How to Manage a Business Travel Tender

Stage1

First, undertake an analysis of your current business travel purchasing. Expect to make savings of between 5%-10%. Additionally, look at ways of making improvements to processes and procedures. A travel tender review is a great opportunity to instigate change.

Your recommendations should be written into a "Business Case" for undertaking a travel tender.

Stage 2

Prepare a supplier prequalification document containing the recommendations made in stage 1. This will save you time as it eliminates the business travel suppliers who are not suited to servicing your travel tender requirements.

Most travel suppliers will extol their capabilities whilst ignoring the risks to the business travel buyer. The prequalification stage helps to mitigate your risk.

Stage 3, involves the design of the main business travel tender document. It must cover financial and service aspects. Most business travel suppliers or travel management companies (TMC's) offer similar services.

You want only the best fit for your own company requirements. This could be a global travel management company or a smaller niche operator. There is not a one size fits all approach and only by asking insightful and revealing questions will you confidently source a supplier best suited for your needs.

Stage 4

The evaluation of a travel tender requires in-depth analysis and we recommend you use a weighting system. The weighting helps to remove any subjectivity and represents the value and importance to your own company needs.

The evaluation is supported with a final report highlighting the key differentiators from travel suppliers. The entire process is transparent and can be verified for auditing purposes.

Stage 5, focuses on the negotiation of contract terms and conditions, designing a service level agreement containing key performance indicators, and helping with final implementation.

In Summary

The above is a simplified version of a business travel tender project plan. It can be undertaken in a few short months. Using this structure will ensure that travel tender projects are delivered on time and within budget.

If you're thinking about tendering your travel account, we can help you by either undertaking the entire project for you or coaching you through the process.

If you would like to discuss how the process works in greater detail then why not get in contact with us. You'll find our contact details at the bottom of the page.

Alternatively, if you're only thinking about a business travel tender and it's still some way off, why not subscribe to receive our free report "Planning a Successful Business Travel Agreement".

5 Reasons to Get Business Travel Insurance

Whether it is a brief visit to another part of the country or a week long trip abroad, business trips to visit critical clients and other important companies are a vital part of keeping any business running successfully; and for every trip, you'll need some kind of business travel insurance. If you only have to travel every once in a while, single trip cover may be sufficient, but if you travel many times each year you'll want to invest in some annual business travel insurance. Either way, there's no excuse to scrimp: here are five situations when the small cost of insurance could save you a lot of hassle...

The other company cancels the meeting at the last minute...

An ordinary holiday can be cancelled for all kinds of reasons, but for a business trip there are even more factors that can lead to a meeting being cancelled or rescheduled, leaving you or your company to foot a significant cancellation bill. Business travel insurance will cover cancellation as standard, so even if things change at the last minute, your costs will be covered.

You fall on or before the trip...

If you fall ill on or just before a crucial business trip and there is no-one to replace you, the consequences for your company could be catastrophic. Most good business travel insurance packages will cover the cost of replacing you with a work colleague (including their flights and accommodation) so that the trip can be concluded successfully in your absence.

Some vital equipment is lost or stolen...

Whether it is a PDA filled with important information on it or an expensive laptop with a crucial presentation, most business trips can revolve around a vital piece of equipment - if it is lost or stolen, it can hurt your wallet and ruin the business trip. Annual business travel insurance will provide you with year round cover for business equipment that is lost or stolen while you are away (and in most cases, they will pay for a courier delivery of the new item.) Of course, the data may be irreplaceable, so make sure that you back up any critical information on a USB stick.

Business travel is excluded from your existing insurance...

Many people assume that they have cover for business in the annual travel insurance they already have, but this often isn't the case. Many travel insurance policies are for holidays only and have exclusions for business travel. Read the small print carefully, and make sure you get full travel insurance for business trips if you aren't covered.

You need to be hospitalised after an accident...

Whether it is just a cracked rib or something much more serious, medical care abroad while you are uninsured is no laughing matter. With so many business trips to America (which can have medical costs running into thousands of pounds) it really pays to have some decent business travel insurance. As outlined above, many standard travel insurance policies exclude business trips, so make sure you get the right kind of cover and avoid the threat of massive medical costs.