According to a J.P. Morgan study, company T&E (travel & expense) is the second largest expense behind payroll…
The good news is that it can largely be controlled—if you have the right tools and expertise. The bad news is a lot companies don’t. Effectively managing a corporate travel program requires experience, smarter technology, and quite frankly, more staff. This is where TMCs enter the picture.
So what’s a TMC? TMC is an acronym for Travel Management Company, and TMCs help companies streamline and optimize their travel programs. If you’re looking for quantifiable savings, convenient and value-added services, enhanced data visibility, increased automation, and happier travelers, you need a TMC. Read below for our top three reasons why TMCs are good for business.
Service
With a TMC, travelers don’t waste time finding the best flights at the lowest price within the company travel policy. And when an emergency arises or en-route changes occur, you don’t have to sweat it because most TMCs have agents available 24/7/365 to step in and resolve the issue. That leaves more time for business travelers to be productive on their trip and accomplish more for the company—and it helps keep them happy (which is really good for business).
Savings
Without a TMC to manage your travel program, an inestimable amount of savings are lost. Not only can TMCs leverage your T&E spend with suppliers to lower your rates and increase your amenities, but a TMC will also help enforce the company travel policy, which is crucial when it comes to the bottom line. Without policy enforcement, the traveler—not the corporate policy—is defining the “lowest cost.” A TMC also assists in savings through unused ticket management, international faring, continual lower airfare searches, contracted discounts, reporting, and much more.
Visibility
Know exactly how, where, and by whom your travel budget is spent with comprehensive and intuitive reporting tools. If a travel program is unmanaged, consolidated reporting is unavailable, which is key for driving better decisions and improving business performance. Most TMCs offer standard reporting packages and that provide spend analysis and supplier management to policy/risk management and activity reporting. With improved data collection for Air, Hotel, and Rental Car expenditures, your company’s negotiating leverage with vendors is greatly enhanced. Reporting tools can also help you pinpoint travelers who continually choose noncompliant rates—tsk, tsk!
While these three areas will definitely impact your company’s bottom line, there is an array of other benefits to fully managing your corporate travel program through a TMC. If you’d like to learn more about how a TMC can positively impact your business, let us know! We would love to connect you with a travel expert today.
