Have You Hugged Your

For the first several years after I started my agency, I resisted the urge to join a consortium in spite of the vigorous and energetic encouragement of Joel Abels in this publication and at Trave Trade CRUISE-A-THONs.
I didn’t want to feel “pressured” in some way to sell only preferred suppliers, thinking that I would put the offerings of these suppliers over the needs that my clients expressed during qualification. I wanted to have total freedom of choice and see how I could grow the business unencumbered.
But, I kept listening to Joel and other home based stalwarts I had grown to know. At some point, most likely after Travel Trade sent out its annual consortia supplement, I looked at the suppliers I was selling most frequently and determined that most were preferred suppliers of many of the consortia. What a “eureka” (if slow in coming) moment!
The bad news was that many of the top consortia had not jumped onto the home based agent bandwagon yet, and, in all truth, they somewhat stonewalled any efforts to join by not responding to E-mail requests or failing to send requested information — mostly because my sales volume didn’t equal the minimum required for their traditional storefront operation.
Luckily, I had grown to know one particular agent who was a member of the consortium that I was interested in, and knew the leadership. He went to bat for me in my request to join. That, coupled with a change in philosophy towards home based agents brought about by a new head of the sales team at my consortium, allowed me to finally join — and I have been a happy member ever since! And, they have added many more home based agents to their rolls.
Questions and Answers
Why join a consortium? Foremost, for the synergy of size. Through the collective agreements with suppliers, you can offer your clients better value in return for increased commission, plus value adding extras (not rebates!).
How do you pick out a consortium (or reevaluate whether your consortium is giving you what you want)? It’s a relatively simple business decision. For a starting point, list the suppliers that you have used for the past year. Obviously your consortium should include a majority of those suppliers in their preferred list.
Next, look at their listing of preferred suppliers that you have not used. Will these suppliers offer vacation options that you have not used yet, but are within your business model of what you want to sell? This offered me a whole new list of suppliers that I did not have to research to know whether they were reputable or not — even though I didn’t know much about many of them.
What type of direct mail advertising and marketing materials does the consortium offer at no charge? Like many home based agents, my budget for direct mail is negligible (by choice) and I wanted a group that offered this service, if not to my entire client list, then to at least some of it. I wouldn’t even ask what the return on this marketing is, as I don’t think it is relevant. Few of my customers book the packages of the direct mail offers, but the mailings keep them thinking and booking — it’s an investment in the future as it keeps you at the front of their travel planning.
What type of electronic marketing do they offer? For those agents without a Web site, this should be at the forefront as it allows you to enter the online marketplace.
What type of commission structure does the consortium offer with the preferred suppliers? What type of exclusive value-added offers can you make use of? When competing with the gorillas, it’s important to me to go to a client with an “exclusive” offer, not available either online or from other agencies.
Additionally important to new members of our community is what training the consortium offers — either routinely during the year, or annually at a consortium convention or regional gathering.
Finally, the cost. To put it quite simply, how many packages do you have to sell to pay for your consortium membership? Plug the number into your budget worksheet and see what makes sense. In stock market terms, what’s the price-to-earnings ratio? Does the name recognition cost equal the value added? Make your decision — it’s not for a lifetime!
As for me, I love my consortium and use it everyday. Like many of us who are stubborn, I wish I had listened to Joel’s advice sooner!

Russell (Rusty) Pickett is a retired career Naval officer. He has a BS from Yale University and an MBA from Charleston Southern University. As a home based agent, he founded Shellback Cruises, a cruise-oriented agency based in Charleston, SC, in 1999.