Challenges

IMA had been a client of another travel management company and used a well-known booking and expense platform for ten years, but faced challenges in 3 key areas that were holding their travel program back:

1. No organization or system to prioritize the use of unused ticket credits valuing around $45,000
2. Low adoption with only 30% of employee travel captured
3. No duty of care monitoring of traveler risks and locations

In addition to these issues, travelers were frustrated with an antiquated booking tool that gave them minimal support on the road, hindering adoption and confidence in their provider.

• Travelers had difficulty finding bookings/tickets at the airport
• Service was extremely lacking – call wait times could stretch to 10 hours at the worst times, and travelers found the offshore support setup difficult to work with in urgent travel situations

Solution

CTM worked with IMA to implement Lightning, CTM’s proprietary booking tool, immediately addressing the urgent issue of unused ticket credits about to expire. Lightning alerted travel arrangers to use travel funds first and highlighted unused tickets with approaching expiration dates, helping save IMA tens of thousands of dollars.

To address travel program adoption, CTM worked closely with IMA’s procurement team to implement Lightning for all 1,900 IMA employees, ensuring that no employee travel went uncaptured. Negotiated supplier discounts were also made available for personal use, incentivizing employees to book within the new tools.

Lastly, IMA was given access to the full CTM technology suite, including CTM Portal and CTM Mobile. CTM Portal’s Traveler Tracker shows the IMA HR team exactly where travelers are and what risks they might face while on the road, thoroughly addressing duty of care in a clean and simple real-time interface. CTM Mobile was implemented to support travelers on the road, making it easier for them to find tickets and contact support as needed.

Results

Within the first three months of becoming a CTM client, IMA achieved the following results:

• Avoided losing $45,000 of unused ticket credits
• Online program adoption went from 30% to nearly 100%
• Duty of care in place with Traveler Tracker and Risk Hub

Additionally, Lightning will automatically prompt travel arrangers to redeem unused tickets purchased moving forward, which can provide savings of up to $60,000 – bringing IMA’s travel program roughly $105,000 savings this year, thanks to Lightning.

Travelers have also provided positive feedback regarding improved customer service, with no wait times on calls and a user-friendly, intuitive app that gives the info they need while on the road. IMA is excited to continue growing with CTM and is looking forward to a successful future together.