In the 2000 Mel Gibson movie What Women Want, the main character is a chauvinistic male who has insight into what women want. This version of that idea replaces women with ground transportation suppliers.
What suppliers want seems very obvious, namely all your business at a very high price, with the lowest liability that they have to commit to.
Now let's talk a little bit about reality. Most corporations are not going to give any supplier all the business and at the very highest price. In today's environment it's very seldom that one supplier will get all of the business. It will be shared by multiple suppliers in most cases especially in the chauffeur drive category.
My experience is that ground transportation programmes that go unmanaged make most of the suppliers happy. They are not challenged on price or safety (duty of care), age of vehicles, vetted drivers background checks, drug and alcohol testing or drivers' training.
Rental car
Duration of rental
Rental car suppliers want a company who has no one-day rentals. They want a client that has the highest usage possible, what we call average days per transaction. That means how long that a typical traveller keeps cars for on average. Let's say the average corporate client keeps the car two to three days on average and the attractive client would be one who keeps the car five to seven days. The one-day rental is the most unprofitable rental to rental car companies because they can't charge enough.
Accident rate
Another factor are accidents; clients who have a low accident ratio are considered better clients than ones that have a high ratio of accidents.
Contribution to profit
I have already touched on price. A client who demands the very lowest price is not as desirable as a client who is fair with their suppliers but that is extremely obvious and quite honestly most corporate clients want the very lowest price. Suppliers want to be able to have some margin of profitability, which seems obvious but with large accounts it is a fine line to get the business and make any profit or at least a contribution to covering the cost of servicing the account.
Special needs and demands
A client who has an extraordinarily large amount of special needs and demands in proportion to their volume not only costs the supplier a lot of money and time and effort but they also tie up resources. This is true for not just car rental suppliers but any supplier.
Travel profile
Where a company travels also matters to car rental companies. A company that travels in high-cost areas such as London, Paris and New York has a higher cost of doing business then a company whose travel profile is to less costly areas. Once again there is a price to cost-of-doing-business ratio to price being paid. If you want a below market price in one market, then you need to willing to pay more in another market to offset the difference. That is why one price cannot or does not fit all everywhere.
Chauffeur drive suppliers
Many corporations have multiple suppliers; in some cases they have hundreds of suppliers. The smaller suppliers would probably be happy with the volume they are currently receiving, the larger suppliers would like to see consolidation and elimination of the smaller suppliers.
The whole ground category is one that needs attention and this space needs the most. If you are a global supplier or at least very strong in your country or region, then you want a corporate client to go to RFP. I say that with a proviso. RFPs take up resources, time and effort and they cost suppliers money. The problem in this category is that many companies who go to RFP ask for very high standards and then they don't deliver the volume as suggested or promised during the RFP process once they award the business...
Create a two-way relationship ©ermingut/iStock
Companies need to treat this category differently for several reason. First, travelling employees may not be used to being directed to just a few preferred suppliers. Instead they are accustomed to using who they like. The problem with this is that the supplier they are currently using may not fit safety criteria from a vehicle age point of view, a vetted driver point of view and/or liability coverage. That puts the company at risk.
Most companies put out a policy with no teeth in it and people will keep doing what they did in the past. In this travel segment a strong policy is not just wise but should be mandatory. It will give your company credibility with suppliers. What works best is when a company simply says expenses are not reimbursable if a preferred supplier is not used. If a company does not do that, the suppliers who were chosen won't give the company good pricing or high levels of liability coverage in the next RFP because the corporate has not delivered what it promised. Suppliers remember that and word gets round. Bidding in a large RFP is very costly and time-consuming for suppliers.
It can make a supplier very unhappy if a company uses it only for the hard-to-please travellers, such as VIPs, who demand higher end vehicles and specific drivers and then doesn't give that supplier the profitable, everyday business that does not take up all the resources.
RFPs for rental car and chauffeur drive suppliers
Real, accurate and complete data is important and the more detail the better it will be. The best supplier data is that of the highest quality and the most accurate.
When a supplier is given a volume it needs to be of attainable business, not some inflated number that will never materialise. The ability to deliver volume from the incumbent suppliers is very important and will be noted on future RFPs by the suppliers.
Chauffeur drive suppliers want and need specific data. The more accurate it is, the easier it will be for them to price the business. Take, for example, a request from London, Paris or New York City to their airports. Depending where you are in those cities it's a different price to go to the airports. One price does not fit all. You are going to get a better price with more detailed information and you're going to make the supplier happier. It will help you also get a more accurate price.
Honesty means that the company who is out to bid is willing to move from the incumbent and is not just undertaking the bid to lower the incumbent's pricing.
Give the supplier enough time to fill out the RFP accurately and comprehensively. Too many RFPs do not give the supplier enough time to fill them out properly.
A supplier wants the company's loyalty as the incumbent supplier who has serviced the account during the years of the prior agreement. They want the service to count when making the decision and they hope that they get "the last call ", the last right of refusal.
All suppliers want a chance to demonstrate their services and benefits by doing a presentation in person.
Having done both sourcing and been a supplier, I'm sure that at time I have left out many of the wants and needs of some suppliers. However, I hope I have pointed out a few things that make most suppliers happy.
In the end a supplier wants to be treated fairly and when you do that the good ones will bend over backwards for you.