The Agent Alliance spent considerable time identifying a provider partner for this program, he said. Its due diligence lead it to TNCI. The Agent Alliance signed a contract with TNCI in spring 2007.  Power said the parties have spent the last year “perfecting the relationship and developing a level of trust.”

Differences in the Old and New Equity Plan

The TNCI/Alliance Equity Plan replaces the previous TNCI equity program rolled out in April 1999. The program has some similarities, such as the inclusion of the evergreen clause ensuring agents will continue to receive their residual commissions following the sale of the company.

The old program required a minimum $60,000 monthly revenue commitment in exchange for up to 15 percent equity. However, each quarter, additional points were added based on incremental revenue, starting at 1 percent for $15,000 earned per quarter and a half percent for each additional $5,000 per quarter.

Like other programs released around that time, the TNCI equity program did not take off because agents found it difficult to meet the revenue requirements when the telecom market went bust and sales became sluggish, Twomey said. In addition, he said they had little incentive to join when TNCI’s exit plan was unlikely in light of declining market conditions. “The whole opportunity for any of us to sell really dried up,” he said. “I would be surprised to see us back in the days of the dot-com era. There is a different wisdom that’s required today to be able to transact at a good valuation level.”

While the new program retains some of the features of the old one, Twomey said “those by themselves don’t get the transaction done today.” The difference between then and now is “huge,” he said, but primarily in the planning -- driving the value of the organization in terms of the company’s service mix, its financial position and its relationships with customers and the sales channel. TNCI, he said, has spent the past two years working to understand the levers that impact valuation and to impact those in a positive way in preparation for a transaction. “We have aligned with where we need to be,” he said.