How to maximize the value of your travel management partnership

The value of professional travel management services has moved far beyond traditional booking transactions. Long gone are the days of paying an agent to simply book your flights, hotels, and car rental.

Today’s travel management companies (TMCs) must present value to their clients through an extensive array of strategic and often complex ancillary travel services that surround the core components of a travel booking, including strategic supplier negotiations, traveler safety and well-being, sustainability, data security, and booking behavior optimization, to name a few.

To capitalize on the benefits of a TMC’s expertise and services, organizations should recognize them as partners in the development, delivery, and performance management of their travel program, rather than as a traditional service provider.

This blog explores best practices to maximize the value of your travel management and TMC partnership. It also provides tips to maximize your travel program’s ROI through best-practice procurement strategies.

Best practices for maximizing the value of your TMC

Managing a company’s travel program can be an evolving task. To maximize the value of your TMC partnership, consider the following:

Establishing clear objectives and goals

Discuss your business goals and travel program objectives, as well as employee engagement and retention strategies with your TMC partner to ensure all objectives are considered as part of the travel policy. Creating a traveler-centric program that balances cost control with traveler experience, wellness, and policy compliance is critical to policy adoption, compliance, and program performance.

Training and education

Provide comprehensive training and education to all travel stakeholders to ensure a thorough understanding of travel policies and their alignment with business goals and personal performance objectives. Partner with a TMC that can provide the right blend of education and training, through a range of channels to suit your travel program stakeholders’ communication needs, such as online content, webinars, virtual and in-person training, research papers, product training videos, to ensure maximum knowledge and engagement.

Monitor and analyze travel data

Travel data tells a powerful story and, when used effectively, can lead to strategic decision-making that can significantly and proactively influence the value of your travel program. The use of complex data can be overwhelming unless presented in intuitive, easy to digest dashboards with customizable segmentation to uncover actionable insights.

The reporting expertise and tools provided by your TMC are instrumental in leveraging the full potential of your travel data.

Embrace automation and technology

Many businesses are operating in a high-tech, blended workplace where digital connectivity and automation underpin the majority of business interactions and operations. Travel management should be no different. To fully leverage the capabilities of your TMC, it is crucial to stay informed about the range of technologies and services they offer, as well as their roadmap for developing new solutions and leveraging the latest technologies such as AI and machine learning to continually elevate the efficiency, accessibility, and autonomy of your team. For example, utilizing self-service online booking tools (OBTs) and promoting online adoption among travelers and travel bookers can significantly streamline the travel booking process, delivering greater efficiency, empowerment, and cost savings. Additionally, mobile apps can provide excellent support for travelers, allowing for easy itinerary management while on the road.

Aligning with your company culture

It’s essential to ensure your travel program and your choice of TMC aligns with your organization’s culture and values. For instance, if your company prioritizes people and performance, you’ll want to partner with a TMC that shares those values. This alignment allows you to design a travel program that supports traveller wellbeing, with services and policies that enhance the travel experience and promote a positive, people-first travel culture. A shared culture also helps to establish trust and improve communication, which can lead to a more productive and successful partnership.

The value of a TMC in travel program procurement

The procuring of travel services can be a complex process, with numerous variables and considerations that can be challenging to understand without professional support.

These procurement considerations include negotiating competitive corporate rates with suppliers based on travel volumes, key routes, destinations, booking class, and flexibility requirements, monitoring booking compliance and measuring program leakage, providing comprehensive reporting and analysis on travel expenditure, and incorporating group travel, meetings, and events spend.

High volume and frequency

Corporate travel can often involve a high volume and frequency of travel arrangements, including flights, accommodation, ground transportation, group travel, and meetings and events. The resources and the time needed to coordinate travel could far outweigh the cost of the travel itself, which is why there is a significant benefit in utilizing the services of a TMC to quickly and efficiently manage large amounts of bookings and data.

Working with a large TMC with a significant client portfolio across industries can also present value by comparing your travel buying behaviors and supplier deals  to comparable  companies and ensuring that cost savings strategies are realized and implemented.

Fluctuation of rates, fares, and travel spend

Travel supplier rates and fares are driven by local and global market conditions and of course the basics of supply and demand. Comparing travel spend and its associated triggers from one year to the next is not straightforward.

A sharp rise or decrease in travel spend could be due to changes in the travel suppliers booked, how far in advance travel bookings are made, length of stay, airfare class, days or time of day traveled, supplier occupancy or capacity, room types, car rental types, and special project travel to name a few.

Your TMC should be able to capture and review all your booking data, identify changes to booking trends and behaviors, and highlight the reasons for any significant changes, allowing you to make more informed decisions around policy changes to optimize supplier contracting.

Global networks and partnerships

For organizations with global travel requirements, partnering with a TMC that offers comprehensive global solutions is invaluable.

One of the key advantages of working with a TMC with global capabilities is its ability to leverage its supplier partnerships and global buying power. This enables them to secure competitive pricing, discounts, and favorable terms with travel suppliers worldwide. By tapping into these resources, organizations can benefit from cost savings and optimized travel budgets, making the most of their travel expenditure.

In addition to cost savings, TMCs with global solutions can elevate traveler safety and well-being within the travel program. They may offer a range of risk management services including travel alerts, 24/7 emergency travel assistance, traveler tracking, and “follow the sun” servicing to support global travelers. These provisions ensure that travelers receive prompt support and assistance in case of emergencies or unexpected situations. TMCs also assist with visa and passport requirements to support business travelers moving between countries.

Key takeaways

Partnering with a TMC is essential to navigating the travel landscape and for managing your company’s travel program strategically to deliver an improved ROI.

Businesses need to view their TMC as a business partner and invest time into regular communication, collaboration, and education for their travelers and travel bookers.

It is crucial to establish clear objectives and goals while considering the application of automation and technology to improve efficiency and autonomy. Training, data analysis, and culture alignment are some best practices you can adopt to maximize the value of your TMC partnership.