BTN Research: Most Buyers Still Without Meetings Policies, But Likely Not For Long

Meeting buyers are implementing policies for their meeting programs to cover a variety of areas, from contract signing authority to use of preferred suppliers, according to exclusive Business Travel News research.

Forty percent of 199 travel buyer respondents to a BTN survey said their companies have specific policies for meeting buyers, and 71 percent of those said they covered contract signing authority, 62 percent addressed preferred suppliers and 58 percent covered the use of internal meeting sites. Leveraging transient suppliers was addressed by 46 percent of policies and 35 percent covered the use of remote conferencing.

As more companies wrangle control of their meetings spending, they will develop policies around their meetings, industry executives said.

"There are more companies that are, one, implementing meeting policies and, two, taking the policies they have regarding meetings and trying to update them as they consolidate their activities," said George Odom, senior director of business development for Advito, BCD Travel's consulting division. "As companies get their arms around meetings, one of the first things they do, much like in the travel world, is to put a policy in place to give people a guideline."

Mary MacGregor, vice president of marketing and business development of BCD Meetings & Incentives, added, "Companies are absolutely moving toward trying to establish better controls, guidelines and transparency to their meetings."

Companies implement meeting policies to standardize meeting expectations and processes, said Dick Zeller, vice president of strategic meetings management for Maritz Travel Co.

"Most companies today that have any significant meetings volume are looking at implementing some type of a meetings policy," he said.

The specific topics addressed in policies, though, vary by company. "Initially the policies revolve more around registering, definitions and contracting," Odom said.

Insurance company AIG requires that any meeting of 10 or more people must have its contract reviewed by the meetings department, according to Kelli Livers, director of global meeting services. AIG tracks compliance through expense reports sent back to the company.

"We monitor and track it through our internal accounting system," Livers said. "We look at our corporate card and if there's spend over a certain amount at a hotel, that tends to send a red flag."

Using internal meeting space is encouraged "first and foremost," Livers said, and transient hotels are encouraged for small meetings. "When we've got 10 or 15 people coming in town, clearly we encourage the use of the transient. For the larger groups, we include them in the bid process, but based on the individual we bid appropriately," she said.

When sleeping rooms are involved, an employee may contact the hotel directly only if they are using a preferred transient supplier. Otherwise, they must use sourcers and at least three competitive bids are required.

The company also has contract templates in place with individual hotel brands.

The policy has been in place since early 2006, and an international policy was implemented last summer, though without some requirements in the domestic policy.

"The control we've gotten to date with providing visibility has caught management's eye," Livers said.

Christina Wilkes, practice leader for meetings for American Express Business Travel Advisory Services, said contract signing authority is "one of the areas a company should look into first."

Taro Pharmaceuticals U.S.A. Inc. requires all meetings to go through its travel office, said Robin Buzzeo, director of corporate travel.

"Any kind of meeting request goes through a standard operating procedure from inception to completion," she said. Meetings must go through an internal committee to see whether the meeting is warranted.

No Taro meeting has been booked outside of policy since it was implemented more than two years ago. "If there's a cost that's going to be expensed, we're going to see it," Buzzeo said. "They know these expenses are being looked at."

The policy also is used to leverage spending and show suppliers that Taro can get better compliance because they have better control.

"The use of meetings increased, and we wanted to get a good hold on the spend and obviously leverage our travel vendors," Buzzeo said. "We can show the vendor that we can successfully move marketshare."

The department also has a list of preferred suppliers that they contact first. Contracts must go through Buzzeo and the company's legal department and are signed by Buzzeo's supervisor after approval. Employees are educated on the procedures to have a meeting via the company's intranet.

Use of pre-approved suppliers also can be addressed in policy, BCD's MacGregor said.

"They're certainly doing things around policies regarding approved vendors to ensure that the vendors selected have preferred or negotiated rates within the organization," she said.

Investment firm Raymond James & Associates has centralized contracting in place for hotels, said Liz Planz, meeting planner for the company's financial planning group.

"We have preferred vendors and obviously we maximize our buying power with centralized contracting and make sure the legalities are upheld," Planz said. "We're always looking for ways to be more efficient."

The company's accounting systems are fully automated, so if a bill is submitted that is not in compliance with policy, it will be pulled for further documentation and the person responsible could potentially be denied payment, Planz said.

Transient and meetings and kept separate and the corporate travel office handles all contracts with room blocks attached to them.

Energy company ConocoPhillips does not currently have a meetings policy in place, said Lisa Stanford, advisor for strategy policy and compliance. However, one of her performance goals this year is to look into one.