Tools of the trade
In a constantly changing environment, what does it take to be a successful travel buyer?
By BOB PAPWORTH
the cor- porate travel manager’s role appeared to be pretty straight- forward. Essentially, the task involved screwing the best possible deal out of suppliers and then telling employees that their expense claims might be rejected if they didn’t stick to the rules.
Barely acknowledged at board level, where the C-suite suits insisted on viewing business trips as a bottom-line cost rather than an investment, travel policies were often regarded with thinly-disguised contempt by the travellers themselves, and with suspicion by suppliers who didn’t seriously believe the trip volumes promised.
The word ‘mandating’ was bandied
about on a regular basis, while those who failed to comply were branded ‘rogue’ travellers. ‘Senior management buy-in’ was the Holy Grail – invaluable, but desperately difficult to pin down. Black and white, right and wrong – happy days…
How times change. According to the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA): “The economic downturn has allowed travel managers to take a front and centre role within their companies and has made travel management, as a profession, an important part of every top executive’s strategic planning.”
The boardroom bigwigs – well, many of them – have woken up to the ‘produc- tivity versus price’ argument. ‘Lowest available fare’ has given way to ‘lowest appropriate fare’. Traveller feedback is sometimes sought, sometimes welcomed and sometimes acted upon. ‘Duty-of-care’ is the buzz-phrase du jour. Tyranny has been replaced by touchy-
feely. It‘s all gone a bit fluffy. Or has it? The GBTA says: “Travel management [today] is a specialised business function that balances employee needs with corporate goals, financial and otherwise. Travel management ensures cost tracking and control, facilitates adherence to corporate travel policies, realises savings through
negotiated discounts, and serves as a valu- able information centre for employees and managers in times when travel is not as smooth and carefree as it used to be. “In many cases, travel managers have been asked to lead company-wide efforts to cut travel costs, track those savings and report them back to senior management.” That’s quite a to-do list – while they’re at it, perhaps they could slay a few dragons, build an ark, and re-invent a wheel or two? For the aspiring travel buyer, or an incumbent looking to further his or her career, there’s no shortage of advice. A quick trawl back through recent issues of Buying Business Travel and all sorts of handy hints emerge. Ikea’s global sourcing lead Mikael Saari suggests: “You need to be a good seller, a change agent, to master project manage- ment and, last but not least, to be a good communicator.” Amanda Taylor, head of travel at Lush, says travel managers need to enjoy working with people, be organised and self-motivated and “have a willingness to learn and be adaptable”.
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