Revolution in product training

STAR-RATINGS are up for grabs
for agents who participate in
continuous training on TI’s
revolutionary product training tool
launching this month.
Travelinfo Workshops will be
completely revamped into a 24-hour,
365-day product training classroom on
demand.
By keeping up to date on travel
products they sell, consultants will now
accumulate points toward stars and
their managers will be made aware of
their efforts.
By year end, Travelinfo expects to
have basic training on 50 different
products for new entrants as well as
short update courses for people with
experience who need to know what the
recent changes are.
All training will be available all year.
When consultants complete a course,
they will be awarded between 100
and 200 points. Extra points will be
awarded where the consultant’s travel
agency has a preferred agreement with
a supplier.
A certain number of points will
translate into a star-rating. The more
points an agent accumulates, the more
stars they get and the higher their
rating, says TI’s divisional head, Linda
van der Pol.
The number of stars an agent has is
a reflection of how much training the
agent completed in the 365 days prior.
Agents who have been active on the
TI Workshop system will be credited
with the points they’ve accumulated (in
the last 12 months) from the date the
new training launches.
The training results will be updated
monthly and sent to agency and
consortium management so that it can
be included in key performance area
management.
Morné du Preez, ceo of Tourvest
Travel Services, enthusiastically
welcomed the development. Boardroom
training was not working well, he said,
and Tourvest would ask its preferred
suppliers to put their product training
up on Travelinfo Workshops. “We will
make it mandatory for our consultants
to participate.”
Anton Marsh, md of Travelinfo, said
that in the last year, 2 927 consultants
completed on average, five Travelinfo
workshops. “It is all about consultants
being able to book travel products with
confidence, so we now expect to see
most leading suppliers participating
and the course completion rate is set
to soar.”
The service, including the monthly
management reports, is free to travel
agents.
Travelinfo will explore the possibility of
working with Asata on its professional
education programme, but for the
moment they are separate.
For details on how the points and
star system will work, contact Anton at
antonm@nowmedia.co.za.