Travel and meeting managers feel the pain of travel and/or meeting anarchy. It results in wasted money (unleveraged expenditures, lack of clear budgets, and price guidelines), wasted time (efficiencies missed in technology and process), reduced confidence (from a lack of support and advocacy), and reduced control (lack of data). There are powerful synergies to be gained by leveraging meeting and corporate travel costs but they are often missed. So don't feel bad. Instead, get moving on tightening, updating, or developing one strong combined travel and meeting policy that defines the rules, provides direction, and offers suggestions with emphasis in the following five "P" areas and gain maximum leverage for 2008 and beyond: price, procedures, payment, preferreds, and packaging.
The first part of this three-part series took a look at price strategies. The second part explored procedures and payment. In part three we'll delve into how mastering the nuances of preferred relationships and packaging can lead to big savings.
Preferred VendorsTravel suppliers (airline, hotels, car rental, motor coaches, etc.) recognize and appreciate an organization that brings a great volume of business to them and can direct its users to their services. So leveraging your transient and meeting travel volumes will impress these partners and having a strong policy that directs travelers to these suppliers and has controls and teeth will also impress them. When impressed, suppliers can provide you discounts, affinity programs with back end values like tickets and club membership, influence to clear space when otherwise not available, free amenities, complimentary meeting rooms, and overall just better service. Communicate all preferred suppliers in your policy and explain why and when the support is required.
Consider who will negotiate these rates and deals and manage these relationships; offer up the maximum amount of business for success (combined volumes, multi-year agreements, etc.).
Professional service companies will be impressed with the same commitment and will provide the same service. These suppliers include your travel management company, meeting management company, housing company, exhibit management company, shipping companies, audiovisual companies, printing companies, ground transportation, and others.
Some industry associations are advancing the concept of leveraged purchasing for all travel within organizations to their preferred suppliers from all departments. As stated in
MeetingNews, at the recent annual conference for National Business Travel Association (NBTA) a session was devoted to "strategic meeting management programs" (SMMP). The goal of SMMP is to have the meeting manager, travel manager, and procurement officer from companies all implement preferred suppliers and enforce their support of these programs in a policy.
Consider the following questions:
• Did you identify all preferred suppliers in your policy?
• Are you prepared to negotiate new agreements with a maximum amount of data and commitment?
• Have you looked at the total package of your travel and meeting usage and matched up needs with preferred vendors in future meeting site locations?
PackagingDefine the results desired for each event. Package, sell, and build each program to reach the desired results and experience while supporting your company brand and objectives.
Your meeting must have a clear purpose and targeted audience. Meeting organizers need to demonstrate the return on investment for attendees. Your policy should talk about how to create the right meeting that drives the right results. It must be well packaged with the right speakers in the right cities using data from attendees that drives attendance. Marketing a meeting has never been more important.
Your meeting content has to be "can't miss" to create the interest from potential attendees. To help stir the excitement for the upcoming event, you must also identify the value of your location. Consider your audience. For example, should yours be a "green meeting" that minimizes the impact on the environment by choosing an eco-friendly property and carbon footprint? Some hotel companies offer properties and packages that will meet those needs. When "going green" the commitment should be carried out by the host organization through goals and using eco-friendly and organic brands and procedures.
Consider the following questions:
• Will the event reach the established objectives and support our brand? Have we determined where to spend more and where to spend less?
• Will attendees feel they are getting value and maximizing return on investment? Will you be able to measure this for future events?
• Did you showcase savings attendees are realizing due to the organization's buying power?
SummaryIt's clear that there is a correlation between corporate travel management and cost containment. It's also clear that this is a complex process that should be defined in a company policy or standard operating procedure. It's clear that there are tools, best practices, and suppliers that can ensure the best investment on these very costly items. It's also important to realize that left unmanaged these costs will increase, productivity will be reduced, support and advocacy could be diminished, and control over potential liability may also be on the downturn. With that being said, the cheapest of everything isn't always the best value. Balancing the needs of the organization, the planners, and the meeting participants is a critical factor in creating a unified travel policy that will maximize savings and efficiencies while simultaneously delivering unsurpassed value to travelers.
In a recent
MeetingNews survey of 337 planners, when asked whether they must use or even consider using the suppliers with volume agreements, almost 50 percent of planners said they had no restrictions. True consolidation means not only capturing and leveraging what you spend on meetings, but also bringing all travel spending in your organization under one umbrella and using it to your advantage. If you are not doing that with a consolidated travel policy you are losing money. The same survey stated that compared to three years ago, 35 percent of corporate planners and 39 percent of association planners rated their organization's current effort to consolidate and track meeting/ travel spending as "much better." So, we are headed in the right direction.
A travel policy is only of value if it is enforced. By consolidating corporate and meeting travel, you can leverage total travel volume and generate greater buying power. Consider outsourcing this function to your meeting management company. You will begin to see the benefits of strategically maximizing the total value of your travel dollars.
Michael MacNair owns MacNair Travel Management, a travel and leadership consulting firm in Alexandria, VA. A regular industry spokesperson and author of the book Smooth Landings, MacNair conducts travel management seminars, sharing best practices. To contact him, visit www.macnairtravel.com.Originally published Oct. 1, 2008For more ideas, tips, and tools for better meetings and events,
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