promoted to team leader; I start on July 3 and will still be in sales but on the management team. I am looking forward to the team interaction and supporting staff by sharing my own experiences, knowledge and giving tips and ideas on how to close a sale.

I have just been promoted to team leader; I start on July 3 and will still be in sales but on the management team

Q. How do you help other staff in the business?
A. I have helped in our team ‘huddles’ in the morning. This is about having team interaction to get staff buy-in and working out how they can achieve their goals. We try to make it engaging and share experiences. For example, I used to struggle to sell Egypt; I needed to listen to someone telling me their own experience and why they enjoyed it to help me. I listen to conversations in the call centre and if staff are struggling with a destination or product I will share information with them or help them with our commission system. Our new starters in September were not from a travel background and we did a full training day to make sure they had the best start.

I listen to conversations in the call centre and if staff are struggling with a destination or product I will share information with them

What accolades have you picked up since joining Blue Bay?

I was Hero of the Year in 2022 at our internal awards for the support I delivered to new starters and for being a role model. It was voted for by the sales management for demonstrating the business’s visions and values. I am quite driven and by achieving my targets and being a high performer I have been able to use my bonuses to give my family the best experiences and memories. As a result of my sales performance I won a trip to the Maldives and accommodation in Dubai, which I combined in one big trip in March. I have also been our top contributor for The Travel Foundation charity.

Over the last four years we have been asking every customer if they would like to donate a minimum of £1 to the foundation. It’s part of the booking ‘script’, but not everyone feels comfortable asking for a donation. I’ve always been a firm believer in asking clients. You can do it when you are trying to finalise the booking. My donations were the highest last year and it did encourage others to do it too.