Getting
everyone on board with your Travel and Entertainment (T & E) program can be a challenge. I
have found that these three tips make compliance improve significantly.
1. Request
compliance with your T&E system not just your suppliers. I often hear at kick off
meetings for new customers that the company will be requiring everyone to use
their new agency - MacNair Travel. While that may be true, aren’t you asking
them to commit to the system that you selected to manage this significant line
item with you TMC as one fulfilling supplier of this process? You want them to
follow your T&E policies, your procedures for booking and filing travel
expenses, preferred supplier agreements, security and more. And your TMC is
here to help direct some of these items and support them. The process has many
pieces that you have carefully selected. Sell your process. Maybe even name it.
2. Make
sure T AND E are addressed in your policies and procedures for everyone
to understand.
Seeing the big picture of the procurement ecosystem that you want them to
comply with to manage this big line item makes for a bigger case for following
this generally accepted procurement process.
3. Explain
what is in it for the company and them.
They haven’t heard the case for procuring versus simply buying travel. Explain
it to them. Travel management is the ying and yang of making sure the company
and the travelers are as happy as they can be together. A win-win. Win-lose
scenarios never work out. So what are you looking to accomplish, what are the
numbers behind it, how have you determined it will deliver an ROI. Then update
this at least once a year with data from the TMC.
I hope this helps rejuvenate you on the opportunities and inspires you
to relaunch with better results. This is the right thing to do
