A Fairy Tale...

A FAIRY TALE...

Once upon a time, there was a travel agent with a Red Hood. She was a Home Based agent way before it became popular. Being self-taught, she prided herself on her rapidly growing knowledge of the industry.
She went to local seminars and meetings to network and increased her knowledge of travel. She was trusting and believed the stories of success offered to her.
First, she signed with one local Host agency. His office was too cold so she went on to another. His office was too hot — and we’re not talking temperature here. She soon found that they were trying to take her clients for themselves. It was a painful lesson, since she was so trusting.
Then she found a third one, and this one was just right — until airline commissions fell and everyone was trying to find some way to make up the lost revenue. Finally, that Host agency closed up shop.
Off on her own, with her growing client list in her basket, she skipped down the road looking for another Host. She heard a new word — consortia. Looking it up in her dictionary, she decided to try this one. People from the headquarters office up north would come to her city of Sarasota. Red Hooded agent found other Home Based agents who shared her dilemma, and made fast friends.
Consortia seemed to be the way to go, and she was living happily ever after. Until one day, her consortium was gobbled up by a newer consortium. Nothing would change, she was told, just the name and bigger rewards. But things did change and Red Hooded Agent continued her journey. She put on her finery and went to another ball and met her new Prince Charming and his court.
Friendly and eager to work together, Red Hooded Agent was finally happy. For a while. It seems like a couple of companies that had large boats, called cruise lines, didn’t like the Prince Charming group. People, called DSMs and BDMs who she had known for years said they didn’t work with Prince Charming’s group, since his castle was located in a faraway place and was not local.
What should Red Hooded agent do? She wanted to work with her local friends and she liked the support of the Prince Charming group. What a quagmire!
Then she found a dragon, a very friendly dragon, right in her area. With promises of a great new partnership, she decided to walk down its path. And this Dragon had his own Palace, called a retail store, not too far away. With promises of “Let’s grow together,” he gave her a pumpkin coach and adopted stepsisters to guide her down the road to the new kingdom. The lure of getting special treatment and large commissions if she moved her high-end clients into the Dragon’s kingdom was so very tempting. Did they live happily ever after? For a while. Until the Dragon decided to do whatever he could to become a bigger, more powerful Dragon.
But Red Hooded agent left some pebbles on the roadside — meaning some bookings placed elsewhere — just in case the Dragon didn’t live up to his promises. And was she glad she did.
She soon found that some serf who worked for the Dragon tried contacting one of her clients personally to sail down the river on a cruise. When Red Hooded Agent brought this info to the stepsisters and the Dragon, she was assured it was a tragic error, called a “breach,” that would never occur again. Soon after that, commissions were not as forthcoming as promised. This forced Red Hooded Agent to contact big cruise lines and get proof that the cents and dollars had been paid to the Dragon’s office. Red Hooded Agent contacted the Dragon’s office and was told they had growing pains and within a few full moons, the commissions were paid.
Unfortunately, the Dragon made promises that he couldn’t keep. Something called a booking engine took more than a year of promises before an abbreviated version appeared. And the Dragon promised beautiful packages in a brochure that could be mailed to Red Hooded Agent’s clients for just pennies. The only problem was found in a couple of pages in this offering of great vacations. One page advertised for other Red Hoods (or Blond, or Brunette, or even bald people) asking them to join the Dragon’s kingdom. With promises of rewards, called commissions, and special journey pricing, called agent rates, the Dragon was looking to fill his appetite with new people who wanted to be travel agents.
Plus, the Dragon was throwing a party, called a trade show, and invited all the people who lived in the area to attend. When Red Hooded Agent asked if she could come with her clients and sell the same packages, she was told that was a mortal sin. The rewards for the palace had to come from the serf of the local castle only, and not from Red Hooded, or any, agent.
After complaining to no avail, Red Hooded agent was facing a dilemma. She had to walk a line that favored her clients, and she had to work with a standard of morals. She found that she was not alone.
Soon, other agents — Red, Blonde and Brunette Hooded and even a Bald Agent — were calling her with their complaints about the Dragon. It seems that the Dragon had sent out large envelopes to the agents’ clients. Inside were brochures — nice ones — offering low rates. Along with a letter personally signed by the Dragon, there was an offer of $100 off for referrals and awards if the client booked the travel directly with the Dragon’s Palace, plus a point system of awards for future cruises and even lodging.
A light bulb went off in the heads of the Red, Blonde, Brunette Hooded — and bald — agents. The Dragon had used the agents’ clients’ addresses to reach out to them directly.
Elected as the spokesperson for Blonde, Brunette and Bald, the Red Hooded Agent contacted the Dragon to ask for an explanation.
Since this is a fairy tale of the 21st century, the Dragon did not have the courtesy of using an outdated invention called a telephone. He decided to use E-mail instead. Back and forth, questions asked by Red Hooded Agent were sometimes answered and sometimes not. The Dragon was changing his answers midstream, and nothing made sense. Then the Dragon decided he didn’t want to have to answer questions any longer and sent Red Hooded Agent to the chopping block. In 21st Century lingo, she was fired.
When Red Hooded agent talked to her clients, they said that they didn’t want to be part of the Dragon’s kingdom and would go wherever their agent was. But the Dragon said “no” and would not let these clients, consumers, passengers, leave.
Then a new kingdom heard about this situation and came to the rescue. This new kingdom was quite large and growing every day. Plus, the new kingdom had a reputation without a whisper of doubt. And word went out from near and far the new kingdom would take in all orphan agents who had experienced the wrongdoings of any dragons.
And they all lived happily ever after.
Moral of this fable? Maybe one agent can huff and puff and not blow down the house of a kingdom. But, as we all know, unfriendly dragons fought one another and eventually became extinct.

PostScript

If you don’t believe in fairy tales or if you are an agent looking to align yourself with a consortium and/or a Host agency, do your homework first.
Interview at least three organizations. If they say they cannot share info on commissions or their programs until you sign on, do more homework. Ask for names of current members and interview them. If they have been with the organization for two years without major complaints, you may have a winner.
If you have to sign a contract promising all your business, think twice. If you feel they provide the suppliers you need, and the programs you can work with, you may have a winner.
If you can book on your own, using your own CLIA or TRUE number, you may be a winner. Try to contact the local DSMs and ask if they work with the Host and/or consortia. Will they provide ongoing support for you?
If the Host is in your own neighborhood, or contacting clients in your area, make certain that you can sell and reap the same rewards as their in-office help does. Otherwise, you may be the loser.
If commissions are often late or missing, run away! Otherwise, you may be the broke loser.
If you are asked to share your database with your Host or consortia, remember that your database is your most important asset. If you bring clients to their operation and then leave, do you still have your clients? It is your decision.
And please know that you are not alone in this quest. As one cruise line honcho guru once said to me, “If you can divorce a husband, you can divorce a consortia.”