Framing a Travel Strategy

Maximize your business at these properties by requiring employees to register any meetings they will be holding with the travel manager, who in turn can encourage them to use the same properties as much as possible. Managing meetings is politically sensitive, as many meeting planners receive gifts and rewards from the hotels to which they bring business. Like every purchasing decision, though, it's important to base the choice of a meeting location on what's best for the firm, not the individual doing the buying. Centralizing and managing your meeting spend is likely the biggest single remaining opportunity for travel management for smaller companies.

Other Pieces of the Puzzle
Of all the pieces of the travel framework, moving travelers to a single car-rental supplier is the easiest. The issue here, again, is cost vs. convenience; in general, on-airport companies cost more, off-airport companies cost less. But any preferred car-rental program brings one important advantage: free insurance. With car-rental companies typically charging $9-14 a day, and the average rental lasting 2.5 days, the savings from directing your travelers to just one are compelling.

The most important piece of the travel program, though, is a single corporate charge card to which all travel expenses must be billed. This is a relatively easy step to enforce; mandate that charges not booked on the credit card will not be reimbursed. Charge cards (like the American Express or Diner's Club corporate cards, which are not "credit cards" as they must be paid off every money) - capture the data that shows what your travelers actually bought, and are the key to rebates, discounts, and enhanced services.

When dealing with the data, don't allow the sheer magnitude to overwhelm you. Pick out the key items or objectives that matter most and track those. Some companies have developed a dashboard or scorecard of key travel program measurements they track quarterly: percent of compliance to travel policy for air, car, hotel; average airline cost per mile through the agency and through online booking sites; rate of online booking adoption; average hotel room rate in key cities. Those are your fundamentals. Establish the parameters for success for each key measure and work toward achieving those. When you get there, develop new measures.

Got something to say? Join the discussion!