Do you receive your weekly, monthly, or quarterly travel spend reports and set them aside without doing anything with them? If so, you’re not alone. Many companies are finding out that traditional, flat reporting has given them all it can. Traditional data they can’t interact with in real time is unable to provide them an accurate view of their travel program. With new travel data analytics, companies are able to see where they should spend time working to improve results.
Leading travel management companies provide travel data analytics tools that can benchmark, look at “what if” scenarios, set and monitor savings goals, and manage supplier contracts in real time. This technology is helping to take travel programs to a new level of optimization.
Benchmarking
You may have questions regarding the performance of your travel program. Is your online adoption rate in line with other companies of your size, in your same industry, and geographic area? What about the percentage of your travelers that book at least 7 days out from their departure date? Benchmarking your key performance indicators against similar companies provides a baseline from which to gauge your program and set goals. It’s the beginning of getting real visibility and insight into your travel spend.
Set Goals
Armed with a baseline reading of your travel program, you can use data analytics to set goals for your program. You can then see in real time what the results would be if you met your goals. Your travel data analytics allow you to look at any number of “what if” scenarios. If 20% more of your travelers accepted the lowest fare offered to them, what would that mean in terms of savings for your company? What percentage of your travelers are booking their trip without a hotel? With travel data analytics you can quickly learn the answers to these questions.
Supplier Management
Another area where travel data analytics is helpful is supplier management. By utilizing data analytics tools, you’re able to easily see what your spend levels are with your preferred suppliers at any time. If you’re not on track to meet spend goals with certain suppliers, drill down into the data and find out why. Have your travel patterns changed? If so, is business dictating this change? Again, this is how you achieve real visibility and insight into your travel spend, and find out where the cost saving opportunities lie.
Working with your travel management company’s account manager to benchmark your travel program, see where the savings opportunities are, set a strategy to achieve your goals, and then monitor your progress is essential to fully optimizing your travel program. There’s no time like the present to get started.