OutsideAgents.com’s Chad Burt notes that there is no shortage of agent websites in the marketplace. But in Burt’s opinion, the issue isn’t quantity, it’s quality.

”There are a lot of competitors that put agents in an annual website for an annual fee.  They sold this pipe dream that that alone will make agents money,” says Burt, co-owner and co-founder of OutsideAgents.com, the first major host agency to offer Agent Studio to its travel advisors. “So some agents are leery of websites. It’s a question of rebuilding that trust.”

But many companies competing in the website space do not provide agents with the proper training and tools that will arm them with competitive advantages, Burt contends.

“They never got around to teaching an agent what to do with the darn thing” he says. “Every person, like every small business, is unique. Some agents get befuddled at the notion of even having a website.”

Burt says that he is seeing an upward trend with a larger number of OutsideAgents' 4,000 members using Agent Studio websites. We talked to Burt about Agent Studio, the need for agents today to have a website and his host agency’s training opportunities.

What’s your take on the Agent Studio website solution?

Agent Studio is ideally designed to enable agents to demonstrate a cohesive marketing presence. It’s the simplicity of the site relative to its power. Agents don’t want to spend time clicking on 650 links to produce the site. Also, the content is reliable, usable and intuitive. The site has clean lines, clean sales funnels and a great environment.

The Agent Studio Marketing Center makes it super-easy to be in the mix and keep agents top of mind with clients. The Marketing Center, in conjunction with other tools, is also a great way to parry and dodge the OTA threat.

What sort of training does OutsideAgents.com offer its agents?

All the training offered by OutsideAgents.com is designed to be usable. There’s plenty of academic training out there.  OutsideAgents.com’s training is a practical “meat and potatoes” version to help agents, and it [explains] what Agent Studio is all about.

Other tools includeOutsideAgents.com MyBookingGenie, which enables agents to create custom micro sites for groups, use integrated social marketing to promote the group, and even collect registration and payment data from clients online. The MyPaymentGenie allows agents to schedule and automate payments.

Why do agents today need their own website?

Today, a website is an integral part of most travel agents’ sales and marketing efforts. You have to have a website to look good. Without one it’s like showing up to a business meeting in shorts and flip-flops. They are an essential part of an agent’s image and can be a profitable marketing tool. If you’re not leveraging all the brand development opportunities and ignoring the Internet, you’re going to have a bad time.