I AM NOT TARRING ALL TMCS WITH THE SAME BRUSH, BUT THERE CAN BE UNDER-THE-RADAR CHARGES
THE TMC SIMONE BUCKLEY, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, FELLO
I use the word partnership a lot but that is the answer. A client needs to see the TMC as an extension of their business and to treat them as part of the company to help the TMC to behave like that. Share as much information as possible about the business’s goals, objectives and culture so that the TMC can understand what’s going on and can start to predict the client’s requirements; and if the agency understands the client’s technology strategy, it can align with it. It’s important to allow the TMC to
have relationships with stakeholders across the business, not just with the travel manager. This allows it to stay in tune with the organisation. If we can understand what the business is about and why they are travelling, we can deliver a better service. That way you can have a stronger relationship because you are not dealing with unhappy travellers.
The client should defend their policy and their TMC. Where there
is a travel programme in place, there is a reason for doing things in a particular way and if that is not communicated properly within the organisation, people will get upset. Travel managers should not just pass the flack to the TMC, but explain that the TMC tells you something because that is what has been agreed. In our industry, there has always
been someone paying the fees, but there are also other incomes that help support a business model. All that is changing now; income streams from the supply chain are being diluted and that is increasing the cost of running a TMC. Because TMCs have been under pressure for years to reduce prices, they feel they cannot go back to the customer and say, our business model is changing and you need to pay more, so they are trying to make the operation as low cost as possible to maintain a living. Having a close working relationship with customers makes it easier to have that important conversation.
TOM STONE, MANAGING DIRECTOR, SIRIUS The biggest barriers to a good relationship with a TMC are lack of honesty and transparency. A company will sign an agreement with a TMC that they are happy with and somewhere down the line realise it is not suitable for them; they might have a service level agreement that isn’t workable, or there is a diminishing of service because of a change of account manager or the staff. The relationship begins to fail because there has been a disconnect between what the TMC thinks the corporate needs and what the corporate actually needs, or the corporate hasn’t been clear enough with the TMC. Since airlines have long not paid commissions and hotels are beginning not to, TMCs have to think more strategically about how to earn money. I am not tarring all TMCs with the same brush, but there can be under-the-radar charges. Some are clear about what charges are going to be, others are disingenuous. In the middle are a few who are honest but who rely on income that is generated by the corporate which they don’t declare. A prime example is those who bill for 120 per cent of an account manager’s time – unless you have someone dedicated 100 per cent to your account, it’s difficult to prove. From a corporate point of view, it is worth investing in having someone to manage the relationship, either a full-time travel manager or someone to engage with the TMC as an expert. I see a lot of TMCs that are desperate to engage with the customer base (bookers and travellers) but there is no mechanism to do that. Often, if procurement is involved in travel and the TMC agreement, there is nobody to manage it on a day-to-day basis.
■ For more on relationship
building, turn to pages 70-74
buyingbusinesstravel.com
2018
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER
57
THE CONSULTANT
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