2.
72% of Corporations
want Improved Travel Information Reporting Source: Runzheimer Survey Findings 2

3. 78% of Corporations Rate Accuracy of Travel Reports
72% of Corporations Want Improved Travel Information Reporting
78% of Corporations Rate Accuracy of Travel Reports
72% of Corporations Want Improved Travel Information Reporting
as an Important or Very Important Factor in Choosing a Travel Agency 3

4. 72% of Corporations Want Improved Travel Information Reporting
72% of Corporations Want Improved Travel Information Reporting
60% of Corporations are Dissatisfied with the Accuracy of Current Management Reporting
Source: Runzheimer Survey Findings

5.
45%
of Corporations
Cite the Need for Better Reports as their Primary Reason for Switching Travel Agencies
Recently a mid-sized travel management company brought on a new Director.

6. It’s Not About the Reports!
Contrary to what you just heard, it’s not about the reports

7. Data Consolidation “All our data in one place”
Data Consolidation
“All our data in one place”
“All our data in the same format”
“All our data easily accessible”
“All our data in real time”

8. That’s Not The Issue Either
That’s Not The Issue Either
If that’s what it’s not, than what is it? Why do people keep talking about reports and data consolidation? Well, I believe the answer lies in one of the more pronounced recent industry trends and that’s the increasing influence of finance and procurement in the once mysterious world of travel. Moving from the realm of a “soft” discipline like HR to a hard discipline like Finance has forced corporate travel managers to get acquainted with the financial implications of what they’re overseeing and the only way they know how to express it is by asking for reports. They may not know exactly what they’re asking for but they can sure tell you when it’s not right.

9. Stewardship & Accountability
Stewardship & Accountability
As I’ve spent time diagnosing these issues with corporate travel managers and finance and procurement execs what I’ve ultimately concluded is that it’s not about report, what it’s about is stewardship and accountability. After all, finance and procurement are guardians of the corporate purse.

10. Legal Operational Regulatory Reporting
Legal
Operational
Regulatory
Reporting
For legal (SOX), operational, Regulatory (investor scrutiny) and reporting reasons corporate travel managers need a solid grasp on where and how corporate funds are spent and whether or not they are being spent responsibly.

11.
Key Obstacles
That said, corporate travel managers are in a bit of a bind because there are a few substantial obstacles in the way of good stewardship and accountability
Insufficient immediate direct access to complete and accurate travel information

12. Difficulty interpreting travel information in a procurement context
Key Obstacles
Difficulty interpreting travel information in a procurement context

13.
Key Obstacles
Inability to disseminate this information to the people and systems that need it to perform their functions

14. Current Business Realities
Current Business Realities
Multiple suppliers and intermediaries
Travel is purchased inside and outside of the established managed supply chain
Significant amount of spend buried in card purchases
Filtration affect
These obstacles are rooted in the very messy way business travel happens today. There are lots of reasons for the messiness so I’ll share a few common themes from my many conversations.
So, all this said, there’s a tension at play in these realities – in the stuff you deal with every day – and in the objective of stewardship and accountability. Given that the influence of procurement is not going to go away, what’s developing are two competing visions of the future.

15. Competing Visions of the Future:
Competing Visions of the Future:
Data Independence
Travel Agencies That Get It
What exactly do we mean by the agency that gets it? What I mean by getting it is understanding the fact that reporting isn’t about just putting numbers on paper; it’s about delivering information that drives strategic and tactical outcomes that enable corporate travel managers to be good stewards of the resources they oversee.
So, that brings us back to the idea of creating winning reports. What’s important is that, whatever reports are produced, you need to begin with the end in mind – that end being the outcomes, both strategic and tactical. That said let me share a few thoughts on the outcomes I hear corporations saying they need from their agency

16. Desired Tactical Outcomes
Desired Tactical Outcomes
Clean data
Standard reports available on-time
Flexibility to do ad-hoc reporting
Interactive dashboards
Data movement between systems

17. Desired Tactical Outcomes
Desired Tactical Outcomes
Breakdowns by corporate structure
Unused ticket management
Reporting on key initiatives (e.g. online adoption, etc)
Hotel reporting capabilities

18. Desired Outcomes Strategic
Desired Outcomes Strategic
Consolidated spend information
Increased leverage with suppliers
Maximize financial benefits of contracts
Ability to enrich data – card, supplier direct, etc.

19. The Outcome You Should Be Worried About
The Outcome You Should Be Worried About
My challenge to you is to take a look at what you’re providing today and engage your customer in a discussion on what they need to be good stewards of their corporations resources. The list we went through might be a good basis for that conversation. If you do that, you just might avoid the need for the last outcome I frequently hear:
The ability to switch TMC’s without losing accumulated historical data