To start working with Agents, you’ll first need to set up an Individual Customer Record. Whether you choose to work with Agents Offline or using the Agency API, each Agent will also need an Agent Commission Structure.
REMINDER: By default your system will not have the Agents feature switched on. To check if it is on, navigate to any Individual Customer Record. Below Contact Preferences, and above Tags, you should see a panel which says Agent Commission and a checkbox marked Allowed Access to Agency API. If you cannot see this, then contact our Support Team to request that the Agents feature be switched on for you.
Before setting up Agent Commission Structures, make sure you’re familiar with:
In this article, we’ll cover:
- Creating Customer Records for Agents
- Setting up Agent Commission Structures
- Assigning a Commission Structure to Agents
WARNING: You do not set Agents up as an API user. The API user is role is not required for working with Agencies Offline or when using the Agency API.
Agent Customer Records
First, start by creating Customer Records for any Agents you wish to work with. Rather than setting Agents up as Organisations, you’ll need to set them up as Individuals.
TIP: You can use an existing Customer Record, but it's best to use a new email address that doesn’t already exist on your system for this. This is because any previous sales that have already been processed on that account will then appear under the Agent.
You can find the Customers section in the Sales Interface.
Create a new customer record by following the steps in Creating a New Customer Record.
Additionally, when creating a new account for Agents, you’ll also need to make sure the record contains an active email address.
Tags and Attributes
Whilst setting up customer records for Agents, we recommend also setting up Customer Attributes or Tags to identify these accounts.
Attributes or Tags can then be used for reporting as well as entitling Agents to specific offers or promo codes. When working with the Agent API you can also use Tags or Attributes to set up priority booking.
For example, you could use a Customer Attribute of “Agency” with a dropdown list of all the Agencies you work with. Or create a Tag Group with a tag per Agent that you work with.
Also, Tagging the record with an “Agent” Tag will be useful for grouping multiple agents together for reporting purposes, such as excluding them from Customer Lists.
Next, follow the steps below to set up an Agent Commission Structure.
What is a Commission Structure?
A commission structure allows you to add a commission rate inside the ticket price. This is the value that is retained by the Agent.
For example, let's say you allocate a certain number of tickets to an Agency to sell. Your agreement with them is that they keep 20% of the value of each ticket. The Commission Rate in this case would be 20%. Because this is an inside commission, the customer won’t be charged extra on top of the value of the ticket. When reconciling, the Agency would then pay you your 80% share.
Whether you are planning to set up the Agent API or work with Agents offline, you’ll need to set up Agent Commission Structures for reporting and financial reconciliation purposes.
Setting up Agent Commission Structures
To set up a new Agent Commission Structure, go to the Admin Interface > Pricing > Agent Commission Structures.
To create a new structure, click the Add button:
Basic Details
Next, you’ll need to fill in the required information to create your structure.
- Name: Give your new Agent Commission Structure a Name. You may also wish to reference the commission rate in the name to make it easier for you to select the correct rate in future. For example, you might call a Commission Structure something like ‘Premium 20%’
- Description: Adding a description is optional but will be useful to provide context to your future self or your colleagues.
With those added, click Next to set the Default Commission.
Default Commission
The Default Commission rate is the commission that will be charged in this commission structure by default across all Events.
In the next section, we’ll cover how to set up Event Rules to allow you to set a different inside commission for different Instances. If no Event Rules apply to an Event, the commission rate will revert to the Default Commission.
To set the Default Commission choose from:
- A set Value per ticket sold (e.g. $5 per ticket)
- A Percentage of each ticket (e.g. 20% on each ticket)
- A Custom combination of either value or percentage commissions, varied by Ticket Type and Price Band
- Click Ok to save and move on to create an Event Rule.
Event Rules
Event Rules allow you to limit Commission Structures to include or exclude certain Events or Instances.
One example of how this can be useful is if you want to encourage Agents to sell particular Instances by offering a higher rate of commission on those Instances only.
To view the Event Rules of a Commission Structure, select an existing Commission Structure.
By default, you’ll see the Match All event rule. This rule matches the default commission rate to all customers and events.
To add a custom Event Rule, click the Add button.
- Name: Give your Event Rule a clear and descriptive name.
- Description: Adding a description is optional but will be useful to provide context to your future self or your colleagues.
Click Next to move on to set the Event Criteria.
Drag and drop metrics into the Drop criteria here box. This will create the rules by which Events and Instances are included or excluded.
The Event Criteria works in the same way as when creating Criteria Sets. You can use the AND, OR and NOT rules to layer multiple metrics. Don’t forget to uncheck the Only show commonly used criteria box to see the full selection.
Once you have selected your Criteria, click Next to set the Commission rate.
Just like when setting the default Commission Rate, this can be:
- A set Value per ticket sold (e.g. $5 per ticket);
- A Percentage of each ticket (e.g. 20% on each ticket);
- A Custom combination of either value or percentage commissions, varied by Ticket Type and Price Band.
If you have multiple Event Rules active across a single Instance you can use the up and down arrows to set the order in which of the rules apply first.
For example, you could have one rule for £5 commission on a Monday evening Instance, and £3 on all week night Instances. By putting the £5 Monday night commission at the top, this will apply first and not be overridden by the £3 commission.
Now that you have your Commission Structures in place, next we’ll cover how to assign these to the Agent’s Customer Record.
Assigning a Commission Structure
Once you have created your Agent customer record, navigate to that customer record to add the Agency Commission Structure.
Below Contact Preferences, and above Tags, you should see a panel which says Agent Commission and a checkbox marked Allowed Access to Agency API.
Click on the section or the blue pencil icon to edit.
Next, select the Agent Commission structure you wish to apply from the drop down menu:
Click Save.
TIP: Only one Agent Commission Structure can be applied per Agent customer record. If you need to use more than one Structure for an Agent across the same instances, the best way to do this is to create a new customer record for that Agent. For example, if you wanted to set up an Offer with a different Agent Commission Structure and have this run alongside your normal Commission Structure you would first create a new Customer Record for the Agent. You could then use a Tag to differentiate the two records, use one of the Tags as the Offer criteria and let the agent know which one to use to be eligible for the Offer.
Next, you’ll need to decide if you’ll want to use the Agency API or Agencies Offline.
If you’re using the Agency API, at this stage you’ll also need to give the Agent’s Customer record access to the API key. Follow the steps below to set this up.
If you are working with Agencies Offline, jump to the Agencies Offline article to continue the setup process.
API Key
If you are working with the API, once you’ve selected an Agent Commission Structure, you will then need to check the box marked Allow access to the API. Click Save.
REMINDER: In order to enable API access, the Customer Record must have a valid email address.
This will prompt you to add a mobile/cell number for the customer. The number must be added in international format. +44 for UK numbers, +3 for ROI numbers, +1 for US/CA numbers (for US/CA numbers, enter the number without any parentheses or dashes).
REMINDER: This mobile number is not stored on the system. It is therefore not visible against the customer record in the Mobile or Phone field.
Once the number is submitted, two things will happen:
- An API verification code will be generated and sent to the Agent on this number.
The API verification code is used as a security measure. The Agent will need to verify that they have received this before they get the API key that will allow them to link to your system via the API feed.
The verification code is valid for 24 hours. You can regenerate the key by clicking Reset API Key button in the customer record.
- The Agent will receive an e-mail with a link to the key generation tool.
The key generation tool will ask the Agent for the API verification code which they should have received via text/SMS. Once inputted, they will see the API key. Because it is sensitive to your system security, the API key should never be shared via methods such as e-mail.
TIP: If you need to stop access for a specific Agent record at any point, uncheck the ‘Allowed access to agent API’ box and save the change. This will stop the integration with that account until you choose to reinstate access.
Further Reading
With your Agency accounts set up, next you’ll need to follow the steps outlined in either Agencies Offline or Working with Agencies via the Agency API to continue completing the set up.
To continue learning about how working with Agencies and Spektrix, take a look at the following articles: