Become a Home Based Travel Agent

 Accelerate Your Success with Nexion
An Interview with Nexion’s General Manager Jackie Friedman
By: Joanie Ogg CTC MCC

We interviewed Jackie Friedman this past summer and wanted to touch base again with her and Nexion to learn what the host agency is doing to weather the global economic crisis and current trends in the travel business.

How is Nexion well positioned to host independent travel professionals?

Nexion Inc. has been in business since 1995, and we’ve grown to be one of the largest host agencies in the United States with sales of $250 million. We have the backing of Sabre Holdings, a multi-billon dollar company. Plus, hosting is our only business! We do not deal directly with consumers.

Currently we have about 2,100 independent agents. Our success is dependent on their success, so we offer a variety of programs to help them reach their full potential. With Nexion, our members can choose to keep up to 100% of their top-tier commissions, and they get paid twice a month via direct deposit. We offer access to all four major GDS systems, with full ticket fulfillment, as well as targeted marketing through the funding of ClientBase and ClientBase Marketing Services.

What is Nexion’s focus for 2009?

Our new ad campaign, “Accelerate Your Success,” will shape all of our projects and priorities for 2009. We focus on our agents’ success by offering a wide variety of training and education solutions to increase our members’ knowledge on how to sell our suppliers’ products, our processes and tools, and general business skills.

• We’ll hold four of our popular, high-demand Boot Camps in 2009. These intensive, three-day training sessions are geared toward new Nexion agents as well as experienced agents who need a boost and want to make the most out of their Nexion membership.

• We’ll host our first stand-alone conference October 1-3. CoNexion 2009 will offer an extensive agenda with a true opportunity for our agents to increase their knowledge and make lasting “CoNexions” through networking with fellow members, staff and preferred suppliers.

• We are revamping our training offerings through Nexion University, which offers our members a one-stop shop to interactive and online training modules and scheduled webinars. Through Nexion University, our members will be able to track their training transcripts as they take part in industry and Nexion training.

• We’re launching a limited release of a new strategic sales coaching program to help our agents who have a commitment to growing and are prepared to invest time to upgrade their skills and business approach. We plan to expand the program broadly across our membership upon evaluation of the outcome of the pilot program.

• Our Nexion PowerUP! program, which we launched in late 2008, is the perfect solution for new travel agents that features exclusive training and mentorship opportunities. Nexion PowerUP! offers a fully dynamic learning program for new sellers of travel who are well networked and ready to accelerate their success. The program is like no other in that classes are delivered in several different formats to ensure effective learning for all students, including live one-on-one and group mentoring calls, online interactive coursework and live educational workshops. We’re so excited to offer this new program because we realize there are a lot of talented people who have the skills but are new to travel and may not know where to start. The great thing is that PowerUP! participants earn as they learn and keep 70% of commissions earned!

How does the Accelerate Your Success theme extend to your preferred suppliers?

Nexion offers our agents more than 75 preferred suppliers, and we truly believe in a three-way partnership between us, our members and these supplier partners. Our suppliers invest to provide members with education and resources to increase their sales, and ultimately they see a return on that investment when our agents are successful. Because of the size and strength of Nexion, our agents earn top-tier with our suppliers.

We also leverage our supplier relationships with exclusive cruise block space. We take out a number of group blocks that our agents sell into for favorable pricing and bonus commissions and amenities for passengers.

In addition, suppliers provide exclusive land FAMs and Seminars at Sea, which provide a unique learning opportunity and personal networking.

How does Nexion help agents who work from home feel part of a larger community?

Nexion is very proud to have a strong sense of community among its members. In 2008 we launched Nexion Town, our social networking community, which has become a part of many of our members’ daily ritual. This forum gives Nexion agents with similar backgrounds, niches and geographies a chance to network in a variety of ways, including joining public and private online groups, asking questions and making recommendations. Through this community networking tool, our members increase their knowledge base by sharing their expertise with others in the community.

In addition, we hold monthly networking calls, which I facilitate, so members can ask questions of Nexion or other members. We also talk about pertinent travel topics such as what we need to do differently to survive the economy. Of course our annual conference and Boot Camps, which I mentioned previously, are a huge part of Nexion’s community commitment. We also host Nexion-specific networking gatherings for our members at the major travel shows and events during the year.

Our agents also can interact with more than 50 staff members, most of who are travel veterans, who are dedicated to supporting our agents’ business.

What are Nexion’s fees and commission levels?

We charge a one-time activation fee, and our monthly fees vary depending on the plan type selected. The Nexion90 plan has no monthly fee, and the Nexion 100 plan is $179 a month per agent. Both programs have multiple agent pricing. If agents book air, we offer access to four GDS plans, which start at $39 a month. Details can be found on our Web site at www.nexion.com.

Our commission splits range from 70-100%. Our new PowerUP! program for new sellers of travel start out at a 70/30 split, since those newer agents need a higher level of training and support. Nexion earns top-tier, front-end commissions with most suppliers. We pass on the total commission amount to our agents at their contracted commission splits.

Are there any other comments that you would like to add, Jackie?

Now more than ever it’s important to get associated with a strong host agency where you’re sure you’re going to get paid. If you’re ready to Accelerate Your Success and get started with Nexion, then contact us through www.nexion.com or sales@nexion.com, or call us at 800-747-6813.