An effective Phat Data strategy can impact your program, your organization and your travelers. Here’s how
There are things you know you know, and things you don’t know you know. And your travel data can tell you a lot about both. But it’s knowing where and when to look that makes your data strategy the key to finding value in all that information. The impacts of this data can be significant to the overall health of your managed travel program.
As you begin to consider the ways data supports your program, the factors can be chunked up into three key areas of impact: Program Performance and Management, Telling the Right Story, and Impacting the Traveler. When any one of these areas is not being focused on, it can weaken the overall performance of the program. Let’s take a look at how having a strong Phat data strategy can support these factors.
Program Management If you are familiar with how to build a Phat Data strategy, then you are aware that the utilization of data determines not only how the program performs but the way the program is designed. When building a world class managed travel program, buyers need to consider two things: first,what data do they currently have access to and how do they use it, and secondly, does that data support the current design of their program objectives?
As you collect data about your program from either internal or external sources, you need to ensure that the data is actionable and gives you the capability to make decisions about the program and its performance.
For example, let’s say you are trying to analyze the right supplier mix for your air program. Sure, you can do a full RFP for your air spend or maybe just sit down for some simple negotiations. But before you do any of this, you need to take into account another piece of data that makes your decisions on your air program actionable.
To begin with, consider how compliant your program is relative to specific air carriers and why you may not be getting the spend you expected on a specific airline or route. Discovering the holes in the spend requires in-depth conversations with travelers and departments within your organization to determine why carriers may not be getting their agreed-upon market share.
Ask questions. Find out whether market conditions or business objectives have changed for the organization – or is the shortfall merely due to traveler preference? If you don’t get in front of questions like this when selecting the proper supplier mix, you may not achieve expected/contracted performance. This is just one example.
Policy Counts Another key impact area for program management is determining how effective your policy is. The policy as a foundation of the managed travel program supports the program objectives. So it’s critical to understand how effective the policy is. By extension the buyer must apply the same criteria to the company’s overall objectives and the individual traveler’s objectives so that the policy is strong on all fronts.
Key point: Buyers need to understand the business objectives of their travelers and their organization to get the proper actionable data. This will more than likely be very different depending on which department and even which traveler, so be nimble in your approach and methodical in your execution.
Having the right Phat Data to effectively manage all areas of your program will allow you to develop proper policies, supplier mix and service offerings. Once you have the right data in place then you can begin to tell your stories.
Telling the Right Stories
All data is not equal! Neither is the way you share that data within your organization. Setting up the data story for maximum impact requires buyers to design their reporting and delivery around their audience. Buyers want to share with a CFO a completely different set of data and tell a different story than they would want to present to a front line manager.
So the design is critical. With each set of data you deliver, you need to ask: What is it that you want the audience to know? And what is the impact or outcome you are trying to create?
Do you need action to be taken based on the data? Maybe you are looking for a policy change, or maybe it’s a behavioral change. Build the report, analyze the data, share the story and create “The Ask.” What is it that you need the consumer of this information to take action on?
Buyers who set up the stories effectively tend to have less resistance in driving change within their programs and generally see better overall program performance. The data ends up telling the story – and it’s hard to resist the data, if it’s the right data to tell the story.
One thing for buyers to remember is that more data is not always better. Distributing data for data’s sake is not effective. But there will certainly be times when reports are being sent to lay the groundwork for The Ask. Highlighting areas for improvement on a monthly or quarterly basis can have a huge impact on driving the desired end results.
An example of this kind of communication would be when the buyer needs to tell a lack-of-policy-compliance story. It wouldn’t be effective to look at just one month’s data and then ask for a change in policy. The data isn’t actionable because the sample set is too small. So it may require months of reports highlighting a trend in a lack of policy compliance to gain enough actionable information to go in for The Ask.
Now this is not to say that it isn’t effective to take action on one non-compliant traveler to educate him or her on importance of compliance, because it surely is. Don’t let things spiral out of control.
Impacting the Traveler At the end of the day buyers have to consider how their decisions impact their traveling population. For most corporations, long gone are the days of travel policy based on “just do what we say” with no regard for the way it actually affects the traveler’s experience.
The good news for buyers is that their Phat Data strategy can be used to gain insight into the impact of their program on their travelers. That can include everything from analyzing the impacts of policy on a traveler’s job performance to helping determine the right supplier mix.
This data can also help align your overall travel program objectives with your corporate objectives. Gaining better insights from travelers helps create a travel program that’s set up to obtain great compliance, provide duty of care, and proper services that will drive savings.
When they’re engaged with the management of the travel program, your travelers can be the best ally a buyer can have.
Phat Data and a strong strategy can impact the managed travel program in many areas. It is important for buyers to focus on what their data is telling them. If it isn’t telling them something, then they need new data. Remember it should be actionable or lead to action.
Don’t be afraid to engage with key stakeholders within your organization and with your suppliers to formulate a strategy to tell your story. Every company is different, so your strategy and your story will be unique to your organization and your traveling population. Think about the impacts Phat Data can create within your own program. It keeps your program relevant and strategic.
J
ennifer Steinke is vice president Global Travel Experience at WHoldings, and an industry thought leader with over 27 years experience managing corporate travel. She holds an MBA plus Certified Corporate Travel Executive (CCTE) and Global Travel Professional (GTP) certifications from GBTA. Jennifer strives to deliver innovative and thought provoking ideas to the corporate travel industry.