Every industry has its own mix, doesn't it? There are the Four Ps of the marketing mix, the Four Ms of project management and the Three Cs of travel management…cost, control and convenience. Right?
Wrong. Not anymore. Definitions, like people and technologies, have to continue evolving to keep up with change. The traditional Three Cs of travel management are a little musty now. They are not entirely irrelevant but are in need of a bit of a shake-up.
In reality cost is more easily controlled with technological developments today. The battle for control is being lost to the demand for consumerisation of travel booking. Convenience is the driver of all that is relevant in the travel world today.
A new updated model has emerged from the effects of the last few years of disruptive technology. Ironically they are still three Cs but are more relevant for today's traveller.
- Consumer
- Content
- Context
Let me explain some more.
Consumer - new behaviour, tools and reporting
The consumerisation of travel and the rise of traveller centricity is central to the big changes we are currently experiencing in the industry. How travellers want to research, book and interact with their travel arrangements has changed significantly in recent years.
Business travel booking tools just aren't keeping up; they are clunky and unproductive. So travellers are looking elsewhere and there is fierce competition coming from consumer tools such as Booking.com and Uber. The traveller wants to be in control and the various available consumer tools let them.
As a travel manager if you do not embrace this change and move away from clunky interfaces you will find that more and more travellers will fight the travel policy and tools you have.
In order to gain ground here you first need to hand over a degree of control to the traveller. Move away from travel management and closer towards traveller management. And in doing so, the measurement and monitoring of travel programmes will become more consumer orientated too. Monitoring processes, measuring and reporting KPIs will become more consumerised which should be a relief for all.
Content — providing the right choice on the right channels
Another big contributor to travellers booking outside of the programme is that many corporate travel programmes just don't have a comparable choice of content as the consumer alternatives do.
A travel manager now needs to be led by the buying decisions of the market. If you continue to push content, whether suppliers or providers, on to corporate travellers they will, again, fight against the system.
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Tools should filter all the choices into a simple search function ©venimo/iStock
While it is hard to keep up with boutique hotel buying or an in-app ground transport booking, travel managers need to be able to adapt and manage content well enough to keep the interest and cooperation of the traveller and also to maximise their buying power. Travellers want choice of content more than anything now.
Context — understand the entire travel process
If content is king then I'd offer that context is queen when it comes to corporate travel programmes. Knowing and understanding a traveller, their preferences and being able to personalise and manage the whole experience end-to-end is essential in today's travel climate.
Travel managers have a duty now to understand the entire process from search and booking through to trip management and expense claiming. If they, and the tools they use, do this well then they can start to offer helpful information based on habits and preferences. By using technology to capture the preferences of business travellers you can compete for mindshare by providing the right tool recommendations, services, hints and tips.
The more feedback you get the better context you have and the better context you have the better experience you offer. The travel manager's role in understanding and facilitating this context is key.
Becoming an agent for change — where to start?
There's no doubt a travel manager's role is changing. Like it or not travel managers need to become agents for change within their business. With that comes the need to develop a new mind and skillset.
Here are the five areas that travel managers should be looking to develop so they are equipped to evolve their travel policy, update procedures and further their own careers.
- Live it and experience it — Live the life of a traveller and walk in their shoes. Book a break using Airbnb and book your taxis via Uber (you've probably done it already!). There's no better way to understand a new trend than to become a part of it.
- Open up channels of communication —Encourage transparency and communication between travellers and business sponsors. Seek and provide open feedback and become a conduit to conversations.
- Evangelise — Work with cross-functional sponsors within the organisation to help drive the change you need to meet traveller demands.
- Evolve the ecosystem — Bring together suppliers in a collaborative working partnership. Seek relationships with all service providers and manage collaboratively, not in silos, so that you can work together to overcome challenges.
- Brush up on change management — Read up on change management techniques and start to introduce principles to your day to day work.
We see change in all jobs and industries. Some are slow and steady, others are rapid and sweeping. The digital transformation that the travel industry has been going through is no different. Technology is enabling travellers to choose what they want, where they want it and how they want it.
It's now up to travel managers to step up and become agents for change. In order to do this, they'll need to sharpen their ability to show their vision, become influencers of people and take colleagues with them on a journey of discovery.
What could be so hard? After all, you work in business travel. A journey of discovery fits the bill nicely, right?