Profile - John Page, Lloyds TSB
'From when I was knee-high to a grass hopper I wanted to be a banker,' says Lloyds TSB incentive travel & recognition manager John Page After one interview he achieved his aim and began his career with the TSB. He rose through the banking ranks and has now crossed over to incentive travel.
'From when I was knee-high to a grass hopper I wanted to be a banker,' says Lloyds TSB incentive travel & recognition manager John Page After one interview he achieved his aim and began his career with the TSB. He rose through the banking ranks and has now crossed over to incentive travel.
'My uncle worked for Lloyds bank and my maternal grandfather was in finance as well,' says Page, in explanation of his ambition. His formative years were spent in Rock Ferry on the Wirral, where comedian Lilly Savage/Paul O'Grady hails from. 'My claim to fame is that I apparently look very much like Paul O'Grady and I do keep saying that if I go to a fancy dress party I will go as Lilly Savage,' he laughs. However, the opportunity has not arisen so far.
Leaving school with two O-levels and one CSE under his belt he had already secured a job with TSB. 'I joined the TSB Liverpool Savings Bank before my results came out and then progressed through the banking side until I became manager in 1989.' By 1990 he was a regional sales manager in Manchester, becoming national sales manager two years later. 'Part of the brief was to introduce fun incentives for the bank staff. The insurance branch, which in those days was a separate arm, already had incentives.
We themed the first event around the Barcelona Olympics, giving out scratch cards and such like,' he says.
In 1992, TSB merged its insurance and banking arms. 'The team responsible for the insurance arm's incentives was based in Andover and didn't want to move. So my director asked me if I wanted the job and I said 'yes'.' At first, Page was organising three events a year and producing a monthly magazine. The post now involves 14 international incentives and he has a team of four working alongside him.
A large amount of international travel is required for the job, which, for a family man, can often be stressful. However, Page believes that it is a matter of appreciating what you have. 'I think my wife and I both have the philosophy that we have a good life style because of the job.
Weekends do become precious, but you have to accept that the event itself will be on the weekend.' Page reckons he will have been abroad for six months of this year. 'It's a long time for the wife and kids to be on their own, to not have me to moan at or to empty my wallet,' he jokes.
But for someone who travels the world so often, there are still plenty of places he wants to visit. 'India is one country that I would love to go to, but it wouldn't work for a group. I think I'll probably save this for my 50th birthday, in six years' time.'
In fact, he finds that travelling with the job often helps his choice of family holidays. 'We've revisited New Orleans, Bermuda, and hopefully I can convince my wife and kids to go to Thailand again. It also worked the other way around when we first went on a family holiday to Washington in the states and I ended up taking an incentive group there this year.'
It is this variety and travelling that keeps Page doing what he is doing.
'I really don't miss the banking side, and I certainly could not sit in an office doing a functional job. I sometimes miss the people contact, but you still get that with the groups when we are away - it's there, just not on a daily basis.'
Page is refreshingly honest about what bothers him within the industry.
'One of my bugbears in the industry is freeloaders,' he recalls. 'When I went on a familiarisation trip to Dubai, a third of the group just wanted to sit in the sun - a lot of money and time and effort goes into organising these things and it's just abused.
'At EIBTM this year, for instance, my first meeting was with St Lucia.
We said, 'Right, we want to bring business to you' - they looked astonished.
'I also can't stand it when agencies just see the dollar signs. We had an agency pitch for our business after many months of contact, but when they didn't win the business we never heard from them again. It seemed so strange to me, after we had built up a relationship, that they didn't want to know why they missed out.'
According to Page, incentive travel is an important part of the sales culture at Lloyds TSB. 'When Lloyds and TSB merged, TSB already had its own sales culture, whereas Lloyds did not have any sort of incentive travel.
We touched the water gently and did a small trip to the Algarve, which was extremely successful. I know that if we stopped doing the trips, a lot of our top sales staff would walk because so many other companies offer this - it's part of their package.'
For a man who can fall asleep in a tuk tuk, being driven through the bustling and noisy streets of Bangkok, a job in travel is ideal.
'I am well known for the ability of falling asleep at the drop of a hat,' he says.
Page says that he is perfectly satisfied with the prospect of a future in travel. 'I think that we've still got a lot of places to see, a lot more to do. To a certain extent, I think we are market leaders in terms of what we put into the programme. And I have no inclination to leave - I've found my niche.'
CAREER TO DATE
- Early 1972: two O-levels and one CSE
- 1972-89: joined Liverpool Savings Bank
- 1989-90: manager, Liverpool Savings Bank
- 1990-92: regional sales manager, Manchester
- 1992: national sales manager
- 1992- present: incentive travel & recognition manager, Lloyds TSB.
