The Luxury Influencer (LI) is a pivotal member of our retail sales and guest engagement team, dedicated to driving exceptional sales performance across our prestigious product lines, including Fine Jewelry, Trunk Show, Lux, Swiss Timepieces, and Vintage/Estate merchandise. This role is instrumental in achieving sales targets that are incremental to annual revenue budgets, with LI performance metrics defined by vessel. This position reports to the Retail Manager.

Pre-Requisites:

• 3 – 5 years’ experience in planning and executing events with the ability to entertain, educate, and tell brand stories effectively.

• 3 – 5 years’ experience in high-end sales focused on either Fine Jewelry, Swiss Timepieces, and/or Luxury Brands.

• Experience in building relationships, identifying/qualifying customer leads, managing clients, and cultivating customer loyalty.

• A history of consistently meeting and exceeding sales targets and KPIs in a high-revenue, goal driven environment.

• Strong negotiation and problem-solving skills.

• Product knowledge and understanding of relevant brands, their history, craftsmanship, heritage, and technical attributes.

• The ability to thrive in a fast-paced, high-pressure, and evolving retail environment.

Additional Preferences are a plus:

• In-depth knowledge of Fine Jewelry and/or Swiss Timepieces. Supplemental certifications from the Gemological

• Institute of America (GIA) or Watchmakers of Switzerland Training and Education Program (WOSTEP), or Swiss Timepiece Brand Training Certificates (Omega, Cartier, Bvlgari, Tag Heuer, Breitling, Jacob & Co, Franck Muller)

• Fluency in multiple languages

Key Responsibilities:

• Event Hosting: Serves as the primary host for all onboard retail events across all categories of business. This practice establishes the LI as the “voice of onboard retail” and facilitates the LI’s ability to identify and qualify leads. The LI will also host seminars and premier events for Fine Jewelry, Trunk Show, Lux, Swiss Timepieces, and Vintage/Estate merchandise, to further engagement and move guests through the sales funnel resulting in incremental sales.

• Guest Engagement: Actively engages with guests throughout the cruise to identify sales leads, facilitate introductions to sales team members, and participates in the sales process as needed, all while upholding Starboard's standards in alignment with cruise line policies and practices.

• Relationship Building: Cultivates strong personal relationships with guests to establish trust and credibility. Focuses on engaging VIP, Suite, High Spenders, and repeat guests, driving volume and targeted clientele to the retail shops.

• Brand Ambassador: Represents the onboard retail shops with enthusiasm and expertise, demonstrating a thorough understanding of all products—particularly Fine Jewelry, Trunk Show, Lux, Swiss Timepieces, and Vintage/Estate pieces.

• Continuous Learning: Pursues deep knowledge on Starboard partner brands, their history, and craftsmanship through a commitment to ongoing education.

• Cruise Knowledge: Demonstrates a solid understanding of the ship, including its itinerary, ports of call, and onboard activities, to build rapport and enhance guest experiences.

• Sales Collaboration: Works closely with Leadership, Sr Sales Ambassadors (SSA), and the Specialist Team to understand guest needs, assess their level of interest, motivation, and barriers to purchase to adapt and adjust to personalize the sales process.

• Meeting Participation: Attends and actively contributes to daily and weekly management meetings, providing insights and updates on guest engagement initiatives.

• Voyage Planning: Collaborates with the RM on voyage planning and guest touchpoint initiatives, ensuring a seamless retail experience.

This position represents a unique opportunity to be recognized as a trusted and knowledgeable expert within our retail environment. The LI is expected to spend 80% of his/her time hosting events, identifying/qualifying leads, engaging directly with guests to drive both footfall and productivity in the shops, introducing guests to members of our sales team, adopting an advisor mindset, and positively influencing the sales process to increase the probability of sales. The LI will spend 20% of his/her time collaborating with Leadership/SSA/Specialists, internal networking, and administrative tasks.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES: (in priority order)

Sales and Revenue Generation:

• Collaborates with the Management Team and SSA to achieve both short- and long-term financial goals, specifically targeting Fine Jewelry, Trunk, Lux, Swiss, and Vintage/Estate sales on the assigned ship.

• Partners with the ASM to send personalized Star Class, VIP, “high spender”, anniversary and birthday stateroom communications at the beginning of each cruise voyage.

• Actively works to establish a reputation of skill, expertise, helpfulness, and partnership to effectively integrate into the broader internal sales team.

• Establishes and maintains strong relationships with key personnel, including ASMs, SSA, Genies, Concierges, and Casino hosts.

• Participates in opening meetings; attendance at closing meetings is optional unless deemed critical by the RM.

• Adheres to work schedule as defined by the RM.

Guest Touchpoints, Traffic Driving, and Lead Identification:

• Prepares and conducts all Starboard events on time, on script, and as listed within the voyage plan.

• Coordinates with the RM to promote onboard events and ensure they are accurately listed within guest daily planners, the shopping channel, and the app. Most events are conducted within shops, on the promenade, and within various onboard venues.

• Fosters professional, effective, and harmonious relationships across all departments to generate goodwill, referrals, shopping recommendations, and to enhance the overall guest experience.

• Collaborates with the RM and ASMs to establish event traffic targets, manage events, and educate team members on tactics and strategies to achieve individual and ship targets.

• Promotes a positive image of onboard retail shops to build trust and credibility with guests and personnel.

Relationship Management and Clienteling:

• Drives category sales through the development of guest relationships, identification of qualified leads, clienteling, and introductions.

• Meets traffic and lead generation goals established by the RM and STB Shoreside Account team. Targets will be communicated to the LI onboard and will vary based upon ship, itinerary, category, and sales trends.

• Actively engages with guests using various outreach techniques, successfully introduces qualified leads to the sales team, and effectively influences multiple purchases from individual guests throughout the voyage.

• Leverages trust, influence, and relationships to effectively establish the SSA and Specialists as an extension of LI team, establishing credibility of the broader sales team.

• Assists and participates as needed/appropriate in client selling ceremonies to assist SSA and Specialists in closing, up-selling, cross-selling, and basket building.

• Demonstrates expertise in use of financing and mail orders to convert sales.

• Respond promptly to guest requests and feedback, escalating issues to shipboard management when necessary for resolution.

• Responsible for completion of the daily, individual lead tracker to ensure follow-through with high potential clients.

Operational Excellence:

• Work in coordination with the RM and ASM to organize the team for flawless set-up of all events.

• Ensure all events are conducted on time and comply with all event guidelines.

• Tracks event effectiveness based on attendance, sales, and guest engagement utilizing event scorecards.

• Analyzes and creates recommendations for event refinement.

• On a weekly basis, LI collaborates with RM/ASM/SSA on refinement recommendations to maximize event results. All modifications to be approved by the RM and documented prior to implementation.

• Consistently demonstrates resilience and quickly moves beyond lost sales rallying the broader sales team to rebound.

• Attends weekly and daily product training sessions focused on Fine Jewelry, Trunk, Lux, Swiss, and Vintage/Estate as directed by the Retail Manager and/or Assistant Retail Manager.

• Successfully completes all cruise line training in expected timeframes, complies with all Operator and Cruise Line rules and regulations, and always demonstrates professionalism.