供应商委员会的旅行顾问时间表是否需要更改?
byDori Saltzman/
当COVID-19使旅游行业陷入困境时,它打破了供应商委员会的生命周期。没有人旅行,但是许多旅行计划被取消和更改了无限次,因此顾问首次没有薪水。实际上,他们所做的许多工作将永远不会得到报酬。这是一个基于出发的支付系统的问题,过去可能是理论上的,但是非常真实,非常迅速。
“我称其为离开委员会,” Avoya Travel联合首席执行官Jeff Anderson说。“他们向我们支付佣金,因为有一个即将发生的事情。他们将提前支付60到120天的时间,一旦获得最终付款,但我们预订的几乎要等到一个月或两个月或10个月才能付款。”
在“正常”时期,对于既定顾问来说,这并不是什么问题。
Nexion Travel Group总裁杰基·弗里德曼(Jackie Friedman)在最近与TMR进行了为期六个月的登机手续期间说:“如果您考虑一下,顾问有一条管道。”“在大流行之前,他们有两年前出售的东西,这些东西现在可能正在旅行,他们正在获得报酬。他们的流动流动。[在大流行期间]该管道堵塞。预订掉了,被取消了。”
“我只是认为该模型破裂了,”安德森补充说。“没有任何供应商的错。”
大多数顾问都必须从头开始,该行业中的任何人都知道这是一个很难的地方。顾问的第一年或两年的业务因低现金流而臭名昭著。
“We need advisors staying in the business,” said Jackie Friedman, president of Nexion Travel Group. “There’s no question they’re busier… ’23 and ’24 are looking great in terms of advanced bookings, which is fantastic. The challenge is that advisors won’t get compensated on that until the time of travel or at least the time of final payment.”
尽管随着时间的流逝,这将不再是一个问题,但“随着管道再次开始建造,”弗里德曼说,在短期内,顾问需要更多的钱。
Payment Lag Time is Challenge
她说:“如果我们希望人们进入这个行业并留在这个行业,他们必须相信自己可以得到赔偿,而滞后是一个挑战。”他们的生存。
Whether the issue of lagging commissions becomes more relevant as time passes is irrelevant, Jeff Anderson, co-president of Avoya Travel told TMR. For him, no one should have to go unpaid for so long.
他说:“如果您是供应商,则必须花费大量营销资金才能获得对产品的需求。”“所有这些东西,它们都得到了报酬。Google不会等到出发收取营销费用。美国邮政局长也没有。如果您想在某人的邮箱中放一条小册子,您将提前付款。”
他说,当赔偿旅行顾问时,还需要在时间范围内早些时候。换句话说,供应商需要从出发委员会转换为预订佣金。
存款佣金?
“该总佣金中有一部分需要在预订时支付 - 通过预订,我的意思是用真正的信用卡进行实际存款……有这笔存款的资金。供应商将其保留100%。对于我们作为他们的筹款活动而言,这并不完全是铅笔。在预订实际存款时,一定会发生大量的收入……”
While Anderson admits it’s easier to do with non-refundable deposits or fares, that doesn’t mean it can’t be done. In fact, it’s something Avoya has been doing with its own advisors for almost a decade through a program called Instant Commission.
他说:“即使我们还没有从供应商那里收到钱,我们也要为预订支付佣金。”
But some suppliers are getting in on the concept too, which is why, Anderson said, he knows it can be done, despite the pushback from many suppliers about systems not being built for faster commission payments.
需要调整
“We know it can be done… One of the biggest things we’ve heard for the last two years is ‘My system can’t handle this.’ But we’ve partnered with suppliers, using our technology, to build it out so that at least our independent agencies were able to have it… we’ve come up with lots of solutions…”
他说,更快的佣金还将要求客户改变心态。
“旅行者将不得不进行一些调整。他们几十年来一直在预订空气,而无法退还钱。所有的酒店公司都在折扣价的不可退还票价。一些邮轮正在这样做。我只是认为它需要获得更多的动力。”
安德森(Anderson)补充说,每个参与提供更快佣金付款的供应商都使他们与阿沃亚(Avoya)机构的业务发展。
“Every time a supplier does this with us, whether it’s short term or long term, the sustained increases that we’re seeing for those brands relative to their peer groups, it’s very clear that sales people are incented by their pay.”
Anderson added that he feels bad that the lion’s share of the burden falls on suppliers to figure out, but reminds suppliers advisors have had plenty of challenges too. “Like working for the last two years and never getting a penny worth of deposit money.”
Permanent Change?
当被问及他是否认为这种转换应该是永久的安德森告诉TMR时,“毫无疑问,需要的动力是因为出发停止发生。问题是……供应商可以继续向我们付款与他们预先交流完全相同的方式吗?我不确定答案是否是肯定的,不是他们要我们出售他们的产品。”
他补充说:“旅行顾问在财务上变得更加聪明和野蛮。”“我们必须这样做。我要继续免费工作吗?我已经根据表现付款了。如果我不卖东西,我不会得到佣金。我已经知道……我已经承担了这种风险。我想冒险要花多长时间才能偿还我吗?”
“I think that if suppliers want the most professional travel advisors selling their products, they cannot wait to pay them until the very end of the process,” he said.
Service Fees as Stop Gap?
自联盟19日大流行之前就一直收取费用的旅行顾问在关闭期间的位置比其他顾问要好得多。虽然没有很多钱,但取消和重新预订费用至少意味着有些人并不能完全免费工作。
It’s something Friedman said she’d like to see more advisors start doing.
“I’d love to see more advisors realize the importance of charging professional fees. That certainly helps,” she said, adding that combining fees with a change in the commission payment timeline would be the best solution for travel advisors.
Anderson is more conflicted when it comes to service fees.
“We don’t want to be a direct competitor of any direct team that’s out there,” he said. “And putting a service fee on top of what we offer means that now we’ve got to be in deeper direct competition with suppliers themselves.”
但是,他承认,服务费“今天可能有一个更好的地方”,比他们预先兴起。“客户还知道,您不一定希望与供应商一对一,因此更多的旅行者认识到,通过像旅行顾问这样的中介人预订比独自一人更好。”
他补充说:“在我这样做的20年中,我从来没有比今天那样支持专业服务费。在某些方面,这是必要的。In other ways, totally well-deserved… but the reality is, if it makes us less competitive with direct teams, that could be a big enough problem to where it’s not the right direction… but I’m supportive of those that have been able to figure it out.”