Most buyers don’t like to change. And why would they? The travellers are used to the processes, key people know what they are getting, and, unlike most procurement contracts, any transition is likely to involve a large change programme, affecting the majority of people in the business.
Of course, depending on which you pick, changing TMC doesn’t have to be painful. And there are some key signs to look out for that things are really not going as well as they should be with your incumbent:
1. Your account manager isn't staying in touch
It staggers me that many larger organisations report very rarely actually hearing from their account manager. If yours isn’t in touch with your on a regular basis, how interested are they in your organisation and your travel spend?
Not every company needs or wants face to face contact all the time, but if your account manager isn’t making the effort to touch base with you as you’d like, it’s worth questioning why not.
2. You're being ripped off
It’s always a good idea to benchmark fees against an alternative supplier and also to benchmark fares - you may find that although your fees seem quite reasonable, your supplier is applying some hefty mark ups to your bookings which could be invisible to you unless investigate and compare against alternatives.
Top tip for benchmarking - don’t just send an itinerary to a TMC, ask to see it in real time on their online system, that’s the only way to truly assess what rates they can offer.
3. SLAs have fallen by the wayside
SLAs are crucial to your business travel contract as they form the cornerstones of your organisation’s agreement with your TMC. If your business travel agent is not sticking to the agreed SLAs, you need to take action.
Set your TMC a little test: select a booking they did yesterday and ask them to tell you the SLA they delivered - not just on first response, but also on completing the booking. If they can’t tell you, then why on Earth not? It might be time to move on.
4. Your TMC isn't moving forward
Your TMC should be seeking to innovate all the time and they should be able to tell you quarterly what they are doing differently this quarter to deliver from last. If they can’t articulate that, they might be sleepwalking, running your business travel on cruise control! In addition your account manager should be providing you with a list of ideas to save you money at each meeting. If they don’t, you have to ask yourself if they’re on autopilot, rather than proactively seeking cost saving opportunities for your organisation, as they should be.
5. Complaints are rising
Measure the percentage of complaints versus bookings. If it’s more than 1 per cent, that's time to change. And when was the last time your TMC did a traveller survey and analysed the results?
Taking an interest in your thoughts of their service is an important part of a TMC's duties. If you can get hold of a survey, don’t just look for the overall score - read the verbatim feedback too.
Everyone hopes that changing TMCs doesn’t happen too regularly, but there are some warning signs you simply should not ignore. Pay attention to these and you can ensure you’re keeping your TMC on its toes and that the best possible commercial relationship is in place at all times.
Jill Palmer blogs for travel management firm Click Travel.
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