How to Find a Great Independent Contractor for Your Travel Agency

Finding the perfect person to represent your company is not an easy task. But for Witte Travel, hiring an IC was easy as pie. Melissa Feenstra was an employee in their brick-and-mortar office in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and she wanted to go out on her own.

With more than 20 years of industry experience and consistent sales of over $1 million a year, Feenstra started thinking about building her own brand about five years ago. Eighteen months ago, she took the leap.

Feenstra Travel uses Witte’s IATA number and splits the commission; in a typical contract, the host keeps 10%-20% in return for marketing and IT support, E&O insurance, and higher commissions than a single agent operating alone could get.

For Feenstra, being an IC “allows me flexibility in my schedule; I can sell what I want to sell; I can be more unique and I can choose my customers. I feel like I’m not an order taker, I’m an expert planner, and I like that very much.”

And what makes a good host agency? “Staying current with the times; this is an ever-changing industry, so you have to have a good web presence; be up to speed with technology; and just be open for conversation, be a good listener to your independent contractor,” she said. “If you are not working for and with your IC, she will leave and go somewhere else.”

Use social media to find candidates
Jeni Chaffer, owner of Journeys Travel Inc., found a dozen potential ICs through a Facebook ad — and then developed her own training program for them. She expects “probably half” to turn out to be good, and will start the best three in the program this month.

In the past, training was more hit-or-miss and took an inordinate amount of time; the new program covers topics like how to implement a group, how to work with suppliers, and how to market effectively. There are weekly calls for three months and homework assignments “to let me see if they can think through the process,” Chafer said.

You might say that Kevin Cabe’s newest IC was heaven-sent. He noticed a lot of social-media posts about Disney by a friend he knew from church. With four young children, she is active in youth sports and in the community, and people were asking her for advice in planning their Disney trips, “so I asked her if she would like to get paid to do that.” She sold two spring break trips to Disney in her first week, and a $50,000 Disney multigeneration cruise in her second.

Jennifer Walker, meanwhile, finds that ICS come to her rather than the other way around. “It’s not unusual for an existing client, or someone who follows my Facebook business page, to reach out and inquire about working for my agency and what it takes to become a travel advisor. I guess I make it look like fun by posting pictures and blurbs from all of my trips!” 

At Cary Travel Express in Cary, Illinois, Neelie Kruse agreed that for a large and well-known agency like hers, with 19 employees and ICs and a reputation for being a great place to work, finding good ICs is easy. Her agents spread the word and candidates appear; she signed up two ICs last year to help handle the agency’s $11 million in volume. And Tricia Horick Kelly met her star IC on a fam trip, representing AAA Travel; months later, ready to go out on her own, she called Kelly to sign up.

David Holman finds the best ICs for his host agency, Bridge & Holman Worldwide Travel, from consumer-facing Facebook groups. “You can really see who has both the knowledge and passion to sell travel. A little more investigation reveals their employment status and prior experience in sales/customer service. Then, it’s a simple matter to message them with, ‘Hey, have you ever considered being a travel agent? I run a host agency, and can help you set up your own business and get the training you need to succeed.’”

But Geoff Millar, of Ultimate All Inclusive Travel Inc., likes to hire ICs with a formal sales background. “One of our top ICs ever was an existing client who was a top salesperson in toxic waste disposal. Within two years, she was selling $1 million-plus. We feel we can teach someone an industry or a product, but being a top salesperson is very hard to teach.”

In the end, he said, “we turn down more requests than we accept. We would rather have a handful of good producing ICs rather than 400 ICs where only 10% are producing anything. We have a great, very small group of ICs that really help and produce for our agency.”

Be clear about your vision
Like all business decisions, the search for a great IC should start with a solid plan. “It’s really important to be super-clear on your vision for the business and your motivation for bringing on ICs,” said Jen Cochrane, co-founder and COO of host agency Gifted Travel Network. Then, it’s about picking the right person.”

Often when things go wrong, it’s because the advisor has an established brand, but the IC sells in a way that’s not consistent with the brand. Issues may arise if your message and site are luxury-focused, for example, but your IC wants to do a lot of mass-market business; or your focus is families and your IC wants to sell wine-oriented river cruises. That “can become really confusing for the customers.”

If you are an established agency with a good reputation for ICs, finding someone should not be difficult. “When you are very clear about your vision and how ICs fit into that, and have a compelling brand they can articulate, the right ICs will find you.” Even if this is your first foray into the world of ICs, “if you already have a platform and are out there in the community and have a robust newsletter list and a platform, often all it takes is an announcement that you are growing and accepting ICs to get interest.”

More tips from the experts
Here are more tips that Cochrane suggested: Get your paperwork in order. Build a checklist of what you will need and follow it. Consider including a signed agreement, a way to track and pay commissions, the ability to issue 1099s, insurance that covers the ICs, first-level sellers of travel licenses if applicable, a shared drive for documents and templates, a virtual phone number with extensions, a marketing policy that outlines which pieces of your branding ICs will share and what they can develop under their own brand.

Do a national background check. Always.

Find the right personality. Great ICs are unique in what they do; an outgoing personality or a background in travel or sales is helpful, but not necessary. More important is a love of travel, organizational skills and an attention to detail. Look for someone who can pick up different software systems quickly, and has a professional and articulate demeanor.

Make sure they have skin in the game. Of course, you hope your ICs will add to your revenue — but first they will be a cost center, in terms of your time and your money. Understand the value you are providing in terms of a successful brand and guidance in building their business; it’s absolutely reasonable to charge for that — and a fee will weed out those who are not really committed.