SME SECTOR
content, say from 18 different channels, easy to understand,” says Andy Hegley, UK general manager at Corporate Traveller. One of the biggest gripes from some SMEs is that they are small fry and are sometimes put with with less senior account handlers for services. Ariel Crohn, a travel manager for an insurance company (see box, p58), says smaller companies may be less visible. Kevin Harrison, managing director at
Good Travel Management, agrees. “Smaller businesses’ expectations are often the same as larger multinational companies. Yet their needs can be lost within a larger TMC which is focused on supporting and retaining the business of much larger companies,” he says.
START YOUNG However, the sage advice from buyers and TMCs alike is that for a small company it’s worth getting some form of structured travel management in place early on. It’s only when the company grows and travel costs escalate that problems appear. “As the company grows our consultants will need to travel more. More travel means more expenditure, so having a solid travel policy in place, alongside a way of booking that ensures we get the best value for money is important,” notes Lina Dineikiene, financial controller at Brand Finance. Duty-of-care is also a hot topic that’s filtering down, even to those that have small budgets and infrequent travel. This is something that SMEs struggle to deal with on their own without sizeable investment. “Small businesses increasingly want clear visibility of their travellers, to ensure they are safe no matter where they are travelling,” points out Chris Vince, director of operations at Click Travel.
NEW FRONTIERS Meanwhile, there are a number of trends in SME travel. A straw poll suggests the segment doesn’t conform to the standard destinations and tickets purchased
60 JULY/AUGUST 2019
USER CONVERSION: TRANSPARENCY IS KEY TO CUTTING COSTS
USER CONVERSION IS A DIGITAL START-UP with 32 employees. The company has experienced mete- oric growth since it was founded
in 2014. It doesn’t
have a managed travel programme, but it started reining in travel spend when it was realised how much it was costing. “We were shocked
when we found out how much we were spending,” explains Beth Lang, operations manager at the company (pictured
Digital start-up User Conversion
spend go unnoticed as it gets swallowed up as general expenses – an issue that many small businesses experience. “We have brought in
informal policies now; anything over a certain amount must also get sign off. Allotting travel budgets to various client accounts has worked,” says Lang. “We’ve also employed tools that give us visibility and transpar- ency on what we spend. Everyone in the company can see the figures and that’s been invaluable.”
above). “We used to take six colleagues down to London to meet a client. Those were the early days of the business. We’ve got a lot savvier about what we do now.” Like many small
enterprises, User Con- version uses the same online booking engines as many consumers to book holidays. Also, it has seen travel as a category
Recently the company
has turned to TapTrip, a self-service travel solution, to book its rail, and this also allows automated expenses. “My advice as a small
business is that you need a handle on costs from the outset,” says Lang. “As your company grows you can work out the benefit of your travel spend and ROI.”
buyingbusinesstravel.com
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