An Interview with the Leadership Team at Nexion,
including General Manager Jackie Friedman CTC, CTIE
By: Joanie Ogg

Nexion has a lot going on as they gear up for another incredible year. I had a chance to talk with Jackie and some of the Nexion leadership team, where they shared their thoughts about the host agency’s 2010 agenda.

What is Nexion’s outlook and plans for 2010?

In 2009, despite a challenging economy, we saw encouraging growth in all areas of our business, including having a strong network of 2,100 travel professionals. Nexion’s goal that the entire support staff of 52 works toward daily is to position our agents to be successful by providing them with the tools, technology and training they need to grow their businesses. As one of the most trusted host agencies in the U.S., Nexion is poised to continue to grow our business in 2010 by expanding on the many resources we currently have in place to help our agents succeed as independent travel professionals.

Some of the changes we put in place in 2009 will carry over into the new decade to continue to help our agents grow their business.

Training: 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. Nexion University offers our members a one-stop shop to interactive and online training modules and scheduled webinars. Through Nexion University, our members can track their training transcripts as they take part in industry and Nexion training.

We constantly review our available education, and through looking at the changes in the industry and feedback from our agents, our educational arsenal continues to expand. In 2010, we plan on adding a destination webinar series as well as working with other travel industry associations to help agents earn certifications. We believe that an educated agent is a successful agent.

Of course we can’t say enough about the momentum that our annual conference, CoNexion, and our Boot Camps bring. These events are a huge part of Nexion’s commitment of training and development for our agents and allow our members the opportunity to meet in person with fellow agents, our supplier partners and Nexion staff.

Business Development:  In 2009 we launched a pilot Strategic Sales Coach program offering one-on-one coaching to help members establish and achieve specific business goals. The pilot was highly popular and successful among participants, and we’re continuing the momentum by expanding this program across the Nexion membership.

Marketing:  Our partnership with Vacation.com gives our home-based agents innovative electronic and direct mail marketing solutions that keeps their name in front of clients year round. Through our private label ClientBase Marketing Services application, we offer our members targeted consumer promotions that match clients with offers that our agents can sell.

So what sets Nexion apart from other host agencies?

Nexion has grown to be one of the largest host agencies in the United States with sales of $250 million. Named on Travel Weekly’s 2009 Power List, Nexion is the most trusted, full-service host agency for independent travel professionals. Nexion was also named Central Region Agency of the Year by Carnival and Celebrity in the past 12 months.

Because Nexion is owned by Sabre Holdings, you have the financial backing, connections and security of a multi-billion dollar company behind you. You’ll also have the collective support of more than 2,100 members and a 52-member staff, dedicated to your success.

Nexion is very proud to have a strong sense of community among its members. Nexion Town, our social networking community, 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 forum, our members increase their knowledge base by sharing their expertise with others in the community.

In addition to all the comprehensive training, technology and resources we offer that we’ve mentioned, 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 ARC ticketing fulfillment, as well as innovative marketing opportunities and business development support.

Nexion also offers exclusive cruise block space, where we take out a number of group blocks that our agents sell into for favorable pricing and bonus commissions and amenities for passengers. Plus, hosting is our only business! We do not deal directly with consumers. Whether you are a new or experienced travel professional, we have a plan that will suit your needs.

What enhancements is Nexion working on to attract additional corporate agents?

Nexion appeals to both leisure and corporate agents who are looking for a host agency. Many of our training programs and resources reach both types of travel professionals. However, one focus we have for 2010 is to enhance our overall corporate offerings for our agents who book corporate travel or air as part of their business.

We’re giving these agents various resources such as a tip sheet on how to respond to RFPs (Request for Proposal) from corporations and communications geared specifically for GDS users. We’ll expand the Corporate Advisory Board we began in 2009 to learn more about the needs of this subset of agents, and we have plans to add a corporate boot camp training session to the line-up of our popular Nexion Boot Camps that are geared toward our leisure agents.

In addition, we’re enhancing our corporate reporting tools to provide companies better time management and expense information for their corporate travelers. I’m also excited to say we have 20+ airlines that pay our agents commission!

How can travel professionals who are looking to join a host agency learn more about Nexion?

If you’re ready to increase your earnings and simplify your business, we encourage you to contact us through www.nexion.com or sales@nexion.com, or call us at 800-747-6813. We’d love to talk with you more about how you can accelerate your success with Nexion as your premier host agency.