Not many folks are in business just for the fun of it.
While it's nice to have fun in any work you do, finding the most profitable way to do business is extremely important. If you are new to the travel industry, finding a good host to affiliate with can be an excellent decision. While you are focusing on growing your business and serving your customers, you will have the opportunity of starting at a higher level of commission than you would do if you chose to go it alone. Additionally, some of the larger hosts offer some pretty amazing benefits to include marketing at low – or even no – cost.

Even those who are veterans of the industry have found that affiliating with a host can save them time and money because of the benefits and higher commissions. Some of these existing agencies are even small hosts themselves.

In the first of a series of host agent interviews, I spoke with Kimberly Sherrett, Senior Director of Business Development/Recruitment and Acquisitions for Travel Planners International (TPI).

Mary Brutscher: Kimberly, I know that TPI has been in business for quite awhile now. What do you contribute to the continued success of TPI and how has it changed to keep up with the times?
Kimberly Sherrett: TPI has always strived to treat our agents with respect and dignity. It is a mutually beneficial relationship as we are all in business to succeed. We will do what it takes to provide our agents with the most innovative, cutting edge tools; strong supplier relationships; continuous training and education; business development; and the best support possible.
Since all members of our TPI support team have worked in the travel industry for many years, we are able to bring various levels of expertise to the table, with quality knowledge that can only help our ICs develop and grow their businesses.
As a host agency, we are very involved with multiple organizations that support the travel industry and the hosting model. This keeps us informed of the constant changes taking place.
Travel is a fun industry that is constantly evolving. So, we do our very best to stay in touch with what is going on to better serve our clients, which are our independent contractors. They, in turn, can then better serve their clients, bringing us full circle in the relationship.

MB: Can you tell me a little bit about the founders of TPI?
KS: TPI was founded in 1988 by the Gagliano family and started as a tour operator. As it evolved into a travel agency, the family sat down and decided to bring on outside sales agents to sell travel remotely. This of course, morphed into what is now our hosting program.
We no longer sell travel, but only support our agents. The company is still privately owned, with the Gaglianos leading our team.

MB: What are some of the benefits for agents who choose to align with TPI?
KS: Being part of a nationally recognized and award winning, stable, industry leading host agency, with a clear vision of its future, TPI provides our agents with many benefits.
Our agents receive higher levels of commissions from our preferred suppliers. They have access to advanced technology, including the option of all 4 GDS's, plus booking, invoicing and accounting tools which make their administration much easier to maintain.
We also offer several different commission level programs to choose from, dedicated support from a team of experts in the industry, a free consumer Web site, and we are members of Vacation.com, which gives our agents even stronger buying power for their clients.
Utilizing our expert tutelage, our agents can develop specialty niche markets. We also have a group coach on staff that works one on one with our agents to help them expand into the very lucrative group sales market!
Additionally, our marketing department offers multiple solutions for our ICs to stay in front of their clients, as well as logo design, web design and enhancement, and direct mail opportunities, both through TPI directly and Vacation.com's Engagement Program.
Another benefit to joining TPI is our relationships with industry educators, which allow our agents to advance their travel knowledge, optimize their customer relationship management and define and refine their business development.

MB: Many agents are worried about losing their identities if they affiliate with a host. What can you tell these agents that would put their minds at ease?
KS: "Hosting" has various business models. A true host agency allows an independent contractor to maintain their own identity and client relationships. At TPI, we encourage our agents to create their own branding, by providing logo design services, marketing support, and business development through a partnership with BrandUCoaching.

MB: Does TPI offer any training programs?
KS: Absolutely! For a person that is new to the travel industry, we offer two different training programs.
The first one, My Travel Biz, is TPI owned and developed, utilizing the Travel Institute books and curriculum. This program is completely self paced and is great for those that would prefer to learn on their own. Upon completion, the student would then move into our Mentorship program which allows the student to actively work with an experienced agent.
The second program is offered through Career Quest Training. Here again, it is a self paced training program, but does have administrators and instructors. The CQT training program is supported by ASTA and allows the student to interact with other participants and take part in webinars and chats as well. Upon completion, the student would be offered the option of taking part in the TPI mentorship program.
We firmly believe that knowledge is power. By providing quality training at the beginning of an agent's career, the odds are they will have a far more satisfying experience growing their travel business.
For those agents that have been working in the industry and are already established, we offer continuous education through our partnerships with The Travel Institute, ASTA, CLIA, Career Quest Training, Platinum Seminars, and BrandUCoaching.
We are very involved with our preferred supplier partners in regards to business development via live and archived Webinars, FAMS, and conferences. We encourage our ICs to take full advantage of the certification programs offered through The Travel Institute and CLIA.

MB: Agents also have a concern of affiliating with a host who is out of their area and then missing out on local events, such as supplier training functions, ship inspections and so forth. How would you address these concerns?
KS: I always suggest to our agents to stay informed by reading the press, taking part in industry functions, and getting to know our preferred suppliers. TPI takes great care in publishing all information regarding FAMS and industry events on our agent-only platform, as well as in our bi-weekly newsletter that is sent out to our agents. We gather the information for the entire country and let our agents know what is available to them in their area.
It used to be that the suppliers only took care of the "home" office. Things are changing and the suppliers are starting to recognize the independent contractor is here to stay. So they are adapting and making the information accessible to all agents, regardless of locations.

MB: A lot of agents have gone through a lot of changes and some tough times and are under tight budgets. Do you have different options that meet different budgets?
KS: TPI recognizes the struggles of making it through the recession. It has been very difficult for some agents to maintain the client relationships needed to support their business. We are very proactive in our offerings to accommodate the part time agent, full time leisure agent, the store front owner, and the corporate agent. Our pricing is competitive, giving all prospects several choices.
We have seen quite a few store fronts closing their doors as they could not keep up with the overhead. We understand that because they had to close the doors, does not mean the passion to sell travel is gone. We offer several different solutions that will not financially strap an IC's budget.

MB: Do you have, or are you planning on offering a leads program?
KS: We have recently partnered with Tripology for their basic lead generation program. All TPI agents have the ability to participate, regardless of experience level. This is a wonderful program for building one's business.
We have also developed and just recently launched Leads Direct, which are free leads to the agent, however, there are qualifiers involved as well as a closing ratio to be met. The Leads Direct program is an excellent program for those agents that have been working in the industry for a while but are having some difficulty with sales due to the recession. 

MB: Is there anything else you would like to say to prospective agents?
KS: Now is the time to re-evaluate the way you are doing business. Realizing that a host agency can bring to you strong supplier relationships and very cost effective methods of doing business may be the best business decision an agent can make during these tough times. Partnering with the right host is just that — creating a true partnership that is mutually beneficial and rewarding.

Kimberly Sherrett can be contacted by E-mail, kimberleys@tpionline.com or
by telephone at (800)631-3636 • www.myhosttravelagency.com

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