Travel Experts Inc.
Home Based Agent Program
1. Find What is Right For You
Understand your own base of business and target host agencies that provide what you need. Are you strictly
leisure? If so is it upscale leisure or budget? Are you a corporate agent? If so what GDS system do you need,
and do you need management reports, 24 hour service, etc.? Not all hosts provide these.
2. Specialization
Find a Host Agency that SPECIALIZES in Independents. Agencies that mix salaried employees with dabbling in
Independents can result in conflicts of interest and headaches in general if their systems are not set up to cater to
Independents.
3. Length of Time in Business
Check it out, newcomers to Hosting may not have the systems in place and the bugs worked out. In addition, if the
return on their investment is not what they expected, you may find the doors closed at some point in the future and
no way to collect commissions owed to you.
4. Up Front Money
A large amount of cash required up front should send signals that the company is not particularly interested in
fostering a long term and mutually beneficial relationship with you.
5. Ease of Access
How difficult is it to get in touch with someone there? Do you have to wait for a callback? Can you talk directly with
someone in management? Inaccessability can be a sign that the Host organization will consider you a small fish in
a big pond.
6. Sizzle vs. Steak
Beware of expensive to produce, slick marketing pieces that give the appearance of a Hollywood production. Dig
deeper and find out what the real meat of the program is.
7. Commission Levels
Is the Host Agency large enough and well connected enough to get you higher level commissions – further do they
share the amounts over and above the base commission with the Independents?
8. Systems That Work
Ask questions about specific procedures, how things work and how long they take. Unclear answers may indicate
a lack of system or lack of ATTENTION to an issue that may be very important to you.
9. References
Ask the Host Agency for references of their CURRENT users as well as any FORMER users. When you talk to the
references, ask them for OTHER people you can check with, whose names have NOT been provided by the host.
You may get a different perspective.
10. Realistic Expectations
Host agencies are just that – they are meant to HOST your business endeavor. They provide the incubator for your
business egg to grow. Don’t count on tons of business coming your way just because of the particular Host. Your
business is still YOUR business and as all small business owners know - you have to work at it for it to be
successful.
