Republic Leverages Intranet Space

<B> Republic Leverages Intranet Space</B>

By Laurie Berger

<I>New York</I> - As Andy Menkes sees it, the intranet site he created for Republic National Bank is a huge piece of real estate. And the former agency executive has wasted no time peddling "prime lots" to preferred hotels in exchange for hard- and soft-dollar deals.

In January, the Inter-Continental Mayfair Hotel became the first preferred RNB property to sign on for a premium intranet position. By making the Mayfair the "default hotel" on its travel authorization form for London-bound travelers, Menkes negotiated a guaranteed year-round room block in a city that's often sold out.

"Travelers will not be required to use the default hotel. They can override it by selecting other preferred properties," said Menkes, the bank's vice president of global travel management, who oversees a $15 million T&E budget. "But the Mayfair has the better shelf space."

Menkes is negotiating with hotels that will occupy similar spots on the authorization forms for the bank's 180 frequently visited cities. "I'm starting in Abidjan and working my way down to Zurich," he said.

For now, the Mayfair arrangement does not include discounted rates. Although Menkes says hard dollar savings and traveler amenities are key objectives, his top priority is securing a room block. "I don't want to frustrate travelers if there's no availability," he said. When the negotiations are completed in the second quarter, the hotels will begin appearing on traveler's on-line authorization forms.

Menkes tactic is not a totally new one in travel management circles. Corporations often accept advertising from hotels to offset the cost of producing printed hotel directories. But Menkes sees the Web as a way to leverage new and different opportunities, on the fly.

He's setting up, for example, a separate, text-only directory of preferred vendor information in Microsoft Excel to which travelers can link to access more detailed listings of hotel services, amenities and taxes. Using the traditional publishing model, Menkes plans to offer advertisers larger type and color listings in exchange for soft dollar benefits.

"Because we can make changes quickly, the Web enables an endless variety of preferred vendor programs," he said.

More important, leveraging preferred vendors is one way to offset the upfront cost of automating travel management. Menkes expects to add a booking tool by the second quarter.

Currently, RNB travelers can make travel requests and obtain approvals through a Lotus Notes application. Requests are sent to Menkes, the approver and the travel desk at Rosenbluth International's onsite office. An interface developed by Automated Travel Systems enables the travel desk to e-mail complete itineraries and travel documents from Apollo without going outside the firewall, and to attach documents like travel alerts or maps.

From Lotus Notes, travelers can access RNB's travel intranet site, which Menkes developed last spring using an off-the-shelf Web publishing package. This "start page" is the gateway to more than 30 screens of travel-related information, including travel policy, a newsletter, a hotel directory and an area highlighting preferred airlines.

Menkes' strategy is to provide enough robust content to keep travelers from exploring the public Web. He also has crafted a set of pages for each RNB city, including maps and weather and airport information imported from the Web. A subscription link to Kroll Associates provides safety and security information for each city. And, in the case of preferred hotels, travelers are linked directly to property pages, rather than to the Websites of the national chains. Although RNB doesn't have any direct vendor links for booking, a preferred renter application page with Avis cuts processing time from weeks to days.

Down the line, the system will issue a prepopulated expense report after ticketing. Travelers simply will click OK and send. According to Menkes, the system also has the potential to enforce compliance by identifying exceptions and asking the user to explain them.

Menkes plans to add a page of "last minute deals" by third quarter. "We're not looking for revenue, but rather to add value for employees and additional revenue streams to our preferred vendors without adding expense to our operation," he said.

Menkes also is tracking which restaurants are used most frequently by travelers, using data from RNB's Visa card program. His goal is to identify four establishments that are popular among travelers, and negotiate preferential services in exchange for increased business.