New Year's Resolution: Manage Your Company's Travel Spend

So this is the year you’ve been tasked with managing travel. Now what?

The good news is that there’s never been a better time to enter the space. Solutions targeted to small and midsize travel programs have proliferated in the past three years and tool sets overall have become more agile. Of course, working with a small or midsize program comes with limitations: Smaller budgets may shrink the scope of the program and limit the range of technologies in which the travel or procurement manager can invest. Lower spend also may cap discounts available from suppliers.

Stay optimistic. Compliance to defined travel policies alone can make an immediate impact. Gaining visibility into travel activities over time will deliver intelligence for a larger strategy. Plus, agility is a benefit for small and midsize travel programs: Fewer levels of approval and lower risk may translate into a company’s willingness to innovate. So get started.

Think Big

Travel is connected to many areas of the organization. When working with a small or midsize travel program, define as large a scope as you can based on the budget and any internal resources available. The travel program proper will include travel policy, a travel management company partner and booking technology, along with attention to air, hotel and car rental suppliers. But consider payment systems and expense tools, as well. They will affect the program from defining processes to capturing data and delivering a smooth end-to-end experience for the traveler. Defining a broader scope now could translate into a more effective program.

Program Quick Start

Initiate an interim program immediately by defining a small list of preferred suppliers and a concise policy about how to book them. Take cues from travelers in terms of which suppliers they currently use. Select two or three hotels around each of your company’s offices, research the convenience of airlines and connections to the top five or 10 most-traveled markets. The interim policy and supplier set need not transition to the permanent program, but there is value in turning around a quick win that sets the stage for future growth.

Ditch Linear Timelines

It’s tempting to create a to-do list with the idea that you will source a preferred TMC or online booking tool first, then create policy, then tackle each supplier category one after another and so-on. It may work, but it likely will take more time. Instead, think of travel program creation as analogous to cell division: The growth tends to be exponential when elements are set in motion simultaneously and the faster the program then can come to life. Set expectations with management that the first three months may show only small advances that are setting the stage for a robust program.

Understand The Value Of The TMC

A trusted sounding board and a few extra hands can be critical in setting up—and maintaining—a nascent travel program. For that reason alone, establishing a solid TMC relationship at the very beginning of the process can be one of the keys to success, but there are other benefits. Access to TMC rates for hotels and other suppliers may be a welcome alternative to formal sourcing initiatives, particularly for travel buyers with lower spending levels. For small and midsize programs, the TMC very often is the gateway to an online booking tool and mobile app for traveler services. TMC reporting is critical for program analysis, and some companies may invest in consulting services.

“Best Practice” May Not Always Be Best

Travel management is changing, and many new options are friendly to small and midsize programs. That said, carefully consider even widely accepted best practices and solutions to make sure they will work for the company’s unique program. Is a large—and resource intensive—RFP process necessary for the hotel or air program, for example? There may be alternatives, like emerging price-tracking technologies, which could accomplish similar objectives. Likewise for payment systems. A start-up or small company may not have the requisite credit or spend levels to support a corporate card program, but might look at an all-in-one purchasing and T&E card or explore virtual or reloadable options that still deliver good data.

Set The Stage For Future Strategy

Indeed, data is the endgame for travel management. It reveals compliance levels, drives supplier relationships and discounts, helps locate travelers in case of emergency and more. Whether managing travel full or part time, the travel manager must be clear on the company’s objectives and create a program that can track quantifiable results against those goals.