Travel management companies (TMCs) provide specialist advice and expert itinerary planning to make your life much easier. Here, PA Life helps you find the TMC that’s right for you
What is a TMC?
Formerly called business travel agencies, they largely booked and delivered air tickets. Now, a TMC will provide expert itinerary planning and exceptional buying power, central billing and management information and 24/7 traveller tracking. It can also help you out in a crisis and organise all your meetings.
Why use one?
There are two main reasons. Firstly, you have a day job and organising travel takes up a lot of time. Secondly, a TMC offers specialist expertise.
How do I find one?
Your TMC doesn’t have to be within walking distance anymore. Members of the Guild of Travel Management Companies are a good starting point, or ask friends and colleagues who they use and why.
How do I choose between them?
The most important thing is to know exactly what you need – otherwise you won’t be able to find a good cultural or professional fit. Talk to all the people you know whose job touches on travel, such as a travel manager, IT, HR, etc. Do you have a travel policy and, if so, is it monitored for compliance? Is your company’s travel global, European, or mostly domestic?
Factor in key city pairs – Glasgow/Paris, London/Singapore, Southampton/Birmingham and so on. Do you use an expense management system? Look at contracts with your current agent so you know what kind of fees you are paying and for what.
What next?
Put out a tender document or request for proposal (RFP). Make sure this is thorough and give as much information as you can to prospective agents. Emphasise the areas of importance and check that your questions will bring the kind of answers you want. The format needs to be rigid and disciplined so you have the answers in a layout you can analyse and compare like with like. This leaves less room for subjectivity and brings out the agent’s true capability.
How long should I give them to respond?
This is as important for them as it is for you, so give them time to do it justice – three to four weeks is reasonable.
What do I do once I have the proposals?
Read them carefully and work out a way of scoring respondents according to what is most important to you. This will help you narrow down submissions. Then, invite those companies in to make a presentation. Extract your main criteria from the RFP and put it into question and answer format to guide the presentation.
Who should be at the presentation?
Ask agents to bring the people who’ll be working on your account. This will stop them sending in the big guns, who won’t be doing the day-to-day stuff.
Having chosen the finalists, what’s the next stage?
Visit their offices. This will help you decide which agents provide the best cultural fit. Go with a checklist of who and what you want to see so you don’t get forced into a Cook’s Tour, carefully constructed by the agent to show you only what they want you to see.
Should I ask for references?
Definitely. Ask to speak to clients whose companies are a similar size to yours and/or from the same sector. It is in the agent’s interest to agree to your request.
How do I negotiate a fee?
There are transaction fees (pay per transaction) and management fees (pay for overall service). A TMC will either offer you an all-in-one price, (bundled) or a basic fee with charges for add-on services (unbundled).
Which is better?
Unbundled is generally more transparent – you know exactly what you get for the basic fee and you know you’ll have to pay extra for anything else. This is usually the best arrangement, because with a bundled fee you may end up paying for services you don’t need. If, for example, your travel booker books only point-to-point flights and never changes them, (low-touch) unbundled will suit you; if, however, he/she makes countless changes to flights, (high-touch) bundled could prove better value.
10 questions to ask a potential TMC partner
•Do you specialise in any specific industry sectors?
•Do you have offices in key cities around the world?
•Do you offer a passport and visa service in-house?
•Do I have to be a big player to access your best fares?
•Can I speak to some of your customers for testimonials?
•Do you offer a trial service?
•How many people will I liaise with?
•Will I have a dedicated account manager?
•What hours can you be contacted, especially if there is a problem?
•What makes you stand out from your competitors?
