A TTA In Training Part 2

• “Diatribe of crap.”
• “…to really think that any professional could get all the [travel] training they need in one afternoon is really ignorant on your part”
• “Im sorry you missed that point....But lets be honest, you really weren't there to hear that were you?”
• “But, the main point, is that ANN was indeed looking specifically for items that received far more weight in her post.”

I could go the sticks and stones route on this, but I won’t. Remember, I was told this wasn’t travel training, so I wasn’t expecting to hear all about Carnival Cruise Lines and what they offer, or becoming an Aruba, Scotland, Whatever Country Specialist. I was curious as to what it would be, so when the agenda said that Session 1 would be about YTB Travel Network, I wasn’t surprised when they started talking about the company structure, the different components of the RTA website, what vendors were represented, and what type of packages a client could book off the website. I was impressed with the Travel Portal. All this made sense to me. What started throwing up the red flags was when the Directors would gloss over certain things and spend an inordinate amount of time on others. What was being said versus what wasn’t being said, and the context it was said in.

This training was presented via Power Point. The Directors simply expounded on each slide as it came up. To give you examples of things that made me uncomfortable as a professional in the travel industry, take the ATM (Automated Travel Marketing). Compared to what is available to agencies as a whole, this CRM system is simplistic. The only thing it does is capture email addresses to send out the Steals and Deals newsletter. There were 6 slides showing how to enter those email addresses and what ATM does. Then look at how many slides there were on “Travel as an Insider” – there were 10 slides alone that had the phrase “Travel as an Insider” on them out of 19. RED FLAG. There were 2 that said “Travel Training” on them and absolutely no mention on those slides of Marc Mancini and the training modules he is developing for YTB (which is why I said it seemed to be an “Oh, BTW” thought – they verbally mentioned these modules, but didn’t really know anything about them or who was developing them). You would think that having Marc Mancini do this training for YTB would be a huge deal, but no, it hardly gets mentioned. No slides as an example of those modules or the specialist courses offered by vendors. RED FLAG. There were 10 slides that had the title Tax Deductions, but we never talked about the fact that RTAs are Independent Contractors in their relationship with YTB and the IRS requirements concerning that status. RED FLAG. And 1 slide that said E&O insurance is recommended. Explanation as to why? Brushed off. RED FLAG, RED FLAG, RED FLAG.

But let’s go back to the ATM. As any TTA B&M owner, IC, or home-based agent can tell you, the most valuable part of the business we own is our client list. It’s not the physical assets of the business. It bears repeating – our client list. Does YTB talk about this? No. Do the RTAs realize this? No. In fact, by the contract the RTAs sign, all clients belong to YTB. There is no protection for the RTA if YTB should one day decide to start marketing directly to the clients and bypass the RTA. [*gasp* “Coach would never do that!” – Don’t count on it.] Just think of the number of email addresses all those RTAs have stored in ATM, and YTB could take them over at any time. Every IC contract I’ve ever seen addresses the fact that my client is my client and not my host agency’s. The host agency cannot market to my clients without my permission. If I change hosts, my client list goes with me. Period.

But Directors don’t become Directors by selling travel. How would they know? One of the Directors became Level 1 in 7 months. How would she know?

How would any of you know? You accuse me of being ignorant and “looking” for signs. I don’t have to look when they are slapping me in the face, saying “Here I am, here I am!” Sorry, guys, but YOU need to get a clue. Coach and his minions are playing you for everything you’re worth. When you fail, it’s YOUR fault. When you succeed, YTB owns everything. The whole presentation was subtly telling me that being an RTA was ok, you could make a few bucks, get some great tax deductions, and get some cheap vacations, but just wait until we get to the afternoon – that’s where the real money is.

And you know, even though I hate the phrase, I’ll give you the “I make money while I sleep.” You do. Any agent that has a website clients can book on does. It’s the context it’s said in. However, I will go and thump the next Director who says “Over 208,000 B&M agencies have gone out of business in the last 8 years” in my presence.

Considering the post from earlier this morning, I thought that a follow up by Ann was appropriate. I also want to point out that for months, the MLM supporters have been telling the TTAs to go to the "travel" training, go to a CRTA training to see the "travel" side of YTB. We have heard that every program we attend is not the way it is supposed to be, yet YTB continues to allow these "not right" programs to continue. So, a TTA does attend one of the trainings and lo and behold, not much travel. I really do not think anyone is shocked--on either side. But what is surprising is that rather than discussing what she witnessed, the immediate reaction from YTB is the four bullet points above! Wait, did I say that was surprising? Sorry, that most certainly is NOT.