Letting some fresh air in

Yes, there are some happy agents left these days. "It really is joyful work for me," said Nancy Johnson about her new company, the AlfresCo Alliance.

Johnson still enjoys her role as owner of Johnson Travel in Research Triangle Park, N.C., but she was looking for a way to diversify when, in August 1998, she began planning the new endeavor.

AlfresCo -- in official operation since April -- provides customized, experiential learning programs for corporate groups. That can mean anything from a whitewater rafting trip designed to help employees of a new company bond into a cohesive team to a less strenuous executive retreat at the deluxe Triple Creek Ranch, a Relais & Chateaux property in Darby, Mont. The company's name means "in the fresh air" in Italian and is meant to suggest "fresh thinking for business," said Johnson.

AlfresCo was born when Johnson started "looking at other ways I could be involved in working with corporate customers." She wanted to combine two of her biggest loves, "consulting on business dynamics, and adventure travel." So Johnson developed a marketing plan for what she called "corporate adventures" while becoming certified as an adventure travel specialist through the Navigator program in the upscale API consortium.

She found a business partner, Seattle-based Tim Vanderhoof, and teamed with a variety of outdoor adventure companies as well as corporate training firms -- who all became part of the "alliance."

AlfresCo was designed to be different from anything else in the marketplace. Unlike the most well-known outdoor adventure program, Outward Bound, whose trips are generally led by one facilitator, "on an AlfresCo experience you have a trip leader responsible for the logistics of the trip and another person who is the facilitator of the learning," Johnson said.

Another difference is this: "So much of [other] corporate adventures have been fabulous peak experiences. But when they're over, you say that was then and you're back to now," he said. "But we focus on translating and transforming the learning so it makes a difference in [real life].

"That," said Johnson, "is the greatest challenge."

Creating work you love

I would bet that every person who got into the travel business did so because of some excitement or passion they had," said Nancy Johnson.

Especially in these days of commission cuts and renewed agent anger, Johnson suggested that agents ask themselves, "Where is that passion, and how can I get back to it [in my job] now?"

Agency owner Johnson took her own advice and developed a new company that provides "corporate adventures," AlfresCo Alliance, combining her passion for corporate team-building exercises and adventure travel (see story above).

The first step in working with one's passions is to create an inventory of the things you love most, said Johnson. In her case, Johnson "just started monitoring when I felt most joyful at work, when you're in the flow of things," she said.

"It's not hard to notice times during the day when during a project, you're saying 'Oh, this is so cool,' " she said. "Then there are the other things you're trying to avoid.

"Once you determine what you really want to do, you have to be imaginative in how you want to work in that area."

Johnson recommended "a new model of business: creating an alliance with others. What if you're three independents in an agency and it turned out each of you likes different things? Why not offer to back each other and trade clients?"

If you decide to go into a new area, Johnson also recommended doing some market research. "If you want to carve out a market that's not being served and didn't find anyone else doing it, either you're ahead of the curve or it's a dumb idea."

For Johnson's part, her creation of AlfresCo -- which provides experiential learning trips -- brings her back to "the reason I got into the travel business in the first place. I spent a year abroad, and it was the best education I ever had."

Predictably, the ink hadn't dried on United's press release lowering commissions when the SOG's (Same Old Gurus) were out beating the bushes with survival advice. One of their favorite notions: We need to increase our service fees.

Really? I'm not sure that our clients, despite a roaring stock market, have the amount of money it would take to make up for the loss of revenue we face -- or the lack of loyalty that our airline "partners" demonstrate every day of their semiprofessional lives.

I'd suggest instead that we no longer look to service fees, our addictive Band-Aid of a solution, as a cure. The real cure is to stop selling what is no longer profitable -- and to focus on what is.

This is the time to do it, right now, with a cruise fleet set to double by 2004 and a Europe season looming that may be the biggest on record.

Service fees are not the answer. MTRs, or initial minimum transaction requirements ("you must spend $2,000 on a trip to use our services," say) might be a better option.

Instead of losing clients, you may find you've gained their respect because you're announcing you're a serious businessperson -- not an airline toy. Richard Turen is an industry consultant and agency president. Contact him at [email protected].