The creation of bespoke marketing plans for new recruits has been critical to Vertical Travel Group’s success, according to the company’s marketing director Ben Rodger.
Rodger said every agent who joined the group had a one-to-one call with him to establish key focuses, and urged existing homeworkers to use his team’s services as much as possible.
Describing savvy marketing as the “defining factor of an agent’s success”, he said: “When agents join us, the first thing we do is talk to them on the phone to discuss their marketing needs.
More: Vertical Travel Group unveils growth plans
“This is when we find out if they have a certain niche, their strengths and any areas they could perhaps improve. We can then create a bespoke marketing plan to help them grow their business.”
Vertical’s marketing services, including social media and email marketing campaigns, are offered to agents for free.
“The agents who really thrive are the ones who embrace marketing and get on board with it,” added Rodger.
“Agents are experts at selling holidays, but sometimes they need a push when it comes to attracting clients, and that’s where we come in.”
The group has also changed the way it communicates internally with its homeworkers in a bid to combat “isolation”.
Senior staff at the company call their employees on a regular basis rather than conversing over email to keep them engaged and tackle loneliness.
Rodger said this increased focus on communication had been a “big change” at the company in recent months.
He said: “There comes a certain isolation with working from home, especially if you’re working for yourself, which a lot of our homeworkers are.
“I’m constantly encouraging my team to pick up the phone and call the agents rather than emailing them, and if they don’t pick up, the guys will leave a voicemail or email them to arrange a convenient time to have a chat over the phone.
“We find we get so much more from a five-minute conversation on the phone than we do from an email discussion. It benefits both us and them.”
As part of this new communication strategy, business development director Damian Mc Donough welcomes all new agents to the firm with a phone call.