Business Travel and Procurement: Building a strategic partnership
08/08/2023
In today's fast-paced business environment, travel management plays a crucial role in supporting organisations' success. To effectively streamline travel operations, a strategic partnership between procurement and a TMCs are becoming increasingly important.
This collaborative approach brings together the expertise of procurement professionals and the specialised knowledge of TMCs like HTS, resulting in enhanced cost savings, improved service quality, and a more efficient travel program.
We are looking at the key benefits of this powerful alliance:
1. Maximises savings
By considering the strategic sourcing capabilities of procurement and the market insights of TMCs, organisations can unlock significant cost savings in their travel management. Procurement professionals are great at negotiating contracts, ensuring competitive pricing, and optimising supplier relationships.
TMCs, on the other hand, have deep industry knowledge and can provide valuable insights into travel trends, best practices, and preferred partners. Together, they can identify cost-saving opportunities, secure profitable pricing agreements, and enforce effective travel policies that align with the organisation's financial objectives.
2. Boosts compliance
Procurement teams are clued up in regulatory conditions and risk management practices. When cooperating with TMCs, they can establish strong travel policies and procedures that comply with industry regulations, ensure duty of care, and mitigate travel-related dangers.
TMCs bring specialised expertise in travel risk management, traveller tracking, and emergency response planning, enhancing the organisation's duty of care and minimising potential disturbances during business trips.
3. Enhances efficiencies
Integrating procurement and TMC systems leads to streamlined processes and increased productivity. By leveraging technology and automation, organisations can simplify travel booking, expense management, and reporting.
Procurement's expertise in process optimisation can help identify bottlenecks and streamline workflows, reducing administrative burden and enhancing productivity. Also, TMCs can provide data and analytics, helping procurement teams to gain valuable insights into travel patterns, expenses, and performance, which can inform strategic decision-making.
4. Improves traveller experience
Traveller satisfaction is a key aspect of successful travel management. The partnership between procurement and TMCs enables organisations to deliver an enhanced traveller experience.
TMCs like HTS can provide access to comprehensive travel services, including personalised itineraries, 24/7 customer support, and exclusive rewards. With procurement involvement, organisations can ensure that the travel program aligns with employee needs and preferences, resulting in happier travellers and increased productivity.
In the ever-evolving travel management landscape, strategic partnerships between procurement and TMCs are the key to achieving success. By combining the strengths of procurement's strategic sourcing and risk management expertise with the specialised knowledge and industry insights of TMCs, organisations can maximise cost savings, ensure compliance and risk mitigation, streamline processes, and enhance the overall traveller experience.
Together these collaborative efforts will lead to an optimised travel program that drives organisational growth and success.
