East Africa Specialist

You will be responsible for the sales and guest service withing the Retail Sales Team.  As the main point of contact or prospective guests, you will handle all communications from initial inquiry, advising and consulting to find the best itinerary for the guest’s needs, through the sales process as well as pre-travel, during travel, and post travel service.  You will be working closely with the Sales Ops Consultants.  This is a demanding role with high expectations on service, turnaround times, quality of consultation and communications both with guests and internally with colleagues.

Duties and responsibilities (include but are not limited to):

• Handling of safari requests on behalf of the company from repeat or recommended guests via the website and social media channels, corporate & charitable partners
• Inspire potential clients with knowledge of East African properties and destinations by proactively engaging with clients, advising on itinerary routing, logistics and suitability of options
• Compile attractive tailor-made itineraries to match client expectations and budget
• Ensuring turnaround time targets are met/exceed and attention to detail is paid to the itinerary at the quote, confirmation and pre-travel stages
• Following sales procedures as set out in the operating manuals
• Follow up with clients after a safari for feedback and encourage referrals
• Working alongside the Sales Ops consultant throughout the sales and confirmation process
• Collaborative approach with Guests Services team to provide best-in-class guest service
• Strive to meet and exceed personal and team KPIs to meet company growth goals, including sharing best practices and ideas with the team on a proactive basis
• Report any errors or issues to your line manager immediately on discovery
• Provide proactive support to colleagues in peak or leave times
• Contribute ideas, testing and feedback to aid the continual improvement of systems including reservations system, guest itineraries and others as require3d
• Attending all training that is offered and proactively growing your knowledge of the company by researching products and the countries in which we operate to continuously strengthen your knowledge of these destinations.

Minimum Requirements

• 5 years+ experience in East Africa Safari
• 10+ years’ experience in retail sales role for an African inbound operator
• Skilled in designing detailed and individualized quotes for itinerary requests
• Excellent sales and customer service skills and the ability to close a sale and upsell
• Excellent communication skills (verbal and written)
• Target orientated and experience in delivering results in a fast-paced sales environment
• Strong administration skills
• Excellent time management skills
• Experience in handling difficult situations
• Willingness to handle issues outside of office hours when require
• Energetic and eager to learn
• Ability to multi-task and prioritize tasks
• Knowledge of Business Sales Systems e.g. HubSpot, etc.

Conditions and working hours

Your will be required to work in the Cape Town office from Monday – Friday.  You are required to work 9 hours per day including an hour lunch break.  The working hours are 8am – 5pm with some flexibility

You will be required to be available after hours and on weekends (i.e., on standby occasionally) as and when needed.  This includes checking online booking platforms for possible last-minute arrivals/bookings (on a rotational basis within the team)

Your will be required to work alternative South African public holidays, for which you may be compensated with time of in lieu

Overtime may be required during peak periods for which you may be compensated with time off in lieu

24/7 emergency phone will rotate between the team for which you will be responsible for 1 week of the month according to a roster

You will be required to travel for work from time to time.

If you have the Safari industry experience and feel that you are the person we are looking or, please email your updated CV in Word format along with a copy of your ID, qualifications, contactable referee’s or reference letters and a profile picture of yourself to CVS