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Travel advisers are investing significant amounts of time — and in some cases money — to take advantage of higher-level agent training courses, and with good reason: In many cases they are realizing notably higher sales as a result.
Most agents have ready access to supplier and destination training, as well as training from CLIA, ASTA, the Travel Institute and, in many cases, their own agent network, among other sources.
Helen Nodland, director of professional development at Virtuoso, will tell you that training provides an important foundation for all agents.
However, some networks are taking it to the next level with more advanced training designed to increase agents’ sales and grow their businesses, albeit at a cost: In each case, agents are expected to invest their time in the training, and in some cases they also make a financial investment.
For example, the Virtuoso Certified Travel Advisor program is designed for agents who are newer to the industry but are already working in an agency. Consisting of prerequisite work, five days of in-person training and six months of follow-up work, it costs $1,500 per adviser, which does not include airfare and hotel accommodations for the in-person training.
Now finishing its third year of offering the program, Nodland said Virtuoso has had about 160 agents participate. Agents have to apply for the program, and only 16 to 18 are admitted into each class, with several classes held during the year.
The results have been measurable, and several graduates are now million-dollar producers, according to Virtuoso. Others are also seeing a large impact on their sales, including one who sold as much travel in the first quarter after finishing the program as she had in the entire previous year.
The program focuses on a variety of aspects of training, in some cases referring to coursework found in the Virtuoso Travel Academy. Nodland said it touches upon things such as the value of travel advisers and communicating that value to potential clients, relationship-building with clients, suppliers and within the industry, branding, leveraging resources and more.
“They walk out and they just fly, because they’re able to articulate who they are,” Nodland said of the Virtuoso Certified Travel Advisor graduates. “They’re able to articulate how they’re different. They’re able to articulate the value that they bring. There’s a confidence in being able to know yourself.”
Travel Leaders offers its franchisees Professional Sales Certification, a higher-level sales course for which they have to pay. The first class of 22 participants recently finished the nine-month, 26-module program, which is geared toward business travel.
The program focuses on the sales process and gaining new clients. It includes some in-person work, homework, presentations given to peers and more. Michael Boult, vice president of the Business Travel Center of Excellence at Travel Leaders, said it has “incredible detail and depth.”
“The [return on investment] obviously has been tremendous,” he said.
Boult said graduates saw an average 390% increase in sales after taking the program. The low end was a 110% increase in sales, while “some of the participants were in the 700% to 800% increase” range. One participant, Boult said, sold $62 million in new business in the first six months of 2016.
Participants are asked to pay for the program, he said, because “we have our own sales philosophy that says if everything is free, do you really value it?”
Travel Leaders declined to release the price of the program because it will likely be modified in the future to make it available to leisure agents at a different price point.
Other agent networks are also offering more advanced training and business coaching, though at no cost to the agents.
Avoya Travel has an advanced course under its Avoya Mastermind Program (an ongoing educational program with webinars, group workshops and monthly topical sessions), Mastermind 212. It is an invitation-only program that gives independent agencies individual business coaching. To qualify, agencies must have at least $500,000 in annual sales and the capacity to boost that number to more than $1 million.
Tammie Richie, director of the Mastermind program, oversees Mastermind 212. She is one of several Avoya staff members who coach agencies in the 212 program. She said both it and the lower level of Mastermind are free because the time investment required is enough of a price
“In our business, time is money,” she said. “We want to make sure that they’re committed to their own success.”
According to Avoya, nearly 100 independent agencies have participated in the program since it launched last year, and more than 40% have hit the mark of more than $1 million in annual sales. In 2016, sales for those who have completed it are up 53% year over year.
Cruise Planners also offers free training to all new franchise owners. They start on a “freshman” track and proceed to sophomore, junior and senior training. Beyond that, master’s- and Ph.D.-level training are available, all free of cost. They are also coached from day one and are assigned a special coach once they achieve $1 million in annual sales.
Vicky Garcia, COO and co-owner of Cruise Planners, said about 30% of the network is in the master’s- and Ph.D.-level training. She estimated it would take about four to five years for an agent to reach that level.
“People who went through the accreditations are just much more successful than those who haven’t,” she said.
While Garcia declined to release the number of agencies in Cruise Planner’s Millionaire Club, she said, “That number has grown double digits in the last two years, significantly.” She attributed that growth to the training and coaching available.
Source: travelweekly.com
