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Demand management
may reduce the total number of trips but allow companies and travellers to derive more value from those that they do take.
In the wake of the global economic downturn many companies re-introduced pre-trip approval – a process which had been popular in the 1990s but then fell out of favour. This was complemented and reinforced by demand management tools and messaging. For example, one online booking tool introduced a stage suggesting a videoconference to the booker/traveller if the purpose of the trip had been identified as an internal meeting.
Kilgannon says that, after the global downturn, “we had a virtual travel ban for non-client meetings – videoconference usage went up massively in that time”.
MAKING SAVINGS
The fact that the use of alternatives went up so sharply in 2009 and 2010 could explain why such behaviour became so standard. Some travel managers say that the year-on-year travel savings from using travel alternatives for meetings skyrocketed in this period. Those percentages would be hard to maintain so managers – always keen to be seen to be making improvements – began to take demand management for granted and turn elsewhere to demonstrate savings. CWT’s Turner believes that pre-trip approval has again lost its
sheen. He says: “There are fewer travel bookers. More and more the booker is the traveller, so we try to get the travellers to think about alternatives and, if they do choose to travel, to choose the right way to do so. “To have each trip approved can be self-defeating. If you do [employ pre- trip approval], you might find you’re paying more money because we live in an instant world and that rate you initially found could have gone away.
Demand management is about understanding your stakeholders’ needs
People are setting guidance now rather than an approval process and that saves more money at the end of the day.” Travel managers, too, are less likely to rubber-stamp requests to travel. Travel buyer Kilgannon says: “Travel managers are actively managing the demand for travel. People may be reducing the number of trips they take but, if you do have to travel, there is an emphasis on doing it the right way. It’s not just about savings, it’s also about safety and security. “We do look at the purpose of the trip rather than just what’s on the travel policy. For example, if you choose ‘internal meeting’ as reason for travel, you will get a message
asking if you have considered videoconferencing with a link.” The FCM white paper on demand
management raises the importance of data to demand management, quoting the old maxim: “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” The paper says: “If you have a broad picture of what’s happening across your different departments, you are better placed to align their travel needs where practical, streamline overall usage and eliminate unnecessary expense.”
FORWARD THINKING Kilgannon is a big advocate of understanding her stakeholders’ travel objectives. She says: “We also spend a lot of time looking ahead now rather than back so that we do more accurate sourcing. We go to different areas of the business and ask how much they are likely to travel in the next year and if there are any new projects, which can mean new routes. “If there’s a project for one month,
you might then approach an airline for a route deal for that month – that’s demand management. “You find yourself looking back on data, but if you know in advance, it’s a lot better. You can’t control what you don’t know about. You should know what’s coming, understand the requirement and how best to deliver it.” Demand management is
about understanding your stakeholders’ needs. And that never goes out of fashion. ■
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