Answers: buying from The Sales Traveler

What is The Sales Traveler?

An independent editorial desk covering revenue travel — business trips that exist to move revenue. It publishes analyses, frameworks, first-party benchmark research, and the Index Desk: 13 markets and 175+ companies scored on published commitments only.

How are Index scores produced?

Fifteen binary checks per entity, scored against publicly available materials — brand standards, filed policies, pricing pages, product documentation. A check scores Yes only on a documented public commitment; unpublished terms score No. Full protocol: thesalestraveler.com/governance/.

Are the scores objective facts?

They are editorial opinion produced by a published instrument applied to the public record, dated, with a changelog. A No means the desk did not find a documented public commitment — not that a company fails in practice.

How do corrections work?

Send documentation to rachel@thesalestraveler.com. Verified corrections update the score within 7 days, get a changelog line, and appear on the public ledger at thesalestraveler.com/corrections/. Scored companies also hold a right of reply: a 150-word response published verbatim.

Who is Rachel Julian?

Founder and editor of The Sales Traveler. Contact: rachel@thesalestraveler.com · LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/racheljulian · site: racheljulian.com. Contributing writers file under her edit; every verdict is hers.

How do I buy anything on the site?

Every product page has an order form; confirmation and invoice arrive within one business day from rachel@thesalestraveler.com. Card checkout links are being added per product. High-tier programs (seats, portfolios, platform licenses) route directly to Rachel by email or LinkedIn.

What payment methods are accepted?

Invoice with standard remittance (card links rolling out per product); ACH or wire available on request for larger programs. Payment terms are net 15.

What are charter rates?

Every published price is a charter rate held until July 1, 2027 (the first annual re-score edition). Buy at charter and your rate is grandfathered for every uninterrupted renewal; step-up prices are printed on each product page and never invoiced retroactively.

Is there a refund policy?

Delivered digital goods (workbooks, the OS) are non-refundable once delivered. Annual programs cancel at renewal. Undelivered contracted placements are remedied by re-delivery or pro-rata credit — never by editorial coverage. Seal licenses that lapse mid-term on a re-score carry pro-rated credit toward the next edition.

Is procurement paperwork available?

Yes: MSA, W-9, and certificate of insurance on request. The governance page functions as the conduct schedule. Enterprise buyers can request the MSA before any commitment.

Can any purchase change an Index score?

No — in either direction. Fees buy evaluations, presentation, licenses, or reach; scores move only through the published correction protocol. A partner request to influence a score is a contractual breach under the MSA.

Does certification guarantee passing?

No. The bar is 80/100 with no dimension below 2 of 3; properties can and will fail; remediation runs 90 days; revocation removes the mark from the directory within 7 days. Pass rates will be published once n=10.

Do sponsors influence articles or the newsletter?

No. Sponsored content is disclosed; paid reach never changes ratings, rankings, or conclusions; no sponsor picks the stories.

What does Claimed & Managed cost and include?

$2,500/yr per scored entity (charter; $4,500 from July 1, 2027): your response displayed on the entry, evidence links rendered per check, pre-change alerts, and a quarterly competitor-movement digest. Corrections remain free.

What does a Ranked Seal license cost?

$7,500/yr (charter; $12,500 later) for 12 months of commercial use of a current top-3 ranking claim, with official artwork, usage rules, and a verification link. It lapses automatically if a re-score drops the brand from the top 3.

What is the Self-Assessed tier?

$950/yr per property: self-score on the public 15-check instrument, get listed in the directory with a badge kit, labeled self-assessed — unverified everywhere. It is the first rung toward Certified.

What does Sales-Ready Certified cost?

$24,000 per property per year (charter; $29,500 later). Portfolios: 5 properties $95,000, 10 properties $170,000; brand flag pilots by conversation. The fee buys the on-site evaluation, never the outcome.

What do brand partnerships cost?

Sponsored Post $8,750; Brand Partnership $12,800/month or $128,000/year. Above the ladder, by application: Category Partner $150,000/yr (three seats, category-exclusive) and Presenting Partner $400,000/yr (one seat).

How are the anchor seats sold?

Against live receipts — audience, list, and engagement numbers screen-shared in the first conversation. A one-quarter Category pilot credits 100% toward the annual seat. If the numbers aren't there for a buyer's goals, the desk says so and proposes the smaller instrument.

What are the research partnership terms?

Founding window (closes August 14, 2026): Flagship $25,000 (cover credit, category exclusivity, two proprietary survey questions, full anonymized dataset license) and Standard $7,500. Post-window: $35,000 and $10,000. Custom data cuts from $25,000. Partners commit survey distribution; the response ladder is published.

What's in the Data Shop?

Workbooks generated from the desk's scoring data: single-index packs $299, the US50 or Hotel Program Audit $499, Benchmark topline $399, all-access annual $1,499 — live-formula spreadsheets licensed for internal use, delivered by email within one business day.

What is TST Pro?

$249/yr: sortable and exportable index tables, Benchmark results first with raw cuts, saved calculator scorecards, the member Field Brief, and the annual Who Moved report. Team packs (10 seats + the Revenue Travel OS) $2,900.

What is the Revenue Travel OS?

$499 one-time: the desk's 121 frameworks compiled into a 30-day self-install sequence — templates, checklists, scorecard workbook, manager cadence. No workshop and no call, by design; updates included.

How does Index data licensing work?

Citation with attribution is free. Syndication (republishing tables in newsletters, trade press, inflight media) is $12,000/yr. Platform and grounding integrations — scores inside booking tools or AI agents — start at $150,000/yr, with design-partner terms for early-stage agentic-booking teams.

What does a keynote cost?

$18,500 plus travel at cost (charter; $24,000 later), for keynotes, SKOs, and private sessions. The fee buys the talk — never a mention, a score, or a story.

What is the Road Board?

Job listings for revenue-travel roles: $299 for 30 days including one Field Brief listing line, plainly labeled as hiring, live within one business day.

What are the Sales-Ready Awards?

Annual awards judged on the published 15-check instrument — losable, pass rates published, entry fees buy consideration never results. Entries open Q4 2026; pre-registration is free.

How fast are replies and deliveries?

One business day for order confirmations, invoices, and direct inquiries to rachel@thesalestraveler.com. Corrections resolve within 7 days. Seal artwork and workbook delivery within one business day of payment.

What does category exclusivity mean?

One partner per category, with the category defined in the SOW (e.g., 'expense management platforms'). Category Partner and Founding Flagship slots carry it; the desk will not sell a competing seat inside a defined category during the term.

Is subscriber data sold or shared?

No. The list is never sold; audience reporting to partners is aggregate; any lead transfer requires the subscriber's explicit opt-in consent shown at capture.

What happens if the desk makes an error about my company?

Send evidence; the 7-day clock starts on receipt. The correction publishes with a changelog line and a ledger entry — the ledger opened with the desk's own self-caught error, and the same standard applies in both directions.

Where do I verify the survey's sample size?

Sample size and field dates publish with each wave at thesalestraveler.com/research/, alongside the data-version tag. Wave 2 is fielding now and adds an AI/agent-usage module.