Carlson Wagonlit Travel's June transition of Mike Koetting to COO of North America came as CWT, like other travel management companies, made structural changes to deal with account and sales activity.
CWT also is building European and Asia/Pacific-based teams to manage the consolidation projects of North American clients, said CWT North America president Jack O'Neill. There already is a team of six in place in Europe.
"Because there is so much sales and rebid activity going on, much of which is price-driven, we are seeing a lot of corporations going through the sales process with a price focus and not necessarily a strong drive to change agencies," said Koetting. "Our challenge is to find a way to respond to the client's need to reduce cost, but in a way that increases efficiency for both of us, so that decreasing our clients' cost doesn't mean an erosion in our profit."
The abnormal level of activity was one of the main drivers of moving Koetting over from his role as executive vice president of global supplier management, O'Neill said
(BTNonline, June 22). Koetting now oversees the U.S. regional senior vice presidents, CWT Canada leadership, the vice president of traveler and transaction services and the vice president of business development for the corporate, small and midsize enterprise markets.
"The most important thing we can do is be out with our clients," said O'Neill. "We have a pretty thin work structure. We are the largest in the U.S. government space. I've got Canada, staff functions—client services and marketing, and we probably have 12 or 14 people. For Mike to take over the leadership for operating the business helps me and the organization."