OutsideAgents.com, a host agency with 4,100 home-based agents as affiliates, recently won CLIA's Hall of Fame Award for Innovation.
Co-owner Chad Burt said the award “came out of the blue” and was an honor because “it's voted by agents and CLIA leaders.”
OutsideAgents.com was recognized for its innovation that includes in-house technology, training and agent support.
“Those are some of one of the things we got the award for,” said Burt. “The vendor partners see that commitment. We're out to build a better agent.”
Burt said OutsideAgents.com is rolling out a larger and more robust technology platform for its agents in the next three months.
Called MyAgentGenie.com, it was developed to integrate customer relationship marketing tools, business management features and agent training.
“The new platform will integrate a lot of what agents do” he said. “Today, everyone has decent software that does some things very well, but not it's integrated with other software.”
The platform will enable agents to upload their client database and manage functions, such as sending email promotions to clients based on their areas of interest or setting up triggers to send “welcome home” emails to clients, from a “dashboard” of features and tools. MyAgentGenie.com will also include business management systems and more than 1,000 hours of training, both from suppliers and learning sessions developed by OutsideAgents.com.
The Jacksonville, Fla.-based company originated as a traditional travel agency, Cruise and Tours Unlimited, founded by Burt and his cousin Steve Muraca in 1992. The two co-owners encouraged outside agents to join the agency and attracted a large number.
In 2003, they expanded the company with the opening of the OutsideAgents.com host agency. It has grown to 4,100 agents and $250 million in annual sales.
Forty-five percent of the host agency sales are in cruises, a figure that has been dropping in the past few years as agents expand from a cruise-only focus to include more all-inclusive land resorts and FITs.
“When we first opened we were a cruise-only shop, but we've seen the demand shift a bit,” Burt said. “We are still top producers for almost every cruise line. But there's more land inventory, and clients have expanded their horizons so our business mix has shifted to reflect that demand for all-inclusives, FITs and more experiential type trips that millennials like.”
OutsideAgents.com, which is a member of the Vacation.com agency network, offers a membership package that is practically free. There's a $39 sign-up fee that is refundable with the first booking and no monthly or other charges. Commission split with agents is 80%-20% or 90%-10%, depending on sales volume.
Burt said that the recent recession, when Americans were laid off and forced to look for new jobs and careers, contributed to the growth of OutsideAgents.com. Many of the new agents are seasoned sales and marketing professionals, he said.
“They have an entrepreneurial mindset. These are people who know how to serve customers, and travel is something they are passionate about,” he said. “They've done extremely well. In fact, 45% of our top 30 agents are newbies who have been in business less than three years.”
OutsideAgents.com originated in 1992 as Cruise and Tours Unlimited. An incorrect name appeared in a previous version of this article.