Independent Affiliate Travel Agent Program
Commission split:
80% of Gross Commission minus the cost of the sale goes to you the Independent Contractor(IC). Cruise Adventure Travel, LLC (CAT) would recieve 20% of the gross commission off the top before costs of the sale are taken out. With our volume of sales, we are at top-level commissions with most all of the major travel vendors.
LEADS:
What does every sales professional need to ensure they have enough of? Hot qualified leads are our specialty. We have customers ready to work with a travel agent. We have an established client base and continue to market extensively to make this program a huge sucess. Right now, we have leads that we can not get to. We need help!
$5.50 for email leads and $7.50 for live phone call leads. Our average cost to generate a lead is $16; however, we are assuming alot of the lead cost to offer you a substancially reduced lead price. Sharing the risk and pooling our marketing dollars gives us the buying power we need to continue increasing our market share. Live sales calls allow you to get phone call leads and is $50 per month(to cover toll free minutes) and $7.50 per lead to participate. Email leads consist of voicemail leads we could not get to, emails from customer through various marketing efforts, website submissions, cruise line programs, past clients, referrals, purchased leads in the industry, and more…All leads are calculated into the discounted price of leads. We are paying over 50% or more of the marketing costs, so we only use performing lead sources. Our company average is about 33% closing ratio of leads to sales, although that can change based on the individual's experience, effort, and style etc... Closing will vary and we make no warranties on closing percentages. Participation in either of the two lead programs is completely voluntary but highly reccomended unless you have a large following of clients already.
Sub-Agents:
Are you interested in doing more than just working for yourself? Are you looking to have employees? Are you a true Entrepreneur? Are you an existing travel agency looking to utilize the volume of a partner travel agency to gain more commissions? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then perhaps adding sub agents would help you expand your business and income potential. You can have an infinite number of sub-agents and currently there is no charge for them aside from wincruise charges. WinCruise charges are $120 one time setup per person and $20 per month per user. You would only need to give us their names so we know who is working with your company. You assume full responsiblity for your sub-agents and employees etc... All commissions would go to the original partner IC and your entity would be responsible for distributing their commission or compensation. What you would pay them would be completely upon your discretion. Special deals for persons partnering with us with more than one IC(sales volume dictates).
CO-OP:
We would offer up to 50% co-op reimbursement on approved marketing proposals by IC’s and Agencies. Leads generated outside of cat, would not incur a lead cost. Co-op leads would also not incur a lead cost beyond the co-op.
Marketing:
We can also include your customers in database marketing.
Your own consumer website:
When ready, Cat will provide you with a website that will allow you to put your logo, agency contact information, and more. For an addtional charge, you will be able to add a cruise booking engine. Consumer bookings made on the website cost $3-$5 per booking(based on third party charges for the booking engine). Website is currently being designed and mirrored for all IC’s and Agencies and will be ready very soon. The site will include rich cruise and vacation content that is updated continuously by a third party. Social Media integration and customizations possible. Additional charges for design may apply.
Fees: (Note that fees only cover our cost)
Initial Fee: $120(software setup). This fee is deferred for 30 days so that it can just be taken out of future commission. If future commission does not cover the $120, your credit card on file will be charged.
Monthly Fees: $99 includes website, booking engine, and travel software used to invoice Cat and customers.
Optional Fee: $50 per month for live sales calls program, plus $7.50 per lead(voluntary and includes toll free minutes charged to cat). Purchased leads will be charged to you from future commissions. If you incurr more lead costs then what commissions come in, then you will be charged on the first of the month during the monthly fee charge(the 1st of the month).
Misc Fees: Online Bookings: $3-5 per online booking made by a consumer on your website provided by cat.
RECCOMENDED PLAN: $149 PER MONTH INCLUDES ALL FEES(aside from the individual cost of any leads purchased)AND IS RECCOMENDED FOR ANYONE WHO DOES NOT ALREADY HAVE A LARGE CLIENT BASE TO RELY UPON.
Tickets: tickets sent by us to you or customer via snail mail will be at the prevailing postal rates plus $5 shipping charge per mail piece. Please keep in mind that most all vendors handle documents electronically, so there would not typically be a ticketing charge issued.
We make all charges to the IC’s on the 1st of each month. Initial charges will be charged on the following 1st of the month if commission doesn’t cover the initial set up, and then on the first of each month thereafter.
$15 fee for unreported bookings and $15 for a commisison research fee if proper invoicing wasn't applied to the booking.
Pay dates:
Current pay dates are bi monthly. Pay dates would be within 3 business days of the 14th and 28th of each month. Commissions paid to IC/Agency after receipt from vendor via direct deposit. We pay you when we get paid. All bookings need to be booked through our WinCruise software for accounting and invoicing. All final invoices need to be forwarded to cl@cruiseadventuretravel.com When sending final customer invoice, you must invoice cat for the amount of commission you expect to receive. A simple email with a commission expected amount will suffice as an email invoice.
Conduct/Integrity:
We are only seeking the best of the best in the industry to assist us with our sales. Only agents/agencies with the highest form of integrity and conduct will be fulfilling sales with cat. BBB memberships will be required under your company name. BBB membership is $400 annually in Central Florida but can vary by region. Central Florida has a lead program, so the $400 could pay for itself and more. Cat will also entertain reimbursement of BBB fees based on levels of production.
Requirements: -Dedicated business line/office
-Computer with recent specs that allows for use of WinCruise and email
-BBB Membership link on your website(our partner programmer can assist with this)
-EIN number and company name required. EIN can easily be retrieved by calling the IRS and asking for a Employer Identification Number, so you can operate as a business entity, such as an Independent Contractor etc…
-3 professional references in the travel industry. Exceptions made on a case by case basis, if you do not have three professional travel industry references.
-Bank account to receive direct deposit commissions
Perks:
Top performers will earn free fam opportunities given to us by travel vendors, Travel agent rates and discounts, CLIA card($25 is approximate cost for CLIA card). Card must be paid for by IC. Since you will not be an employee, you will be free to work whenever or however you'd like as long as it’s done with integrity and is within proper protocol for ease of collaboration.
Vacation or after hours support:
$15 fee for every customer service call handled. Participation in this is completely voluntary. Your voicemail would just need to give our toll free number, and they would contact customer service at CAT. 80% of the “net” commission will go to cat staff who books your client while you are out of town. The customer would be retained by you as your client. This is also voluntary. The above two options would suit a one or two person business who goes on vacation etc…
Custom WinCruise Reporting:
Do you need to run sophisticated reports within the client base for marketing or paying bills etc...? Chances are, if you need a report we have as well. For $25 per hour and or plus programming costs for WinCruise, we can assist you with reporting. WinCruise tutorials available online for free including basic reporting instructions.
MISC:
IC’s will not need to log hours and can work as little or as many as they deem necessary to run their business(set own schedule). IC’s will not be eligible for health insurance, or other employee benefits that employees of cat will be eligible for. IC’s will not work in our office. IC’s will not have a “boss” at cat. IC’s will have to report and pay their own taxes. IC’s will not get draws, salaries, hourly wages etc…IC’s will be paid on a straight commission basis. IC's understand and aknowledge that this is not an employment opportunity, it is a business opportunity which carries risk and rewards which can or will differ depending on the individual(s).
Training:
To be an IC or partner agency, you must have travel industry experience and must be able to sell travel without industry or sales training from CAT, though vendor updates, wincruise training(required), and FAM opportunities are passed on as a voluntary opportunity. We will provide instruction as to how to utilize our system to invoice CAT and customers. CAT as a main contact to the travel vendors, we can be the intermediary for vendor webinars/industry training offered by them.
If you do lack travel agent experience but still wish to get into this program, the good news is that there is a solution. We are always looking for good travel agent employees. We also have a Travel Agent Certification Program. This does not however guarantee employment or admission into our Independent Affiliate program. A back ground check, reference check, as well as interviews will be conducted to determine eligibility into either scenario.
Micro Loans Considered on a case by case business to proven sales persons.
Click Here to Get Started
Click Here to Learn More