Third Session: Outstanding Commissions

Several announcements from Sheri:

1. Outstanding report now sent out at the beginning of the month (real time = real time). Weekly sales does NOT include commissions that came in -- unless the amount is different from invoiced amount.
   
2. If you need help with collections, give as much detail as possible (dates of stay, confirmation number, name of client, etc.) Use partner contacts to track down missing commissions. Virtuoso.net includes contact info for commission collections.
   
3. Work items that are 90+ days and/or $100+ first.
4. When you contact Europe hotels and some other suppliers, they will request an invoice. A form is available that Sheri will send to everyone.
5. What method of payment should you request?
6. 
   
• Check in US Dollars (no fees & fast)
• Wire transfer (fee involved & fast)
• Charge vendor's credit card (3% fee & fast)
• Last resort = put on Brownell credit card (slow, slow, slow)
7. If they say they have already paid, ask them for a check #, date of payment, which company (sometimes it is a parent company), processing company.
   
8. Typical problems with missing commissions = Pegasus (awful, mainly big hotels and car companies) or missing information on invoice (missing passenger names, etc.)
9. Tips from "The Pros"

10. • If possible, translate the invoice to local language (Marion)
    • Commission tracking begins when you sell the product. Get all the information up front (when, how, etc.) Keep track of when you are expecting commissions. (John)
    • It does start with the sale. You can choose who to sell through when you are selling the product (e.g. Classic, etc.) Don't just think about the commission amount but think about how easy it is going to be to get paid. (Gayle)

THE FINAL WORD: Have a system. Any system. Make it yours and do it! (Sheri)