There’s more than one measure of program success, as our BTE Buyer Think Tank members reveal
By BTE Think Tank
Cheryl Benjamin Travel Services Manager, Dart Container Corporation “Technology, especially around data, has changed our industry. Our jobs are easier, yes, but in some cases so much data has created ‘noise.’ At Dart, we measure program success not only by travel’s financial impact on the company but also how the traveler views the experience. Recently we invested in a new expense system and we are just tapping into the data coming out. Even though it has only been in place a few months, it has already helped us see improvements in our policies. Next we’ll explore dashboards to bring all the data together in one tidy package.”
Chris Brockman Travel Manager - North America, Electrolux Major Appliances North America “In the past, travel program success was measured in cost savings. In today’s world, it’s trickier; there are more intangibles that may not report into a company’s procurement team as actual savings but definitely have value. For instance, travel policy that provides efficient guidelines but allows some traveler flexibility can pay off in employee retention. Or consider Duty of Care; closely managing a traveler’s safety and security is priceless today’s world. There are others, and as the world of corporate travel evolves, so will the way we define a successful travel program.”
Mark Ziegler Senior Travel Manager, NetApp, Inc. “Defining corporate travel program success is a difficult proposition. Everyone has their own measure. Are we talking about success from the traveler point of view, the vice president of a business, or the travel manager? For the traveler, success is a ‘frictionless’ travel experience and hopefully, a fruitful business meeting. The VP will probably measure success by the lack of complaints and, more importantly, reports that show adherence to budget. The travel manager may have various modes of measuring success. One of the most important for me is an annual survey that asks travelers and travel arrangers pointed questions about the service they receive. And if the travel manager is being honest, the survey should include a comment field for real expressions of satisfaction (or not!).”
Jennifer Steinke Manager, Corporate Travel, Dycom Industries, Inc. “My program measures success based on two things: traveler satisfaction and meeting overall program goals, such as service, safety and savings. It is critical to continually gauge how my travelers view the program and to understand supplier compliance, because better compliance drives bigger savings. Traveler dissatisfaction with the program overall or with a specific supplier shows up when program leakage increases or when we hear more noise in the program. Travel buyers need to have ongoing interactive communications with their traveling population to become a trusted advisor that delivers a strategic travel program.”
Rosemary Maloney Senior Manager Global Travel, Coach “As our program was recently relaunched (fall 2016), our first measurement was based on savings and compliance. Our management saw success as employees staying compliant and in program. I measured success not only by the value we received from our vendors, but also employee feedback, whether positive or negative. We’ve seen great increases in compliance and employee satisfaction, while our spend and complaints have decreased.”
Kevin McDonald Senior Director for Strategic Procurement, PPD “Program success can be as simple as travelers getting to where they need to be with minimal hassle. On the other hand, you can dive deeply into metrics to see if your program is meeting predetermined objectives. In our instance, the measures are somewhere in between. As a CTD, our success is measured on multiple fronts: 1. Travelers getting where they need to be, or having resources to reroute them as necessary is a definite win. 2. Running the operation efficiently and driving value measured in feedback surveys, volume managed, compliance and traveler tracking. 3. Finding the right supplier partners and ensuring market-best pricing. 4. Enabling data and tools to support travelers during their trip.There are as many ways to identify program success as there are ways to measure it. If you take the above and add traveler satisfaction, you get a fairly accurate picture of your program.”
Wendy Palmer Manager, Event Experience, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) “Throughout my career, I’ve analyzed travel program performance based on different parameters and metrics. While there’s always the bottom-line focus on savings, there are other measures of success and opportunity. But in general travel programs succeed when people across the organization adopt them consistently. Supplier discounts and rebates won’t matter if travelers don’t participate. Successful programs marry marry the traveler’s needs and company objectives, with communication focused on collaboration and dialog.”
David Smith Travel and Relocations Manager, Americas, Amdocs “How a travel programs success is measured depends on which stakeholder you ask. One metric is traveler satisfaction vs. cost savings. We are called on to create happy comfortable employees on trips, but at the end of a quarter the spend for that happy comfortable travel is viewed much differently. There are many other metrics and each is important. Managing each measurement, the relationships attached to those measurements and maintaining some kind of balance is the yardstick I use to gauge my program’s success.”