Selling Travel 101: Enterprise Reaches Out to Home-Based Agents
by John Hawks

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These options give you complete control as a home-based travel agent over your car rental sales. For example, if you package your own FIT tours for clients, you may want the lowest available car rental rates that pay 0 percent commissions because you've bundled a margin for yourself into the overall tour prices. On the other end of the spectrum, you may need the higher rental rates that carry 15 percent commission when you're serving those hard-to-please corporate clients who take up a lot of your selling time. The best part is that you can change your rate and commission structure for every single booking -- you're not locked into one option all of the time!

Once you've enrolled in the Enterprise program (an easy process at www.enterprise.com/ta), you can book your commissionable car rentals via two avenues: phone (800.424.1282) or Internet (logging in using your TRUE/IATA/ARC/CLIA number). Enterprise pays commissions electronically (there's a fee if you prefer payments by check). Don't book directly with local Enterprise branches; instead, you must deal directly with Enterprise's National Reservations Center to earn commissions.

If you still think of Enterprise as a local car rental firm that deals primarily with insurance replacement rentals, think again. The company now boasts more than 200 on-airport locations around the United States, as well as airport desks in Dublin, London, and Toronto. And, as car rental rates across the board have jumped in the past year, Enterprise's rates remain 20 percent less on average than its airport competitors.

This year, Enterprise turned again to its travel agent partners for suggestions to improve its travel agent Web site (www.enterprise.com/ta). Now, you'll find new upgrades and features that are tailored specifically for the benefit of home-based agents:

Complete vehicle descriptions, including passenger and luggage capacity
The total cost for the rental (including taxes and local fees) upfront, not at the end of the reservation Tools for locating the nearest Enterprise locations to your client's final destinations A password-protected database allowing you to store your client database (including booking histories and specific car rental preferences)

If you have any questions about registering for Enterprise's travel agent program or navigating its upgraded site for agents, call 800.424.1282.