Scott Gillespie, CEO, tClara
Meet Terry, the most important persona in the corporate
travel industry. Terry is not the travel manager. Instead, Terry represents all
those executives who own and manage travel budgets. Manage, as in
neck-on-the-line accountability for meeting cost budgets while keeping
travelers safe and productive.
The corporate travel industry can predict three things for
Terry. They are things Terry will pay for because they add significant value to
Terry’s line of business.
Service: Managing Distruptions – Think of the
economic waste associated with disrupted business trips. The extra travel costs
can pale next to the lost productivity and damaged and delayed business opportunities.
Fortunately, the large travel management companies are investing in their
abilities to predict trip disruptions. These seem focused on the day of travel,
which is a good start.
In 2016, look for these services to be offered as part of
the TMC value proposition. Terry’s travelers will get proactive and prioritized
service, helping them finish the trip with less stress. In future years, look
for travel predictions to be wired into CRM tools, with virtual agents working
behind the scenes to re-schedule business meetings for everyone involved in the
trip, days in advance—not just on the day of travel.
Savings: Manage Budgets – Like all managers, Terry
wants to get a solid return from his travel budget and not worry about
explaining a big year-end budget overrun.
This year, look for baby-step integration between travel
mamagement company bookings and their predicted total cost of travel impact on
corporate budgets. Think travel expense forecasts versus remaining budget, much
like what we see in sales and cost of goods forecasts. In the future, look for
predictions that produce recommended changes in travel budgets, geared to
improve the bottom-line results for Terry’s line of business.
Human Element: Mitigating Burnout – Give Terry the
choice of burning through his travel budget or burning out some of his most
valued road warriors. I bet Terry would rather break his budget. That’s how
valuable road warriors are. It may not be an easy choice, which is what makes
predictive service so valuable.
You’ll see talent-sensitive firms this year begin to predict
which of their road warriors are at risk of burning out on travel. Travel
managers can help Terry intervene with less travel or more convenient or
comfortable travel, whatever his budget and business can handle.
In coming years, look for systems that monitor road warriors
for a variety of predicted risks, mainly around engagement and retention. These
systems will alert Terry, HR and the travel manager to the risks and predict
the best options for reducing them.
The race for predictive analytics in the travel industry
is on. I’ll bet we’ll see some great strides in 2016 and the years to come.