TPI Summit brings new developments, direction for 2015

TPI hosted its 2015 Summit series meeting in Toronto on June 10, the sixth of nine cities the network will visit across Canada over a period of 11 days.

The Summit series is a training and networking event that provides TPI’s advisors with the opportunity to connect and engage with the organization’s team and preferred partners through presentations, workshops and a trade show.

“Toronto is always the largest summit event for us,” Tim Morgan, vice-president, TPI told PAX in a one-on-one interview. “We’re always happy with the level of enthusiasm we see in this city, both from our advisors, and our partners.”

The events also gives TPI an opportunity to bring its network up to speed with status updates for the organization as it approaches the beginning of its corporate fiscal year in August, which was delivered to the agents in attendance by Morgan and TPI’s recently-appointed COO and SVP of finance, Steve Ruddy.

“We’re up on our gross travel sales,” Morgan said. “Our main areas of growth are in ITC groups, group sales in general, as well as cruise and FIT.”

Although TPI’s business is mainly ITC-focused, Morgan stated that its FIT and cruise components are growing at a faster pace than those of ITC, as they allow travel advisors more opportunities to demonstrate their value to clients, due to the more complicated nature of such customizable products.

With that in mind, TPI’s focus for 2015 will turn toward helping advisors achieve greater commission yields for their individual businesses, which Morgan said comes down to selling premium product, in addition to travel insurance.

“That’s a question for us going forward: How can we improve the commissions that are going right into advisors’ pockets?” Morgan said, going on to explain that put simply, it’s a matter of working smarter, not harder.

In support of that, TPI sales teams across Canada plan to work in close contact with the organization’s training department, examining the best practices of members who have a high rate of earnings, and sharing what makes them successful across the network. Regional sales managers and directors of sales will work individually with agents to develop business plans, helping them set individual goals, all the while putting an emphasis on commission margins.

“We’ll take examples of [good business] practice, train TPI advisors on it, and then follow up with each of them to help maintain the plans they’ve individually set for themselves,” Morgan said.

Other concentrations for the coming year include technology, including promoting relevant tools such as online booking engines, and narrowing TPI’s training programs to provide content that is more significant to the needs of its individual travel agents.

“As TPI grows and develops, we’re seeing a need to be more specific in terms of the [instruction] we provide, so that it’s relevant to whatever stage our advisors are at in their businesses,” Morgan said, going on to state that the organization’s heightened standards will also extend to their associate program, which is geared toward advisors who are new to the travel industry. 

Beginning Aug. 1, TPI will become more selective when acquiring new advisors, a move Morgan said comes from a desire to ensure that its current members continue to receive a consistent level of support across the board.

“After 20 years in this industry, we’re at a place where we can be a bit more [particular] in what we’re doing and who is coming into the network,” Morgan said, explaining that while the qualifying criteria is still being ironed out and more information is to come, the organization only expects between five and 10 new agents to make the cut each year. 

Morgan also clarified that the affiliate side of the network, consisting of experienced agents, will continue to welcome new members.

PHOTO: Of TPI - Steve Ruddy, COO and senior vice-president of finance; Barbara Chamberlain-Ritchie, director of sales; Rhonda LaFoss, regional sales manager, Eastern Canada & Tim Morgan, vice-president