As corporate travel begins to recover, buyers and suppliers find themselves in an interesting predicament, asking themselves some really pertinent, but at this point, imponderable questions. How much travel will actually return? What data do we use now for our negotiations? And ultimately, what’s next? For our Phat Data audience, these unique times also present unique opportunities to look at their managed travel program through a different lens and start thinking about what questions have yet to be asked and how can we use data to prepare to deliver the answers.

So why should we prepare for the unasked questions? Because those pesky little issues that someone thinks to ask about in the middle of the night can drive us to the brink of insanity if we aren’t prepared with a ready answer, when everyone else says we should wave our magic wand and poof!, there it is.

Before the pandemic, we spent hours trying to creatively figure out how to solve for X, but COVID has changed the equation. This is why we need to begin thinking about what’s different in our programs now, what unique areas we should start tracking and measuring, and what data is required to do so.

While each of our programs is unique, there are a few areas in common that buyers could begin to explore and be on point, ready to answer those unasked questions when they come. Or even better than that, answer them before they are even asked.

Remote Control
One of the most exciting opportunities is the new remote traveler. This is the person who, pre-pandemic, never traveled much. Instead they collaborated with their colleagues in an office. Now this person is part of a team of, say, five workers, all of whom live in different locations, working remotely, but still have a need to collaborate.

So now there is a new traveler in town. Of course, they want to meet in person, but how often and where? This unique opportunity opens up so many new data points. Buyers should consider partnering with HR to identify who these newly-remote individuals are and mark them accordingly in the travel profile, so their travel patterns can be tracked and monitored. The data that’s generated will enable buyers to make educated recommendations on travel policy pertaining to these new travelers. For example, is a quarterly retreat to a resort OK? Or should they be using all that extra meeting space available in the office? Moreover, should they be traveling at all?

Another thing to consider: If an employee is now living in an entirely different country and the cost of the travel is now more expensive, does the corporation bear those costs? (Of course, there are other big dilemmas that this scenario raises, including about foreign taxes and employee duty of care. But those are issues for another Phat Data in the future.) These are all interesting problems, but without the monitoring and collecting of data, they will be tough to answer when the questions are asked.

Obviously, this new traveler opens up policy questions. Still, there are other policy implications buyers may want to begin tinkering with, areas such as defining necessary or business-critical travel versus times when a virtual solution should be the option. Additional food for thought on policy: Personal car mileage. If an employee works remote and is now asked to drive to the office for a meeting, does that become an item that can be expensed?

Taking a deep dive into travel and expense policies and breaking them down through the post-pandemic lens will help all buyers to prepare for the questions that are coming by determining what data to collect now and how to track and measure the impact on policy.

Rising Tides
Another hot topic that is on everyone’s mind is inflation. Not only does the current rate of inflation impact our personal lives financially, but the effects ripple throughout the supply chain and the managed travel program. From rising fuel costs to food prices to staffing challenges and everything in between, inflation is a problem for business travel. Buyers and suppliers should be partnering on this topic and having discussions on the best ways to forecast future cost increases, as this will have a direct impact on both budgets and policies. As we combine inflation and travel recovery, we are feeling the pain in our managed travel program pockets. Getting in front of this issue and being prepared to highlight the potential impact will enable buyers to be proactive versus reactive. If you haven’t already been asked this question, get ready, because it will come sooner rather than later.

Inflation alone is enough to get buyers to focus on their preferred suppliers and negotiated rates.

Questions you might anticipate to come include: How often are you actually getting your discounted rates? Why aren’t you getting them? And what are you doing to combat this? Taking a deeper dive into this topic will probably shine a lot of new light on a subject that we may have known was a problem but didn’t always have the tools or technology to manage the issue proactively. New solutions exist that can monitor booked rates to contracted rates at the time of booking and allow buyers to mitigate the problem prior to travel. Capturing this data and presenting it to suppliers will enable both parties to work closely together to develop the sourcing initiatives that take time and are expected to deliver accurate results. So what’s the point if you aren’t proactively managing it?

There are so many other unasked questions that Phat Data can help both buyers and suppliers answer before they are ever asked. So as a buyer, you should make the time to sit back, take the long view, and start thinking about what challenges you should be preparing for now that haven’t been asked of you yet, and what Phat Data do you need to answer those questions.

Jennifer Steinke is Global Head of Travel for PPD, Inc., and an industry thought leader with over 30 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.