Collette is hoping to make it easier for agents to send out relevant direct-mail marketing materials with a new co-op marketing program called Collette Partnership Plus.
But to benefit from it, agents will need to take a leap of faith.
Agents can sign up for Collette Partnership Plus through Collette’s online agent portal, submit their logo and contact information and then upload their client database.
Collette doesn’t access the client database, according to the tour operator. It goes directly to a database company called Relevate that scrubs the list looking for out-of-date addresses and prioritizes contacts based on variables such as age and income. A list of 5,000 contacts might be scrubbed down to 1,000 of the most qualified recipients.
If agents opt into the program, their qualified clients will receive a 15-page tour booklet one week and a postcard two weeks later, both with their logo and contact information on them, and both with some kind of promotional offer. Each two-piece mailing costs $1.20, of which the agent pays 59 cents; Collette pays the rest.
According to Collette’s math, the average commission per Collette traveler is $445. If an agent invests $590 to send out 1,000 mailings and gets bookings for four travelers, they would earn an average of $1,190.
Angel McCracken, owner of Aztec Travel in Indiana, Pa., recently signed up to send out 125 mailings with Collette Partnership Plus and got six reservations from those mailings. She said the mailings were so successful, she’s going to send out more the second time around.
The other benefit is that agents have access to their scrubbed-down database lists from Relevate, which they can then use however they please.
Asked whether she had any hesitation about submitting her clients’ names and contact information, McCracken said, “We’ve used [Collette] for years. They’re a good company. I can trust them.”
Any agent can opt into the program by setting up a login through Collette’s agent portal. Some who are signing up have booked with Collette in the past, and others are just getting started with the company.
This is not the first time Collette has offered a co-op marketing program.
Collette had a similar program in place, but it required a lot of back-and-forth between Collette, the retailer and the third-party database vendor that could take weeks to complete, according to Courtney Iannuccilli, agent channel marketing manager at Collette.
“It was such a manual process, and we knew we needed something out there that was turnkey,” Iannuccilli said. Now, she added, “it’s all automated and customizable.”
Since the Collette Partnership Plus was rolled out on July 1, more than 40 database lists have been uploaded, Iannuccilli said.
The effort appears to be part of a larger strategy at Collette to better court the retail channel.
Earlier this year, Collette issued a new commission policy that protects the agent commission if a client using Collette’s Travel Protection Plan cancels for a covered reason. The company has also taken a harsh stance against online discounters.
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Follow Michelle Baran on Twitter @mbtravelweekly.