Forum Moderators: skibum
I get good traffic and at least 5 percent of people that visit my site make online booking/enquiries. My contacts who have agreed to pay me a commision for any bookings I send them say at least 10 percent of all enquiries I send them become business.
My problem is getting them to pay me the commision. I really have to fight with them. They tell me they still have to follow up the last couple of enquiries etc etc. Now they are busy I know that .. but ....
Has anyone out there done a similar thing and has any advice for me please. Many thanks!
SN
a friend of mine suggested I work with them and ask them for a retainer each month and treat it like advertising and charge them for the space. i am thinking of maybe pursuing this avenue .... any thoughts?
Without getting into too many specifics (as everybody's requirements are different), there are a number of reliable travel booking companies with solid affiliate programs that might fit your needs.
Each one operates slightly differently, commissions and payments vary (sometimes within the same program), some offer solid support and advice, with some you're on your own.
Search around for hotel affiliate program or travel affiliate program and see what you find. Be sure to read the affiliate agreement, investigate what tracking and reporting systems are in place, consider how you can incorporate and promote their product on your sites (linking options, branding, etc.). Send a few e-mails for more information and evaluate the responses.
You might find this consolidated approach more efficient than managing multiple one-on-one arrangements.
Jim
My contacts who have agreed to pay me a commision for any bookings I send them say at least 10 percent of all enquiries I send them become business.
If I understand correctly; you send them a bunch of enquiries, some of them book, you get paid much later when booked guests arrive.
I have worked on both sides of such arrangements. It can work well, but collections are a challenge until your volume is big enough to matter to the clients. (Then they will start pushing you.)
1. You may be asking too much of your clients. Sorting out the commissionable bookings sounds like a follow-up nightmare for them. Can you make the process easier for them? Have you talked to the accounting people on the client side? They may know what you should add to the process to get it to work more smoothly.
2. Do you have any way to determine who booked from among the enquiries sent? If you do, then try sending the clients "helpful" updates of upcoming arrivals as the dates approach. This is a good time to flag the booking as commissionable.
3. I'd keep working at the commission side a while before going over to an advertising model. It pays much better.
This kind of business practices abuses the affiliate relationship.
designhaus, I would be taking jimbeetle's advice and looking around for another program who will look after you.
Just keep your fees within their budget - I dealt with a site that sold us leads on a per enquiry basis. It worked very well for a couple of years until they raised the price to an unrealistic level - it then worked out cheaper for us to develop and promote our own system.
I've tried the percentage of closed sales systems with several companies.....they are a rollercoaster ride at best in markets where it can take several months to close a sale.
Business is business, I advise keeping the lines of financial responsibility very clear. If you deliver the visitors or inquiries you should be paid within a month or 6 weeks whether the supplier/service provider is capable of closing the sale or not.
Overtime averages will work themselves out and everyone should be happy with the relationship.
