Classic Vacations has hired 18 people into its sales organization this year and is recruiting for five more roles, an expansion the company says has nearly tripled the team since January.
The buildup comes during a leadership transition at Classic. Longtime CFO Sharon Conway is serving as interim CEO following the departure of Melissa Krueger. Conway and Gaurav Bhatnagar, co-founder and joint managing director of parent company TBO, recently told Luxury Travel Advisor they are in no rush to name a permanent chief executive.
The sales group now numbers 34 people across seven teams. Three cover the U.S. by region, with Sue Ferguson heading the West, Julia Jakkaraju the Central region, and Dimitri Andre the East. Strategic account managers on those teams are assigned to work with advisors on account plans and growth targets.
The remaining four teams are specialists. Jeanne Flood, a 36-year Classic veteran, was recently promoted to oversee groups sales and operations, which covers contracted and non-contracted business, including destination weddings, meetings and incentives, and multigenerational trips. Carmen Gashnikov was appointed to lead host agency accounts, working with host leadership and their independent contractors. She has more than 15 years of experience in sales, partnerships, and account development.
Tiffani Gilardi leads new business development, which handles onboarding and training for advisors new to Classic. Kathy Ellis manages sales support, including events, agency and advisor registration, and advisor rewards.
Classic calls the approach “hypercare,” its term for a consultative model in which sales staff learn an agency’s business and help build a plan to grow it.
“We have nearly tripled our sales organization because we want to be much more than a supplier to our customers,” said Vijayeta James, chief commercial officer of Classic Vacations. “Our ambition is to be a strategic growth partner—closer to their businesses, more proactive in identifying opportunities, and better equipped to help them succeed.”
The company, which marks 50 years in business, expects the advisor market to keep getting more complex.
“Hypercare means knowing our customers, understanding where they want to grow, and bringing the right people, products, insights, and opportunities to help them get there,” James said. “Their growth is our growth.”
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