In And Out: A Former RTA Speaks

This was sent to me from a former RTA. Completely unedited in her own words. It should be noted that this agent is now working with a host that is not only supportive and knowledgeable, but they are also a Virtuoso Agency!

YTB…Why we Got In? How We Got Out?
Anonymous

I have always wanted to be in business for myself…always. And I have tried many “business-in-a-box” scenarios. Most of these were MLM of one form or another. The recruiting part was never for me. I was always most interested in the product sales side of things but inevitably those attempts didn’t work for me because they required a lot of time and money invested for little or no return on that investment…and storage and delivery and demonstrations or “parties”, that while very entertaining, did not a business make. So along came a friend touting this great “new” business idea. An opportunity to provide a service and earn a living doing something I’d always enjoyed doing personally. It didn’t require any training and anybody could do it successfully with minimal effort but there again was that whole MLM thing. So while I was intrigued I had to pass. I just didn’t want to get started on something where the success of it depended on my ability to get others to join the business rather than purchase my services.

Well the issue of YTB came up again when my business partner heard about it and decided it would be a good idea. We’d sign up but just for the travel side…if we managed to recruit a couple of folks that was fine but that’s not where our focus would be. After all we had been assured that YTB was 2 businesses not one and that we could turn a tidy profit without ever recruiting anyone. Yeah right! (sarcasm) So we took the plunge! We were travel agents, at least that’s what we hoped but building a travel business when no one in your up-line knows what the heck they’re doing is next to impossible. Why? Because there is no such thing IMHO as being a competent travel professional without training…formal or OJT. Without training from someone who understands the business you can’t even meet the bare minimum standards to service your customers efficiently.

I was lucky. I took my 1st CLIA class and loved it. So I took another and another which led to books and online academies etc. So I was learning and the more I learned the more I realized how little I knew and how much less my up-line knew about the actual travel business than I did by that point. But I was eager to learn.

Then there was IATA. And then I had a group, a very nice sized group that wanted to take a cruise but they were only interested in Royal Caribbean. I could not interest them in any other line since they wanted to sail on The Freedom of the Seas and of course RC had terminated any dealings with YTB. So here we were a fledgling business and we had to refer our largest ever group 100 cabins to a friend who wasn’t with YTB. Now I needed to figure out how I could make my dream work without ever being eligible for an IATAN card or without being able to sell one of the largest and most popular cruise lines.

So one day I stumbled on TRO …literally. Naïve newbie that I was, I didn’t even realize there was any controversy between MLMs and “real” travel agents until I tried to enter one of the “closed” forums. I was working very hard trying to build my travel business…trying to be a good travel agent…and I was being told I wasn’t really a travel agent at all. All I wanted was access to resources that would help me. My feelings were so hurt. I wrote John and Richard and basically begged for admittance. I was prepared to do it without TRO if need be but I hoped they would see that I wasn’t a recruiter. I was a travel agent-in-training and needed them. I guess that did it.

Once I had access to other threads I was able to understand what the problem was and it helped me to take a good hard look at my “host”. And I didn’t like what I was seeing. Why had no one told me about the value to my business of group cruises or group tours? Why had no one told me I could book travel through other vendors? Why had no one told me…well a lot of things?

John and Richard were there to answer my questions. John patiently walked me through the pros and cons of both business models. He never attacked or belittled me. He seemed to understand that I really just didn’t know there was another way. He was the first person to explain the term “host” to me and explain that there were many. He even directed me to previous threads to research what others said about their hosts!

So today my partner and I own our own CLIA affiliated agency AND we are hosted by an excellent, supportive, and knowledgeable host…2 of them actually. We have done more business in the last 5 months than in the 2 ½ years we were with YTB. So now you know why we got in….and how we got out!