Jamie Biesiada
Thinking about changing your agency's affiliation with a consortium or a host agency? There's a lot to think about.
Amid evidence that at least some agencies are making moves during the pandemic, I spoke with several consortia leaders about what owners should look for when they're itching to switch.
Here's what they had to say.
Roger Block, president, Travel Leaders Network: Leisure agencies should look for a good education program to keep their team as current as possible. Marketing efforts are also important: What does the organization provide, and how is it done? How sophisticated is the marketing program? Additionally, lead generation is important, as is the close rate on those leads.
Block also suggested looking at escorted group cruise programs, which are attractive to clients.
A good air program can also be an important factor for leisure agencies and, more importantly, for corporate-focused agencies or those with some corporate business, Block said.
Additionally, corporate agencies should look to relationships with online booking tools and whether the organization assists with ARC fees. Marketing tools are important, as are what kind of fee structure is being charged.
Cheryl Bunker, vice president of global member partnerships, Virtuoso: Bunker also pointed to the importance of marketing, training and access to preferred suppliers. Those are the top reasons why agencies cite they have joined, or are staying with, Virtuoso.
John Werner, president and COO, MAST Travel Network: Historically, Werner said, agencies have been drawn to organizations for their preferred-supplier roster and commissions. Those are still very important factors. But now that the industry has been in the grips of the pandemic for some eight months, agencies are looking more at the whole relationship with an organization: Support, whether it feels like a good fit, and if other members have similar business models as they do.
They are looking for support not only from headquarters, but from other members, he said. Education matters. So does marketing, Werner said. Agency owners are also looking for an organization that will have their back if they have issues with a supplier.
If an owner does decide to start looking for a new organizational home, they will likely enter a process to determine whether the fit is a good one. Information is shared freely (Virtuoso signs a nondisclosure agreement with prospective members, Bunker said).
"What we don't want is someone to leave consortia X and then, once they get involved, all of a sudden they're not happy and they leave," Block said. "There's too much cost on onboarding -- in other words, just actually training the folks on all of our programs. ... We want to make sure they have a good expectation as to what we offer and what we don't offer, because the worst thing is someone to expect something and then we miserably fail to deliver. That would be awful."