Avoya Rewards 2020 Agency Sales With Commission Incentive

WHY IT RATES: Avoya believes that loosening the conditions of the commission growth incentive was a powerful way to support its agencies. —Janeen Christoff, TravelPulse Senior Writer

Avoya Travel just announced it will be paying additional commission overrides to qualifying Independent Agencies in the Avoya Travel Network based on 2020 earned commission levels. Avoya launched the Independent Agency commission growth incentive in the first quarter of 2020 to extremely positive feedback from the Avoya Network.

The incentive program was designed to reward Independent Agencies that generated high levels of commission growth with additional commission override payments. While several Independent Agencies were able to reach the original growth levels despite the tumultuous nature of sales in 2020 due to COVID-19, Avoya decided to lower the 2020 levels for the entire Avoya Network, resulting in significant payments to many Independent Agencies.

Avoya recognized that loosening the conditions of the commission growth incentive was a powerful way to continue to support the Independent Agencies in the Avoya Network by putting money directly into their hands.

“Avoya understands the challenges that Independent Agencies experienced throughout 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic so we decided to look at ways of making it easier for them to qualify for the commission growth incentive we introduced last year,” said Steve Hirshan, Senior Vice President of Sales at Avoya Travel. “We know it’s been an extremely difficult year for the Independent Agencies in the Avoya Network and Avoya remains committed to supporting them and helping them continue to grow their businesses. Paying this money directly to these qualifying Independent Agencies is Avoya’s thank you for being integral to our past and future Shared Success™.”

The program was originally designed to pay out Independent Agencies based on specific commission growth levels in 2020 compared to 2019 commissions. The intention of the incentive was for a large portion of the Avoya Network to qualify for the commission override payments based on the historic period of growth and Independent Agency sales momentum Avoya had going into 2020. With the decrease in commission payments caused by the global suspension of leisure travel in 2020, Avoya removed the growth thresholds outlined in the program, which allowed for several more Independent Agencies to qualify for payments based on 2020 commissions than the original terms would have.

Independent Agencies that were told they would be receiving payments under the new terms were thrilled at the announcement.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to make additional monies and to have the bonus income come through my own earnings and drive,” said Sheri Mruz, Owner of Directions Luxury Travel LLC, a member of the Avoya Network. “Money talks, so incentives like this one are motivating for people in sales. The incentive plan allows Independent Agencies to set goals based on their personal performance and to monitor their progress.”

While Avoya’s commission growth incentive was based on high levels of growth for Independent Agencies in the Avoya Network for 2020, Avoya has an additional program open to all agency owners in the Network that it has been running for over a decade called Instant Commission. With Instant Commission, Independent Agencies can choose to take a commission advance on future bookings for a nominal fee. Avoya has paid out over $1 million in advanced commissions since the program’s inception and members of the Avoya Network have utilized Instant Commission throughout the pandemic to assist in covering their Independent Agency’s costs of operations.

Avoya also developed several initiatives during the pandemic aimed at supporting Independent Agencies in the Avoya Network and recognizing the hard work put in by travel advisors, including waiving all Independent Agency fees for four months, offering access to expert legal and accounting assistance through the Avoya CARES program, and a limited-time promotion that currently waives Avoya’s affiliation fee for new qualified travel agencies.

SOURCE: Avoya Travel press release.