A clear offer.
A confident conversation.

LESSON 01

Understand what you are selling.

Treasure Hunts USA is a full calendar-month local event. Hunting runs from the first day through the last day of the selected month, in the event’s local time zone. The longer visiting period gives hunters more time to explore and can help businesses welcome them alongside regular customers. The shared event minimum is 50 participating businesses; additional vendors may be recruited. Hunters participate individually and visit different businesses for personal clues.

No hunt-administration duties for vendor staff. Under the approved program, THUSA handles hunter verification and clue delivery through the hunter app. Vendor staff continue their normal customer service. They do not check hunter PINs, verify visits or hunt receipts, enter hunt spending, issue personal codes, or distribute clues.

Each hunter unlocks one personal clue after a qualifying visit to a different participating business.

• No purchase is required. The no-purchase route is 45 continuous verified minutes at the participating location, with the required location and presence checks completed in the hunter’s app. Social posting is not required.
• A qualifying purchase is optional. A hunter who chooses the approved purchase route submits a photo of their ordinary receipt to THUSA through the app for verification. The vendor does not approve the receipt or operate a hunt check-in. Either qualifying route provides the same personal clue.
• THUSA releases the clue privately in the app. The hunter does not obtain or enter a staff-issued code. Hunt-verification questions go to THUSA.
• Five different businesses are the minimum. Hunters need qualifying clues from at least five distinct participating businesses. They may visit additional businesses for more clues.
• The planned prize is $10,000, subject to the published event terms. The sample hunt has no live prize.

The Red Thread is an additional, essential clue. THUSA releases it to all registered hunters after hunting ends. It is required to solve the puzzle and does not replace any of the five qualifying vendor clues. Hunters then have three calendar days for up to three solution submissions. Official submission timing is determined by when THUSA’s server receives the submission, not when the hunter presses Send.

The vendor package is promotion and participation in an event. Explain the actual advertising included in the selected event’s agreement. Never promise a number of visitors, a sales total, or a profit.

Practice: Explain the hunt in your own words in one minute. Describe what the hunter does, what THUSA verifies, and how vendor staff focus on ordinary customer service.

LESSON 02

Ask about the business first.

Find the person who decides how the business promotes itself. Ask what kinds of customers they want to reach, when they can welcome visitors, and what they want from local promotion.

“We’re organizing a local Treasure Hunts USA event. Hunters visit participating businesses to earn personal clues. THUSA handles hunt verification and clue delivery, so your staff can focus on serving customers. Could I show you how the participation opportunity might fit your business?”

Then use the approved demonstration, explain the event’s current fee and promotion, and ask for a specific next step. Explain both the no-purchase route and any approved optional purchase offer. A promotional discount or gift is optional and does not remove the no-purchase route.

Practice: Have your manager play a busy business owner. Ask two discovery questions, demonstrate the sample, and respond to one objection without making a guarantee.

LESSON 03

Make follow-up a repeatable habit.

Work from an agreed prospect list. Before contacting a business, confirm who owns the lead so two agents are not making competing approaches.

• Record the business, decision-maker, contact details, area, assigned agent, and supervising manager.
• After each conversation, record what the owner needs and the next agreed action.
• Separate “interested,” “application submitted,” “approved commitment,” and “payment verified.” They are different milestones.
• For returning vendors, review the prior event’s recorded visits and sales, ask for their feedback, and discuss the next approved event.

The first sale may take several contacts to reach the decision-maker, introduce the concept and secure the agreement. When the vendor finds the event worthwhile and profitable, a later conversation can start with that experience and require much less explanation. Use the time saved to serve returning vendors and prospect for new ones. Recorded spending is revenue, not proof of profit; ask the owner for their feedback. Each new event still requires a fresh decision, qualifying sale and correct assignment.

Practice: Prepare five suitable prospects and the next action for each. Review the list with your manager before making claims about availability or territory.

LESSON 04

Help the business complete the right steps.

1. Confirm the company-approved event, current offer, fee, and application link.
2. Help the owner understand the application requirements and enter accurate business details.
3. Ensure the prospect is recorded with the correct agent and manager before the sale is credited.
4. The host reviews the business, participation details, and any proposed optional purchase offer. The authorized business representative accepts the applicable agreement.
5. Explain the prepaid commitment process: start with interest, then have the authorized representative accept the final vendor agreement when enrollment is open. Early interest is nonbinding and creates no fee obligation; it is not a signed vendor commitment.
6. At least 50 approved current signed commitments accepting the same proposed dates are required for the confirmation process. The company must still formally confirm the event before the assigned agent or manager delivers written confirmation and the payment request.
7. The prepaid vendor has 48 elapsed hours after actual receipt of both documents to pay. The later receipt starts the clock; weekends and holidays do not pause it. Record evidence of both receipts. Copying or sending the notice alone does not start the clock.
8. Have the host verify receipt of funds. Do not mark a vendor paid based only on a promise or an application.

This sequence makes the first commitment easier to discuss: the vendor can review and sign the agreement before full prepaid payment is requested, and the payment request follows formal event confirmation. The confirmation and actual notice receipt create the real payment deadline. Use the current agreement’s terms; do not invent urgency, event dates, refund rights or a different deadline. Fifty is the event-wide minimum, not a cap or a quota for each agent.

Practice: Explain the difference between a signed commitment, confirmed event, issued payment request, and verified payment.

LESSON 05

Understand what qualifies for commission.

Under the current percentage offer, the agent earns 25% of the agreed participation price and the supervising manager earns a separate 5% on qualifying assigned-team sales. At the standard $2,000 participation fee, those commissions are $500 for the agent and $100 for the manager. A qualifying Vendor Spotlight upgrade adds a separate $150 to the agent, bringing the agent’s total to $650. Spotlight adds a business photo or logo, a short highlight and a website link in a rotating Featured Businesses section for the event, beyond the standard clue-stop listing. The optional vendor price is $200, with promotion from publication through 30 days after the event ends. Confirm that ordering is enabled for your event and your written commission terms include the upgrade before offering it. Authorized participation prices of $1,500–$2,000 produce $375–$500 for the credited agent and $75–$100 for the supervising manager. The $150 agent Spotlight addition remains separate; no extra manager Spotlight commission is assumed. Your signed agreement controls the actual rate and payment conditions, and previously agreed sales retain their own terms.

Both sales agents and sales managers are paid within five business days after the last applicable condition is satisfied. At least 50 current approved signed vendors in the same event must have paid their required participation fees in full, the event must be formally confirmed, and all individual commission and payment conditions must be met. This is the shared event total, not a personal 50-vendor quota. Saturdays, Sundays, U.S. federal holidays and their observed weekdays are excluded; deadlines use the event’s local time zone. A signature alone does not make a commission payable.

• Credit must belong to the correct agent and supervising manager.
• Direct company sales are recorded separately.
• A returning vendor does not automatically create a renewal commission.
• Do not assume both agent and manager commissions apply to a manager’s personal sale unless expressly agreed.

Practice: At the standard $2,000 fee, ten qualifying vendor sales with ten qualifying Spotlight upgrades produce $6,500 for the agent. Ten participation sales with only four qualifying upgrades produce $5,600 ($5,000 participation + $600 Spotlight). Fifty assigned qualifying team sales at the 5% manager rate ($100 each) produce $5,000 for the manager. These are gross illustrations before taxes and expenses, with no implied timeframe.

Think beyond individual sales: Four new clients a week for 52 weeks produces a 208-client book. If all 208 are retained into year two and each makes 12 qualifying $2,000 participation purchases with Spotlight, the gross agent commission illustration is $1,622,400 (208 × 12 × $650). It assumes an available approved event every month for every client and a qualifying upgrade on every booking. This is a hypothetical scenario, not expected earnings or an established event schedule; it excludes manager commissions, taxes and expenses. Every repeat booking still requires a fresh qualifying sale.

Explore and adjust the year-two illustration

LESSON 06 · MANAGER PATH

Build a team that can repeat the process.

Your role is to recruit suitable agents, help them understand the offer, coach their sales activity, and support accurate records. Adding names to a team does not itself earn commission.

1. Keep recruiting. Maintain a list of interested candidates by location, experience, availability, and current recruitment stage.
2. Use a consistent interview. Discuss local-business contacts, follow-up habits, and the commission conditions. Ask the candidate to explain the offer back to you.
3. Practice before assignment. Work through these lessons, an objection conversation, and a safe sample demonstration.
4. Agree on the assignment. Confirm the signed agreement, area, lead responsibilities, manager, and rate with the host.
5. Review progress regularly. Look at conversations, follow-ups, applications, verified payments, and where help is needed.
6. Prepare the next event. Coach agents to review each vendor’s experience, follow up on the next approved event and build on established relationships. A successful first event can make the next sale easier and leave more time for new prospects. Review company-approved expansion opportunities before making new commitments.

Practice: Explain how five agents making ten different qualifying sales each fill one 50-vendor roster. Then describe how you would help an agent whose interested prospects have stopped responding.