Search Travel Market Report

mainlogo
www.travelmarketreport.com
  • News
  • Tours & Packages
  • Cruise
  • Hotels & Resorts
  • Destinations
  • Retail Strategies
  • Niche & Luxury
  • Well-Being Travel
  • Training & Events
  • Who We Are
    • Anne Marie Moebes
    • Brian Israel
    • Dan McCarthy
    • Denise Caiazzo
    • Dori Saltzman
    • Kelly Fontenelle

How to Keep Your ICs Engaged & Productive

by Marilee Crocker / February 28, 2022
How to Keep Your ICs Engaged & Productive

Photo: Shutterstock.com


If you’re thinking about adding independent contractors to your team, travel agency owner Valerie Gossett has a few words of advice for you: Don’t do it unless you’re prepared to devote plenty of time and energy to supporting them.

Gossett, owner of Premier Resources Travel in Ellijay, GA, launched her agency in 2007, and four years later brought on her first ICs. Today Premier Resources Travel has 40 independent contractors and just three part-time employees.

Gossett is a hands-on owner/manager with an extensive background in sales management, training and education. (At one time she was VP of sales for an executive recruitment firm where 500 people reported to her.) It’s a background that prepared her well for the role of supporting her independent advisors.

Today her ICs produce 70% of her agency’s sales and Gossett the other 30%, for a combined total in 2019 of $12 million.

Bringing on ICs isn’t for everybody, Gossett told Travel Market Report. For one thing, it creates more work, not less – or it should, if done right.

“A lot of agents think this is the next step – it isn’t. Don’t do it just because an agent says they want to work with you. It should be part of your business plan, not an afterthought.”

Here is Gossett’s formula for supporting a winning team of independent advisors.

1. Be available
The single most important thing you can do for your independent contractors is “make sure you have time for each IC on your team,” said Gossett, who devotes about 60% of her workday to her ICs.

“My phone is always near me until I go to bed at night. You want them to get information from you first if it’s critical, rather than just trying to figure it out. I try to make it so people feel comfortable coming to me.”

2. Provide frequent trainings
To host ICs successfully, you need to enjoy training and education, Gossett said. “You should be more informed than your agents and very well-rounded.”

Gossett offers monthly trainings with BDMs of her agency’s preferred vendors. She also does her own one-on-one trainings on an as-needed basis, in addition to organizing fam trips exclusively for her agents.

Last year, she created an advisory board comprised of herself and four of her “shining star” advisors, each of whom is a specialist in an area where Gossett’s own knowledge is lacking. Advisory board members each conduct quarterly training in their area of expertise. (The advisory board also acts at Gossett’s backup, giving her ICs someone to turn to should she be unavailable.)

3. Know your ICs, keep them close, listen
It’s really important to “keep the pulse of what’s going on” with your independents, Gossett said. “Whether you have five or 100 ICs, you’ve got to stay involved. Don’t let your ICs get too far away from you.”

Keeping the pulse doesn’t just mean tracking sales numbers. Gossett also watches for signs of disengagement, for instance if an individual stops participating in marketing campaigns or sending out newsletters. Similarly, “if someone hasn’t responded on our private Facebook page and hasn’t reached out to me, I pull them back in.”

It’s also important to be responsive to your ICs’ needs. For instance, last year Premier Resources Travel added a second CRM system after several of her ICs told her that a different CRM would provide better tools than their existing CRM.

4. Be a leader & a coach
Gossett sees her role as part business coach and mentor. She encourages her ICs to meet with her at least once a year to discuss their yearly goals and develop an action plan.

Her coaching can take a personal turn too, whether that’s providing moral support for an advisor going through a tough time or warning an IC who voices ambitious sales goals about the likely impact on their personal life of pursuing such goals.

During the doldrums of Covid, Gossett hosted spontaneous Zoom calls to bolster the spirits of her independents. Conversely, when sales are up and everyone is putting in long days, Gossett will remind her ICs to take time for themselves and their families and to make time for training.

“When you have a team, it’s no longer about you; it’s about everybody else. You’ve got to have that presence of a leader.”

5. Devote extra attention to new ICs
When an independent advisor first affiliates with Premier Resources Travel, Gossett meets with them weekly for their first month, regardless of whether they are experienced advisors or new to retail travel. “I need to find out where they really are, what their goals are, so I know what kind of plan and trainings to put together.”

After the first month, the one-on-one meetings taper to twice monthly and then to an as-needed basis.

Gossett also watches for signals that an IC, especially a new affiliate, may need help. For example, recently she noted that an advisor who is relatively new to the team had booked her first cruise. But the advisor had overlooked a group rate available through the agency’s consortia that would have saved the client $300.

Spotting a training opportunity, she called the advisor and suggested they go on Zoom together so Gossett walk her through how to get the group rate in the booking engine. “I really like my newer agents, when they haven’t booked a vendor yet, to come to me. I let them know tips and tricks.”

6. Cultivate teamwork & engagement
Nurturing relationships among ICs is important too. Most years Gossett hosts a two- to three-night retreat where vendors provide in-person training. But the retreats aren’t just about training. “It also builds team camaraderie, so everyone can get to know each other, pull from each other’s expertise, and build respect.”

The fam trips she organizes for her agents serve the same purpose. “We’re trying to build something like a little family. I want a long-term relationship.”

An in-house referral program encourages Gossett’s ICs to turn to one another for help. Under the program, if an advisor’s client requests a trip outside her area of expertise, she can give that particular booking to a colleague, earning a referral fee while retaining rights to the client for future bookings.

Recognition is another way to keep independents involved. Every month Gossett posts sales numbers of her top three sellers, along with names of other advisors who made sales that month. Periodically, she orchestrates a sales challenge, honoring the top seller with a prize.

7. Stay in the game
If you’re building a business that depends on ICs, it’s important that you continue to sell travel yourself, so you “really know what’s going on,” Gossett advised. “I still sell and book. I don’t just manage. I feel that’s better because I know how to use the booking engines. I know the challenges agents can have with clients.

“You have to think of yourself not as a manager. You’re a team lead. You’re part of the team. I think of every single agent as a partner.”

  31
  0
Related Articles
New Advisor Hits $1.5 Million in Yearly Sales, But at What Cost?
How to Advance More Women Into Leadership: Lessons From Fox World Travel
Why Facebook Groups Are So Important for Travel Advisors
Supplier VP Joins Ranks of Travel Advisors, a Long-Held Dream
How One Advisor Earned $100,000 on a Group Cruise (& How You Can Too)
11 Tips for Growing Active-Adventure Sales
What Independent Contractors Need to Know
Best Career Advice Ever, From Six Powerful Women in Travel
Advising the Wealthy: Travel Agents Need to Save Clients From Themselves
10 Ways Travel Agents Will Enhance Your Summer Vacation

MOST VIEWED

  1. All U.S. Flights Grounded Due to FAA Computer Outage
  2. Norwegian Cruise Line Brings Back COVID-19 Requirements
  3. Delta Air Lines Will Offer Free Wi-Fi Starting on Feb. 1
  4. Forbes Says ‘You Need a Travel Advisor in 2023’
  5. Cruise Ducks: A Cruising Tradition Travel Advisors Should Know About
  6. What’s New in Travel Agent FAM Trips

MOST EMAILED

  1. Forbes Says ‘You Need a Travel Advisor in 2023’
  2. Here Are the Automatic & Suggested Gratuity Policies for Each Major Cruise Line
  3. All U.S. Flights Grounded Due to FAA Computer Outage
  4. Delta Air Lines Will Offer Free Wi-Fi Starting on Feb. 1
  5. Tour Operators & Advisors Forced to Cancel Trips as Peru Shuts Down Machu Picchu
  6. Cruise Ducks: A Cruising Tradition Travel Advisors Should Know About
TMR THIS WEEK
Sponsored by Explora Journeys
//services.travelsavers.com/AMGService.svc/REST/GetImage?ImageID=790a5703-649e-ed11-9b4d-005056a855ed&Width=350&Height&250

Selling Savory Cruise Experiences to Foodie Clients

With the boundaries of food and beverage programs being pushed across nearly every sector of cruising, the interest of clients in culinary experiences is also piquing.

Read More...
TMR Subscription

Subscribe today to receive daily in-depth coverage, analysis of industry news, trends and issues that affect how you do business. Subscribe now for free.

Subscribe to TMR

Top Stories
ASTA’s General Counsel Peter Lobasso Appointed to DOT Subcommittee
ASTA’s General Counsel Peter Lobasso Appointed to DOT Subcommittee

Lobasso will serve as the ticket agent representative on the subcommittee. 

Read...
Allianz Adds “Cancel Anytime” Coverage to OneTrip Prime and OneTrip Premier
Allianz Adds “Cancel Anytime” Coverage to OneTrip Prime and OneTrip Premier

Cancel Anytime covers the "most unforeseeable circumstances."

Read...
Consumers Want More Personalization When It Comes to Travel Planning
Consumers Want More Personalization When It Comes to Travel Planning

More than ever, travelers want the ability to customize their vacation packages. 

Read...
SEO Nets Big Results for One LGBTQ+ Travel Specialist
SEO Nets Big Results for One LGBTQ+ Travel Specialist

"SEO actually works the way they say it works," says Scott Wismont. 

Read...
Travel Advisors Save the Day … But Travel Protection Can Save the Trip
Travel Advisors Save the Day … But Travel Protection Can Save the Trip

If there’s one thing we’ve learned from the past several years is that when it comes to travel, it’s safest to expect the unexpected at every leg of the journey. 

Read...
We Tried ChatGPT – Here’s What It Said About Travel Advisors and Their Future
We Tried ChatGPT – Here’s What It Said About Travel Advisors and Their Future

Even a robot knows that travel advisors are here to stay.

Read...
TMR OUTLOOKS & WHITE PAPERS
river cruise 2022
group outlook 2022
lux cruise outlook
CP White Paper
Multi-Gen Outlook
River Cruise Outlook 2019
View All
Advertiser's Voice
Celebrate National Don’t Plan for Vacation Day with Delta Vacations
About Travel Market Report Mission Staff Advisory Board Advertise
TMR Resources Webinars Calendar of Events Outlook/Whitepapers Previous Sponsored Articles Previous This Week Articles
Subscribe to TMR
Select Language
Do You Have an Idea Email
editor@travelmarketreport.com
Give Us a Call
1-(516) 730-3097
Drop Us a Note
Travel Market Report
71 Audrey Ave, Oyster Bay, NY 11771
News |Tours & Packages |Cruise |Hotels & Resorts |Destinations |Retail Strategies |Niche & Luxury |Well-Being Travel |Training & Events |Who We Are
© 2005 - 2023 Travel Market Report, an American Marketing Group Inc. Company All Rights Reserved | 243 South Street, Oyster Bay, NY, 11771 USA | Telephone (516) 730-3097| Terms and Conditions
Cookie Policy Privacy Policy