Jamie Biesiada
LAS VEGAS -- There are a plethora of arguments for and against charging a professional fee for agency services.
But Nolan Burris, founder of the company Future Proof Travel Solutions, argued that the benefits of instituting a fee, financially and otherwise, are undeniable. Not only can fees create a revenue stream independent of commissions, but they can also help an agent establish credibility and place value upon themselves and their services.
Burris, a former agent himself, discussed the fee topic during a workshop at Signature Travel Network's sales meeting here earlier this month.
Burris said that he was not a proponent of fees when he first became an agent some 40 years ago, but he has changed his tune. "I truly believe it is one of the most important changes that you can make in your business," he said.
However an agent decides to charge their service fee, Burris said, it will always be easier for a new agent to implement. "They are the ones who seem to sail to the top of the professional-fees chart because they don't have to unlearn what they learned all those years ago," he said. "And I mean this in a very positive way when I say it: they don't know any better."
And he had a piece of advice for experienced agents who want to implement a fee but might be concerned about how clients will respond: Tell the truth.
He suggested a phone call with longtime clients telling them that the agency has decided to implement a service fee to keep its focus squarely on the customer and if they don't think the fee is worth it, the agency will give it back. Often, Burris said those longtime clients turn out to be open to the fee, and some even express surprise that the agency hadn't charged a fee until that point.
The decision about what to call one's fee is an important one. "What you call it makes a big difference, it really does," said Burris.
He prefers terms that appear to play to a seller's knowledge base, like professional fee, consulting fee, professional-services fee or concierge fee, over more transaction-focused terms like booking fee, ticketing fee or even service fee.
And then there is the question of what to charge.
Retailers can choose a variety of ways to institute a fee. For instance, they could adopt a flat rate of $150, $500 or even $1,000.
Agencies could also adopt a scaled model, where customers pay a higher fee for an expert or specialist and a lower fee for a less experienced agent. Burris said the latter model, although not typical, is one of the fastest-growing models he has encountered.
Burris also suggested agents calculate what each type of transaction costs them, by product type, and decide what they want to make on each transaction. The fee can be based on that, he said.
Flat fees are the most common. Burris said they average about $75 to $150 per itinerary, but he urged agents to ask themselves if they want to be average.
He asked the audience to think about whether anyone in their town drives a luxury car, like a Mercedes or BMW. If they do, they have something that costs more than they need to pay, lending credence to his argument that potential clients could easily afford a professional fee from their travel agent.
"The world is filled with things that nobody needs, but if you can make yourself desirable, you can charge anything you want," Burris said. "You just have to make sure you deliver on the goods."