Gogo Vacations is hoping that increased commissions and enhanced agent benefits based on a new, three-tiered compensation program will help the vacation wholesaler turn a new leaf with agents at the start of next year.
"We realized we would have to put the olive branch out there," said Gogo President Randy Alleyne. "We believe we are going to regain that trust."
After a series of what Alleyne called "miscommunications" with the agent community, Gogo is hoping to re-establish its commitment to the channel with the Jan. 1 launch of Travel Agents First, a three-tiered commission and benefits program based on the following sales levels:
• Booking Agents, with annual sales of up to $99,999, will receive a commission increase of up to 2 percentage points.
• Partner Agents, with annual sales between $100,000 and $999,999, will receive a commission increase of up to 3 percentage points.
• Premier Agents, with annual sales of $1 million or more, will receive a commission increase of up to 2 percentage points.
Alleyne would not divulge how much agents at each of those levels currently make on average, but the increases represent up to 25% more than what agents are currently earning.
Without getting into specifics, Alleyne said that recently, "the communication of what Gogo was attempting to do and how it was perceived [by agents] might have been off." Consequently, the new program is an attempt "to do the right thing to get those agents to come back to Gogo."
Once the new commission structure is in place at the start of the new year, Gogo will begin to roll out additional enhanced benefits for its agent partners, including increased educational opportunities, operational tools, familiarization trips, domestic and international learning conferences and marketing services.
Those enhancements include technology that allows for virtual sales calls so that agents do not have to wait for long periods to have meetings with their business development managers.
Also, Gogo Proforma, a business data and analysis resource for agents that summarizes their performance with Gogo, will enable them to better understand their customer profile and opportunities.
In addition, software called Gateway is intended to enhance product education and training for both Gogo consultants and agents so that both can be better informed about up-to-date supplier and destination information.
Gogo will also offer some additional benefits to agents at the higher sales levels. For instance, according to Alleyne, agents at the Premier level will be offered familiarization trips at no cost, including a guest, and with additional upgrades and enhancements to the trips.
"In the wholesale space, the norm is really to put the agents through a major matrix of variables, some performance-driven, some partner-driven, and agents are very frustrated with understanding what they need to garner a certain level of commission from any wholesaler," Alleyne said. "We cleaned the slate and gave them simple goals."
Gogo plans to roll out more details about the Travel Agents First program during the first quarter of 2015.