Travel category sourcing managers share with their colleagues in travel management many of the same challenges, concerns and aspirations. Some are much more specific to the procurement discipline. On the condition of anonymity, many sourcing managers discussed their work as part of a recent Travel Procurement survey.
What has been the biggest change in your job in the past year?
The most comments by far related to additional responsibilities. "Increased involvement in finance transformation, particularly with corporate card," wrote one. Others cited new tasks related to ground transportation, including car rentals and company-leased vehicles. "Many changes, too many to indicate," wrote another.
As expected, the pursuit and documentation of savings was top of mind for many. One respondent noted the challenge in a "push for procurement savings without the best practice for travel management."
Other comments addressed regulatory and audit requirements, involvement in meetings sourcing, globalized travel patterns and program oversight, additional emphasis on travel policy compliance, use of analytical tools and technology implementation—especially mobility programs and travel expense systems.
What are your greatest travel procurement challenges?
Some obstacles mentioned by survey respondents are familiar to travel management pros: generating travel savings (with several alluding to the challenge of proliferating ancillary fees); policy compliance ("It's hard to be responsible for travel savings while having no control of the choices that the traveler makes," lamented one respondent); generally less flexible contract terms offered by suppliers (especially given macroeconomic recovery, and especially for smaller-spending organizations); a fragmented hotel space (plagued by policy compliance levels lower than other travel categories) and data deficiencies.
Many respondents highlighted internal challenges: obtaining senior management recognition and support; achieving goals without travel policy mandates and, according to one, "continually demonstrating value of all travel programs." Some internal obstacles are more endemic to the procurement mindset: "stubbornness to see anything but hard-dollar savings," for example, and "ensuring all contracts (hotels especially) are processed through the procurement system."
What were your biggest accomplishments in your job in 2013?
Listed achievements covered the gamut, from negotiating and implementing new and improved contracts with airlines, hotel companies and travel agencies to installing corporate booking tools, adopting new travel policies and creating reporting for senior leadership. Accomplishments related to savings again were a common response.
Individual responses also pointed to efforts in the areas of traveler engagement and safety ("development of a cross-functional team to assist travelers in remote destinations," according to one).
One sourcing manager referenced a project to re-engineer the organization's procurement team while another specifically mentioned applying unused tickets and cancelled tickets.
What are your most important travel procurement goals for 2014?
In addition to ongoing efforts to cut costs, goals for the current year include the expected negotiations for new travel supplier contracts—in one case by implementing "a software tool to handle our hotel [request-for-proposals process," and in another as part of an ongoing effort to "provide a [return on investment] on supplier negotiations."
Other intentions relate to technology implementation (including more than a few expense system deployments), policy compliance (with one remarking on a plan to "reduce air spend by training travelers to book two weeks in advance of their travel"), demand management (with one looking to examine frequent flyers' travel patterns, for example), better leveraging data (through reporting and benchmarking), addressing travelers (through improved communication and gamification techniques) and exploring ways to manage corporate dining spend.
One sourcing manager aims to understand any new opportunities arising from the recent American Airlines-US Airways merger, another noted an effort to "review and test at least two innovations to increase traveler-centricity" and one touched on an "automated pre-approval process."
What do your travel suppliers do particularly well and particularly poorly?
Everyone's experience is different, based on the size of an organization's spend, its travel program maturity and many other factors. Perhaps as a result, respondents raised several areas—namely customer service, communication and reporting—as those in which travel suppliers perform well and perform poorly.
Positive comments not specifying travel categories related to resolving issues, communicating and "selling their value story."
On the flip side, respondents complained that suppliers in general are not adopting new technology or pursuing innovation quickly enough, customizing solutions, writing error-free contracts and recognizing the totality of an organization's global spending. "Many operate as if they're still in the '90s, lack of talent is quite the norm with travel suppliers," according to one sourcing manager.
Some grievances related specifically to airlines: "nickel-and-diming" through ancillary fees and ignoring those without global clout, for example. Others were pleased with airline problem resolution and one, perhaps with tongue in cheek, wrote that carriers still are good at "transporting people from point A to B."
Most specific comments on hotel companies weren't exactly glowing. One respondent grumbled about hotel reluctance to include in preferred rates such amenities as breakfast and Wi-Fi; another cited poor reporting; and yet another noted that hotels "cannot control their partners (e.g. franchisees)." According to one respondent, "When a supplier sells directly to our travelers they undermine our program. Hotels are the worst."
Travel management companies also drew complaints, some related to customer service and others related to sub-optimal use of technology and agents that aren't fully informed. But TMCs also garnered plenty of positive responses on their customer service, especially for frequent travelers, and for their account management.
One beef aimed at car rental car companies: "challenges getting us best available pricing." And some praise: they are "especially good" at customer service.
Compiled by David Jonas
About This Survey
Travel Procurement from April to June 2014 conducted an online survey of sourcing managers through SurveyMonkey. A direct link to the online survey was emailed to appropriate members of The BTN Group Advisory Board and Research Council, as well as qualified subscribers of The BTN Group publications, including Business Travel News and Travel Procurement magazine. A total of 92 qualified sourcing managers completed the survey.
This report originally appeared in the August 2014 edition of Travel Procurement.