<I>Chicago</I> - Reflecting the increasing reliance on technology in travel management, a group of travel managers agreed that point-of-sale software and technology support should be part of the Best Practices in Travel Management software.
Travel managers from engineering firm CH2MHill, chemical conglomerate FMC, Household International and Texas Instruments met in Chicago last month to update the software, launched two years ago by R.D. Brown, a consulting firm in South Elgin, Ill. (BTN, June 27, 1994). The group agreed with almost all the changes travel management company executives suggested in a similar meeting in October.
In addition to other supplier negotiations, travel managers agreed that it's now a best practice for agencies to "be a resource for automation information and products." Travel buyers expect agencies today to have a staff that can assist in negotiations for and implementation of technology. They also expect agencies to be able to support communications with travelers via intranet and Internet, e-mail, voicemail, phone and fax.
Given the new financial paradigm in which corporations are paying agencies for services, buyers agreed that agencies should be offering "unbiased" assistance in negotiating air, hotel, car, ground and payment system contracts. The majority of changes offered by the decision makers came in updating the section called "revenue sharing." To reflect the times, managers deleted references to rebates, replacing such terms with "financial arrangements."
Going beyond the recommendations of agency executives, travel managers added a best practice that calls for "multitiered fees based on reservation methods."
Like agency executives, travel buyers emphasized that agency managers must understand the business world in general and the client's business in particular. They echoed the agency call for a new best practice, stating that account managers "present a professional image in both verbal and written communication to client companies' senior management."
Brown will continue to work with a select group of travel managers in coming weeks to update other sections of the software and include all suggestions in a new release to be available this spring. Unlike the current version, in which travel managers must grade themselves, the new release will include a feature that automatically grades travel management programs as users indicate whether their programs include certain practices. This change is expected to significantly reduce the amount of time it will take to determine whether a program is best in class, Brown said.