向团体提供旅行保险可以提高代理商的收入
经过理查德·德·安布罗西奥(Richard D’Ambrosio)/
旅行社之所以爱团体,是因为前景通过一起送多个旅行者去度假来增加收入。然而,许多代理商忽略的是他们通过为团体旅行者提供机会在购买中增加可委托旅行保护范围的机会来获得收入。
数字定律简单而诱人。如果一半的40名中年旅行者(每人支付2500美元)为邮轮泊位支付2500美元,以25%的价格购买中档旅行保护计划,则向代理商处以750美元的佣金。将您的接近比率提高到四分之三,而您的佣金超过$ 1,100。
“没有向他们的团体促进旅行保险的代理商正在将钱放在桌子上,并为该集团度假的潜在中断奠定了基础。”“相同的数字定律可以使团体旅行保险销售成为可靠的收入来源,增加了旅行保险将涵盖的集体旅行中发生的可能性。”
“The bottom line is, there is nothing as lucrative on a margin basis,” said Lynda Phillippi, owner of Renaissance Travel and Events, in McMinnville, Oregon, who works with Travel Insured for group coverage.
Added layer of protection
Then there is the added layer of protection the agent sells in for the entire group.
“The dynamics of group travel, especially the impact on everyone if something goes wrong with just one traveler, makes travel protection an ideal offering for group trips,” said Isaac Cymrot, vice president, industry relations, at Travel Insured International.
“这真的很重要。我从来没有一群人没有发生任何事情。Rowland Books平均每年2-3个小组,并在2020年有五组。
On a trip with 20 travelers last year, “one of the ladies, three days before leaving, fell and fractured her nose and couldn’t go. Something always happens to somebody,” Rowland said. Three years ago, before a Holy Land trip, five members of one group canceled during the final weeks before departure, she said.
小组计划通常需要至少有十名有共同目的地和旅行日期的被保险旅行者。希望在旅行前或之后增加几天的个人旅行者也可以根据该小组的计划购买。
像保险人这样的公司拥有团体销售和服务团队,与专门从事团体以及小型旅行社的旅行社合作。他们将提供各种营销支持,包括代理商和Pied Pipers在演示过程中可以使用的共同品牌材料,或者附加到其小组旅行注册网站上。
Travel Insured also has a compliance team to review regulatory issues. “We recommend that any advisor take advantage of them through their account management team, to review their materials to ensure that their marketing fits the group’s needs and is in compliance,” Cymrot said.
Travel Insured will even provide a special URL link that agents can embed on their website or in an email directing travelers to a page where they can purchase their coverage. Commissions are tracked through the link, said Bud Geissler, Travel Insured’s national group sales account manager.
The same, but different
For the most part, group travel insurance offers the same coverage at about the same price (6%-7% of the total trip cost) of individual plans, with some variations. The biggest difference is that the age of a traveler has no material impact on their premium price or coverage.
“For seniors, Baby Boomers, very often they can find the group travel plan is more cost-effective than pricing out an individual plan,” said Stan Sandberg, co-founder of TravelInsurance.com, an online insurance aggregator.
这对于罗兰(Rowland)来说很大,罗兰(Rowland)专门研究倾向于吸引年长客户的宗教遗产之旅。
Second, as long as a traveler purchases travel protection before their final payment, companies like Travel Insured will cover pre-existing conditions. (Arch RoamRight covers pre-existing conditions in group plans, as long as coverage is purchased within 21 days of the first trip payment.)
因为不是所有的代理集团将签约the same day, make their payments on the same schedule, etc., “a group plan will accommodate bringing people onboard at different times. That makes it easier for the tour leader to administer,” Sandberg said.
Additionally, some group plans will allow travelers to purchase medical and damaged/lost baggage coverage right up to date of departure.
Group travel tailor-made for travel protection sales
由于团体旅行在出发前的交货时间很长,因此他们是为定期旅行保护销售通信量身定制的,以增加客户购买的可能性。
罗兰(Rowland)在2020年5月有一个教堂小组前往爱尔兰,价格在每人$ 4,501- $ 5,000之间。旅行保险的团体计划率为每人319美元,提供取消/中断旅行的承保范围,错过的联系,行李延误以及事故和疾病医疗费用等。
Rowland also is offering participants an upgraded plan (at $478.50 per person) that includes Cancel for Any Reason coverage with reimbursement for 75% of the nonrefundable trip cost.
In an email she sends out when a traveler makes their first deposit, she instructs the client that travel protection can be purchased right up to final payment.
“It is best to purchase travel protection at the time of tour deposit since some benefits are time-sensitive,” she writes to her clients. “As we add air arrangements in the future, it will be necessary to adjust the coverage amount upwards to ensure all your non-refundable costs are covered. We’ll provide information about that as appropriate.”
In eight days, if they don’t buy travel protection, they receive another email from Rowland. “At this point, typically 40-50% of the group have purchased. As we move along, I’m sending reminders, getting 10-15% more of the group insured,” Rowland said. (Rowland’s email campaigns provide at least 5-6 chances for her group travelers to purchase travel protection before departure.)
最终付款前一个月,如果他们没有购买旅行保护,则最终电子邮件提醒客户出于任何原因,旅行不可退还。“那封电子邮件通常会使我高达80%-85%。之后,我要送出豁免,他们需要签名。”
“There’s definitely a higher conversion rate at final payment,” Sobczyk at Arch Insurance said, “because their money is nonrefundable and on the line.”
让你的吹笛者登上船
Another important dynamic in group travel protection sales is the role of the tour leader, or pied piper. “That individual is a trusted colleague. Their passion for running is why they’re leading the group to a destination marathon, or a culinary expert taking the group on a foodie tour,” said Geissler.
“They’ve traveled before, and can advocate for people protecting their investment, how they have seen things on the road, and why coverage is extremely important to enjoying the trip,” Geissler added.
“We see a lot more success with smaller tour operators, religious groups, church groups, when there is a pied piper who says, ‘Hey everyone, look at this. We can get great coverage,’” agreed Sobczyk at Arch RoamRight. “From a marketing perspective, that leads to a greater success.”
“Peer pressure definitely plays a part,” Phillippi said, “especially when one or more participants talk about the fabulous deal to protect your investment. When ‘everyone is doing it,’ it becomes an easier sell.”
Still, Phillippi, keeps “a handful of real-life horror stories handy for anyone on the fence.”
保险也可以帮助顾问和吹笛者
While so much of the value of travel protection focuses on the traveler, it can be equally important to the group leader and/or travel agent, because of the extra support travelers in distress receive in the destination.
盖斯勒说:“如果您有旅行延迟问题,您就不会有两个人试图从罗马回来 - 可能是40个人。”每个拥有重新预订航班的旅行保护的人都可以使原本可能是困难的情况平滑。“对于代理商来说,这可能是巨大的。”
“If someone has an illness or accident on the trip, they’re using up the resources of the tour director to help them, and that can affect the entire group,” Rowland said. With medical assistance coverage, that traveler could have the expertise of the travel insurance company’s medical director and customer service staff.
Additionally, Rowland said, travelers make decisions based on the cost to them individually. “If something happens while you’re in another country, it’s really a good idea to go to the hospital. If they don’t have insurance, the client might not choose to, and that could impact the group proceeding on the trip. If the client has travel protection, they’ll make a more logical, intelligent choice.”