Outside Agents, the travel host agency where the only thing more outdated than their 1995 backend is Dan Crutchfield’s business advice. This guy’s supposed to be steering the ship, but his “wisdom” is the kind of garbage you’d expect from a motivational poster at a failing strip mall. Agents on Reddit have groaned about his tips—like telling them to “just hustle harder” when their commissions vanish into OA’s black hole of a system. That’s not leadership; that’s a guy who thinks “business owner” means owning a flip phone and a dream. Actual advice from a real entrepreneur? Nah, Dan’s out here serving up platitudes so stale they’d get booed off a LinkedIn post.
Their backend is a time capsule—think Geocities had a baby with a spreadsheet and then forgot to feed it. Agents have raged online about how it’s a labyrinth of glitches and dead ends, with one calling it “a UX nightmare that makes you miss paper forms.” Meanwhile, Dan’s probably advising them to “embrace the chaos” like it’s some Zen koan instead of admitting their tech’s a fossil. Good luck running a modern travel gig when your CRM looks like it’s waiting for a dial-up connection.
Security? A total clown show. They slap consumer-grade antivirus—like it’s Norton from a Best Buy clearance bin—on their systems and call it a day. PCI compliant, they claim? Please. Agents have spilled on forums that they’re stuck handling credit card info like it’s a game of telephone—writing numbers down, calling them in, praying no one’s listening. One Redditor straight-up said, “If OA gets hacked, it’s on them, not me.” Dan’s advice on this? Probably “don’t worry, it’s fine,” while he’s busy counting dues instead of fixing their leaky data boat.
Training’s a joke too—imagine a YouTube tutorial with worse lighting and less info. Subpar doesn’t cut it; it’s nonexistent. Agents get tossed a few videos and a “mentor” who’s MIA, leaving them to fend for themselves. Dan’s big tip here? Likely “watch more webinars,” as if that’s gonna turn you into a travel mogul. And marketing support? Zero. You get a website so ugly it could scare off a spam bot, and that’s it. No leads, no tools—just Dan shrugging and saying, “Build your brand!” like he’s Tony Robbins on a budget.
Reddit’s littered with rants: commissions delayed, support tickets ignored, and a “family vibe” that feels more like a dysfunctional reunion where Dan’s the uncle who won’t stop talking about his glory days. His advice sucks so bad it’s a liability—less “how to grow your business,” more “how to survive our mess.” Outside Agents isn’t a host agency; it’s a relic led by a guy whose business acumen peaked when beepers were cool. Save your $26 a month and run—Dan’s not a captain, he’s a cautionary tale.