While some travel policies that don't mandate employee behavior have been slow to drive high online adoption levels, other companies have seen adoption grow by gaining senior management endorsements, developing strong communications programs, using scorecard measurement systems for added performance visibility, allocating offline transaction fees to specific cost centers and redirecting offline bookings before they are completed.
A robust communications program that gains both senior management and traveler buy-in can be a major factor deploying a successful online booking program, consultants said.
"Travel managers need to continue to drive home the message of economy both in booking fees and travel costs," said Tom Wilkinson, president of Pennington, N.J.-based TRW Travel Consulting. "You get better information for a lower transaction cost, and in most cases you are going to save a lot of money on the trip in addition to the money you save on transaction costs."
Corporate Travel 100 company BearingPoint, which had $65.3 million in 2006 U.S. booked air volume, has seen solid adoption of about 60 percent in North America, but an overwhelming 90 percent adoption in its Europe, Middle East and Africa region
(see sidebar, "Boosting Online Booking Without Mandates: BearingPoint Drives Online Use").BearingPoint's EMEA success is derived from its aggressive communications program, executive-level endorsement via a directive from the company's CEO, an early and ongoing education program, directing travelers to local market tools via a customized travel portal and the use of a dedicated online booking administrator.
Other potentially valuable tools for buyers to make online booking benefits visible to program stakeholders are scorecard measurement systems, comprised of metrics including online adoption rate, first-pass-yield percentage, average online versus offline ticket price savings and preferred vendor compliance ratios, said Brenda Brooks, American Express Business Travel Global Advisory Services' senior practice leader of online optimization.
"Scorecard visibility at the executive level and business intelligence with scorecard reporting enables leadership to have a realistic view to measure the impact and effectiveness of the online booking program," Brooks said.
Corporate Travel 100 company General Dynamics, which had $90 million in 2006 U.S. booked air volume, also has achieved high levels of adoption with no mandate.
Some of the defense conglomerate's 15 business units have reached 90 percent adoption in both mandated and nonmandated environments, according to Tracy Loper, travel manager for the General Dynamics C4 Systems operating unit, which has 6,000 travelers and $15 million in U.S. booked air volume.
"It's an interesting phenomenon that you have a mandated environment and a highly encouraged environment, and they've both achieved a high level of adoption," she said.
General Dynamics C4 Systems division's online booking program has achieved 87 percent adoption due in part to ongoing communications, including monthly refresher courses and new employee training.
"We go top down and bottom up. We talk to our vice presidents, then focus on the travel administrators and arrangers who are really the hands-on, and of course the travelers," Loper said, adding that online transaction fees average 33 percent lower than offline.
The rise in online booking and funneling of bookings to General Dynamics' internal travel administrators also has enabled cost-cutting by removing some onsite agents. "We tend to try to shift as much travel activity as possible to the administrators to further reduce our costs," she said.
Meanwhile, BearingPoint takes a different approach, using a dedicated American Express Business Travel administrator to facilitate the online booking program for 14 countries, said BearingPoint global meeting and travel director Laurie Manning.
Some smaller programs also have achieved success in a nonmandated environment. With 20 percent to 25 percent adoption using Cliqbook, Zoll Medical Corp. travel manager and executive assistant Nan Lindstrom said adoption levels gradually rose as she bolstered such education initiatives as Web seminar updates in conjunction with travel management company Atlas Travel International and Cliqbook.
"Some people can get right onto an online booking tool and know exactly what they are doing, where to go and how to maneuver around for the best rates," said Lindstrom, who manages $1.3 million in U.S. booked air volume. "Other people are not quite as savvy, and that's why we do the WebEx training."
Some corporations have taken a more direct approach, with offline agents—or their telephone hold messages—pushing travelers online.
One of online booking tool GetThere's clients that employed the redirect practice had its 60 percent online adoption increase to 73 percent three months after the introduction of the messaging, said Richard Barajas, GetThere's vice president for the Western region and global business development.
A more prevalent practice is deploying a point-of-sale fee allocation strategy, in which a company allocates offline and online transaction fees to different cost centers.
"This type of chargeback environment changes the way the traveler sees it, because oftentimes they see it on their expense report. The owner of that cost center can have a report pulled every month, so they can see the fees they are incurring from booking offline," Barajas said, adding that one large West Coast retailer saw a 13 percent adoption jump in two months, and a financial institution doubled adoption in two months after implementing chargebacks.
BearingPoint adopted this approach in Germany, where it has some of its strongest adoption levels. Offline transaction fees, which are 50 percent higher than online, appear as a separate line item on financial reports, said BearingPoint EMEA manager of meeting and travel services Andreas Mutschler.
"The point of sale for offline bookings makes it very obvious to travelers that it costs this amount of money for the transaction fee, and if they book online it helps us save costs," he said.
With strong senior management endorsement of an online program, buyers generally can expect adoption levels in excess of 50 percent, Amex's Brooks said.
"If the financial and executive leaders are educated on the value and financial benefits of the online tool," she said, "that ensures their advocacy and they are more willing to engage in the communication process."