Profiles InTravel Management: Mandate Draws 90% Adoption Rate

Company: McKesson Corp.

Headquarters: San Francisco

2003 U.S. Booked Air Volume: $40 million



Nearly one year after mandating use of an online booking tool, McKesson Corp.'s adoption rate has hovered at roughly 90 percent, from a pre-mandate rate of 60 percent among travelers.

While "our executive leaders were really pleased" with the 60 percent adoption, said procurement manager Marlene Candrilli, "I kept asking for a mandate because I knew we had to keep the momentum going." Following the mandate, McKesson boosted penetration, reduced transaction costs, gained more leverage with suppliers and increased compliance.

However, McKesson's travel program two years ago barely resembled its current incarnation: The company was using TRX's ResAssist product for booking, WorldTravel BTI was the company's agency of record and the travel department reported to human resources. "At that time, our overall booking adoption was about 20 percent to 24 percent overall," Candrilli said. "We were using an online booking tool for almost two years without much success. It was still very new to the industry and especially to the company. We had some operational issues, as expected for a new tool." Yet, 2002 brought a sea change to the travel program: It "simultaneously transitioned to a new travel agency and launched a new online booking tool," Candrilli said. That year also saw the travel department shift to procurement.

In October 2002, after months of preparation and a switch to Rosenbluth International, the travel department led a concentrated effort for online booking and flipped the switch on Sabre's GetThere. "We really did our homework, and we had everything laid out," Candrilli said. "We had ongoing training for folks who maybe felt reluctant in the very beginning, and we advertised the new tool." One tactic McKesson had neglected to employ with its former tool was to inform travelers of the value of booking online versus by telephone. "There was a push to advise the travelers that when you use the travel management company it costs money to make those reservations," she said. "We never communicated that to the travelers, nor did we charge back to the business units the lost savings. We'd tell them, 'Did you know by calling an agent it's going to cost you X amount, whereas if you book online it will cost you 50 percent less.' "

To further promulgate its message, McKesson launched an intuitive and continually updated Web site, which emerged as the cornerstone of McKesson's travel program. With the aid of a site administrator, the company re-branded the GetThere tool and under the moniker 2FLYMcK launched the site. "Every month, we used the Web site to post information like security alerts and FYIs. We continually let them know what is going on with the program," she said, adding that the company continues to update the site on at least a weekly basis. Additionally, McKesson uses the intranet for corporate card applications, profile updates and traveler feedback.

"I have the site manager log all the responses or comments and put them into buckets with X amount of login issues that month, navigation problems, etc.," she said. "This way you have an idea if there are any issues regarding air or hotels, and you've got some tangible comments. I read them on a weekly basis initially, then moved to monthly and eventually, through tweaking, you see all those problems drop. It was free flow. A lot of times if a comment was ambiguous I'd pick up the phone and say, 'Thanks for the feedback but could you give me more information,' and then it was more navigation. A lot of travelers were frustrated and didn't think anyone would listen."

McKesson posted monthly scorecards on the intranet that contrasted GetThere's use among the company's divisions. "We'd say our goal is 80 percent, then we listed the performance of the business units. It created a healthy competition, and everyone could see if you improved or you went down."

The methods were working, and Candrilli said that by December 2002—only two months after launching the booking tool—the company had achieved 50 percent adoption rate without a mandate. While that rate inched up to 60 percent by April 2003, the secured executive mandate further propelled the tool's penetration within McKesson.


~Jay Boehmer