Your travel program has lots of moving parts, but Phat Data can help you connect the dots
It is no surprise to most members of the business travel industry that data is impacting the managed travel space and will continue to influence how our programs are run and managed. There are however some surprising connections that a new look at data can reveal.
Has anyone considered the connection between your travel policy and traveler burnout? Well industry consultant Scott Gillespie has and he defines it as Traveler Friction. Imagine taking independent data from your Human Resources team and your road warriors, and combining that with the travel data you already have on hand, and you gain an amazing insight into how much your travel is really costing your company. But don’t be surprised: You may find that traveler friction can be very costly indeed.
How many trips can one stand to take to Asia in coach class? Is that policy item costing you more in traveler friction than you are saving? It’s in areas like these we discover surprising connections between travel policy and traveler satisfaction. Considering most of your road warriors are probably highly compensated individuals who contribute significantly to your company, reduced productivity and turnover could have serious consequences to your organization – customer satisfaction, employee morale and productivity, and ultimately, the bottom line.
So let’s take a simplistic look at Scott’s methodology:
• To begin, identify the road warriors in your firm and who the heads of their respective business units are to uncover what business goals and objectives might be affected by too much travel – reduced sales, billable hours, etc.
• Next step is HR – look at what measurable data points you can glean here – retention, sick days, disability, etc.
• Then segment your travelers into low-travel and high-travel employees.
You can then measure and benchmark the results for each group of travelers. For example, you may see that with high-travel employees you have higher turnover or reduced productivity.
Certainly Scott’s approach has brought to the marketplace a new way to look at how your travel program is impacting your travelers and ultimately your company’s effectiveness. So he has taken data and turned it Phat! Of course, this is a fairly new way to look at data so don’t be afraid to reach out and ask for help in formulating the metrics and understanding all of the processes that are involved. As a buyer, you’ll find that utilizing combined data in this manner will elevate your program from tactical and reactionary to strategic and relevant.
Squeaky WheelsOur next surprising connection that comes through Phat Data is user-generated content. You probably already know user-generated content; it’s the reviews, opinions and experiences of travelers or consumers that are posted online for others to read and make decisions based on the experiences of others. So it is the TripAdvisors, Yelps, Oysters of the world.
True story – A travel manager of an un-named company had just inked a new deal with a preferred property. They published the information on their portal, online booking tool and proudly communicated to travelers the news about the new preferred property for the market. Well, months went by and not one traveler was staying there. The travel manager couldn’t understand why and the sales manager for the hotel was feeling pressure of having an account not performing.
So the travel manager started to investigate by talking with travelers and trying to understand the issue. As she found out, one traveler from her company had posted a review on social media that he believed the property had bed bugs!! This went viral through the company and turned away the travelers.
Now the hotel didn’t have bed bugs and it took quite a bit of time to recover from one untrue, but nonetheless damaging statement. The moral of this unfortunate story is, travel buyers beware; there can be significant surprise connections between user-generated content/reviews and your travel program.
So what’s a buyer to do? Part of developing your Phat Data strategy should include integrating social media and user-generated content into your program. You can provide forums for travelers to post their opinions about your program and supplier mix. And do not fear the outcome; instead what you need to fear is the unknown. Because as was the case with the travel manager in my story, if she had provided avenues for travelers to share their experiences, she could have used that data to proactively get in front of the situation long before it spiraled out of control.
Let’s ReviewBuyers and suppliers alike can embrace user-generated content to promote their programs, encouraging travelers to review what their fellow employees have experienced on the road, along with other business travelers. Some sites will even allow you to subscribe and filter out leisure travelers, so you are really comparing business travelers to business travelers.
As a buyer this gives you the opportunity to collect the data around the opinions of your travelers. Once you have that in hand, go ahead and share with your supplier partners. The information will allow your suppliers to make modifications if they need to, and to show your travelers that their opinions are valued. When poor reviews turn into action items that means your program is getting closer to the high quality offering both you and your suppliers wish to deliver.
So buyers, open up those rating systems on your online booking tools, integrate the likes of Trip Advisor into your travel portal, encourage travelers to share their personal experiences and start to uncover the surprising connections between what’s happening with your suppliers and your road warriors.
And remember, 84 percent of today’s business travelers say they rely on user-generated content when making travel decisions. That’s a lot of your travelers. So if you don’t know what they are saying about your suppliers, someone else does.
As we begin to see more companies build out Phat Data strategies within their organizations, I am sure we will see more surprising connections surface. These two examples do not require that you go it alone; they are collaborative in nature so don’t be afraid to ask for help. If you are unsure how to get started reach out to some experts. As our industry changes and evolves these are two ways to continue to remain relevant, enhance your programs offerings and allow the Phat Data to do the talking!
Jennifer Steinke is manager, corporate travel for ACT, Inc., 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.