Travel patterns: It is very difficult to know what you need without destination and vendor spend. Today each agency is meeting its mission without regard for what a sister agency might be doing. Once this data is centralized it will allow government to see the whole picture. What is needed, where and when.

Negotiate rates: Spend data is buying power. Once top destinations with associated numbers of travelers with origin and destination stats, room nights, and car rentals are identified it will be a simple process to buy in larger lots.

Statistical data: It is important to know your markets and travel patterns. If you set up preferred ‘partners’ with all vendors, then the whole process breaks down to money. In such an environment vendors go bankrupt and eventually it causes prices to skyrocket. In the private sector best business practices dictate that customers select a minimal number of vendors to meet their needs and drive market share.

Yes, selling today is value-added; it is about solving customers problems, knowing your customers” customers needs, and bringing consultative resolutions to the negotiations. Business relationships are not one shot deals, but long term partnerships. And, it all starts with having access to travel/spend data!

By Linda Colvos

What was surprising to me about solicitation TFL06-RH-1040 was the vast scope and limited timeline of the project. The project requires that TRX establish data feeds with not only DTS and the three ETS vendors, but also with:

• multiple charge card vendors (presumably GE Capital, Chase, Citibank, US Bank)
• every government TMC/CTO (which I understand there are approximately 100)
• settlement data (i.e. ARC)
• data direct from suppliers (air, car, hotel)

When you step back and think about the scale of the project from a technology perspective, not to mention the privacy and security issues, it is immense. And now for the laughable part: GSA required the contractor to achieve “full operational capability” within 180 days (6 months) from the date of award. That is simply not feasible.

TRX was awarded the contract in December of 2006. That would have meant the business intelligence system was generating reports from all requested data feeds by June of 2007. Credit GSA for implementing what might turn out to be a world class travel management system, but they need to comprehend the scope of their request and establish realistic timelines.

By Ted Schuerman

In the hotel realm, the government traveler does not book one set rate category.  As a hotel company, we have a difficult time in tracking which consumed room nights are government travelers as they may have booked with a government contracted travel entity, but the rate may not have been designated as a government rate.  They could book FedRooms, CWT|Sato Government Travel, Navy Elite, Army Lodging, or any other number of federal government or military rates. Also, if when booking on a specified website (FedRooms, Sato, hotel direct) the traveler is unable to find the rate category the were initialing searching under, if they have to book that hotel for assignment reasons, they will book non-government rates or listed Federal Government rate categories that are not per diem rates.  If the government traveler were not staying under a federal government rate category, we would not know to report that lodging information to TRX.  In addition, since all bookings are not consumed, and unused bookings are sometimes slow to be removed form the system, this makes reporting accurate production totals difficult.

Also, in regards to the security and privacy issue, we have laws and governances that prohibit us from giving out any guest information that could identify the guest.  We can offer total stay information by hotel, by night, and by rate booked at the maximum.  No names, loyalty program identifications, or credit card information can be released except under very controlled circumstances.

Until the government can mandate their program as tightly as some of our most dedicated corporate partners, a single data warehouse source will be quite useless.  Even in organizations that mandate that all travel arrangements must be made by their in-house agents and using a prescribed identification number, we estimate at least 20% of their potential production with us as a hotel chain is untraceable.  In order for the system to work, all bookings of all travel, as well as all other applicable spending, would have to be made and recorded in identical fashion in a single booking engine.  Travel agencies, airlines, hoteliers, etcetera would have to be connected into the one source or become compatible with the one source, costing untold millions in technical upgrades.  Government regulations and rulings would not only have to be in their own travel systems, but in the commercial realm as well.

I feel that having a tighter handle on the total spending as it regards to government lodging would be beneficial to both the government and to the industry.  However, it is my opinion that this is not going to be presence in our daily work lives for some time to come.  There are too many current booking and tracking systems that will have to be made communicate with a reliable integrated warehouse, and the servers for that warehouse would be of gargantuan proportion.

By Crystal Wright

Registration on the CCR needs to occur once per year to maintain an active status.  Because having an active CCR standing is now and “absolute” in terms of doing business with the federal government, we have consistently observed that more contracting officers, meeting planners, third parties and other business drivers are insisting on having this information upfront in the solicitation process.

Recently, we have experienced that several of our hotels (heavily reliant on the government market) have not renewed their CCR registrations.  Consequently, this has resulted in a loss of business.  Additionally, it has yielded new initiatives on our end to urgently communicate to our hotels that registering and/or re-registering with the CCR is absolutely imperative.

Items needed to complete CCR registration is as follows:

1. Dunn & Bradstreet Number.  The Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number is a unique nine character identification number provided by the commercial company Dunn & Bradstreet (D&B).
2. Tax Identification Number (TIN).  A TIN is either an Employer Identification Number (EIN) assigned by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or a Social Security Number (SSN) assigned by the Social Security Administration (SSA) if you are registering as a sole proprietor.
3. Statistical Information about your business.  You will be required to provide the receipts and numbers of employees on a world-wide basis, which includes all affiliates.  Information on the location of your organization is optional.
4. Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) information for payment of invoices.  This includes ABA routing number for your bank, account number and type, or lockbox number, automated clearing house (ACH) point of contact, remittance point of contact, and accounts receivable point of contact.

It is no secret that competition in the government market is growing at a furious pace.  It goes without saying that understanding how to do business with the government market is more and more critical as strict protocols and exacting standards are being put into place. Positioning in sales is key, and insisting that the proper building blocks are in place can be a tremendous advantage in winning with the government.

by Christopher McLaughlin

At our agency, Travelers are responsible for making sure that their receipts are attached correctly and the attachment is legible.  All receipts for air, lodging, rental car, and any single expense greater than $75 must be attached in the travelers’ ETS travel document.  Within our ETS there is an automatic pre-audit functionality built in which alerts the document preparer/traveler in the event that a receipt has not been uploaded.

Our ETS users have the capability of either scanning or faxing in their receipts.  Either option is a very easy process.  For faxing, the user is required to print a cover sheet from the ETS.  This cover sheet includes a unique bar code, which identifies to the ETS which document the receipts are to be attached to.  The user simply places their receipts behind this ‘bar coded’ cover sheet and faxes the information.  The second option allows users to scan in their receipts.  I personally find scanning to be the easier option for me, mainly since receipts come in all shapes and sizes, I find it easier to scan my receipts at my local shared scanner, then browse and upload the file within the receipts section of my ETS.

by Brian Shears

Corporate Procurement

The basis of most corporate travel negotiations is a trade-off between incremental market share to the supplier and discounted pricing to the corporation.  When negotiating contracts, corporations must be able to demonstrate their ability to shift market share to a given supplier.

Corporate Program Management

This ability to shift market share depends upon proactive monitoring and management of travel programs.  Key areas that suppliers look to for evidence of effective program management include:

• Supplier management – ensuring suppliers abide by contract requirements and assist the corporation in promoting use of the preferred program.
• Demand management – compelling travelers to use the preferred programs via established tools, policies and processes.
• Consolidated Data – Consolidated company-wide travel data, which includes booked data, credit card data, travel agency data, and supplier data as appropriate.
• Performance Monitoring – Best practice is to establish centralized management of travel programs either by an individual (typically a Corporate Travel Manager) or by a team (Travel Council).  This team communicates the program, trains travelers, and writes policy.  In addition, they determine Key Performance Indicators (KPI) to monitor program usage, establish corrective action plans and drive continuous improvement.
• Policy – The Travel Council sets and enforces travel policy.

I depict high-level corporate travel program components in the following diagram.

Federal Procurement

Now let us review travel in the federal market.  Although the government is not able to provide suppliers with the level of travel data put forth by most corporations, the government is proactive in procuring travel.  The government has preferred programs for all major areas of travel including airfare (CPP), lodging (FedRooms) and car rental (Rental Car Program).  Although rates are not negotiated in the truest sense (an exchange of volume for price discounts), rates are pre-determined and auditable.

Federal Program Management

The government has worked diligently in the recent past to establish and implement comprehensive travel programs.  It is helpful to review government travel with respect to the same categories provided in the corporate market above.  An assessment of the current state of government travel shows:

• Supplier management – GSA conducts audits of the GDS to ensure suppliers are correctly loading negotiated rates.  In addition, GSA staff regularly meet with suppliers to discuss future program enhancements.
• Demand management – Most Federal Agencies have installed and implemented one of three E-Gov Travel Systems.  These systems provide federal agencies the tool and structure needed to guide travelers towards use of preferred travel programs.
• Consolidated Data – Currently the government is unable to consolidate government-wide travel data.  However, GSA has a contract in place to compile data through implementation of the Business Travel Intelligence system, and meaningful results are expected in the near future.
• Performance Monitoring – By current design, there is no centralized body within the Federal government that is responsible for monitoring performance or any overall travel program management.  While GSA serves as a central body for procuring travel, performance to policy and compliance to preferred programs are left to individual federal agencies.  In practice, individual agencies do little to ensure usage of preferred travel programs.  This shortcoming breaks the continuum of procurement and program management.  Because future negotiations are heavily dependent upon historical program usage, this lack of proactive oversight significantly reduces the government’s ability to leverage their travel volume.
• Policy – GSA and DoD establish and set travel policy via the Federal Travel Regulations (FTR) and Joint Travel Regulations (JTR) respectively.  In addition Standardized Regulations (DSSR) are issued by the Department of State for foreign travel.

I show the same travel components within the context of government travel in the following diagram.  As shown here, because the government does not proactively monitor program performance, the ability to leverage travel volume in future procurements is limited.

Summary

The federal government has taken great strides in developing a comprehensive travel program.  The government has workable solutions in place for supplier management, demand management, and travel policy.  Although consolidated government-wide travel data is not currently available, GSA does have a contract in place to provide it.  The biggest remaining challenge is centralized management of government-wide travel programs.  While a centralized approach to travel management would require that federal agencies turn over a small amount of control to a central body, the benefits of cost savings and higher traveler satisfaction would far outweigh this perceived loss of control.

Recommendation

I recommend that the federal government establish a government-wide travel program management office within GSA for the specific purpose of managing (monitoring performance, enforcing compliance, revising policy, etc) travel programs across the federal government.  Giving GSA the authority to proactively manage travel on behalf of all federal agencies would mimic corporate best practices in that it would align procurement with program management functions.  Without a centralized body managing government travel, the federal government will never be able to effectively leverage their $15+ Billion in annual travel spend.

by Ted Schuerman

Reporting to Senior Management should reflect true costs associated with your program, unfortunately, as noted, all data may not be captured.   It is important for management to realize the benefits of mandating the use of the TMC and preferred vendors to better leverage discounts for the organization.

Some of our greatest savings are obtained by mandating hotel bookings through our program.  As an example, we used to capture 50% of bookings through our on-line booking tool or TMC – the other 50% was booked directly with the properties.

When our travelers’ booked directly with the hotels, not only were they not obtaining negotiated rates, or even per diem, our organization  lost concrete numbers needed to help leverage future negotiations.   We found ourselves scrambling around to match data to assist us each year to negotiate with hotels for per diem.

Recently, management had decided to mandate per diem which has helped us to capture more data and increase adoption of our on-line booking tool.   We have seen a significant drop in bookings that are made over per diem because employees would be responsible for the overage or have an Officer sign off on the overage prior to expensing.   Our “over per diem” spend dropped approximately $200,000 over the last year just by telling the traveler they would be responsible for any hotel booked over per diem.

All in all, management needs better insight to travel costs to see what exactly is happening within the organization and within the industry and make necessary adjustments to save on travel costs, and the way to do this is with reporting that is captured by your mandated TMC.

By Stefanie Tretola

Joyce Wahoski, USPS Stamp Development

This partnership explains in depth the understanding of the contracting requirements, acquisition rules and travel regulations. Communication on this information is essential between the two partners.

The travel industry initiated different methods in order for government employees to have a thorough understanding of the travel industry and its regulations, etc.

These methods were presented to the employees by means of conferences and educational sessions. These educational events are very informative for people to learn and expand their knowledge inn this industry.

Educational conferences are main components for improvement, hands-on learning, and current information. Conferences offer an overall view of the information one seeks; providing information on many different areas along with specific workshops, and many materials with valuable information.

These educational sessions should be mandatory to all government travelers.  All travelers should have knowledge of the travel industry and take advantage of the valuable information being offered.  Unfortunately, in many organizations this type of information is only available on paper and it’s unused. Even though, the government spends astronomical money on travel – compared to other organizations, it’s crucial for its employee learn through these educational sessions.

It appears  the government and the travel industry have built an effective communication and understanding foundation ,as well as meeting each other’s needs through its partnership.  They have a high interest to educate the government’s employees.

by Ana Ferrara

Another difficulty is with only 3 vendors to choose from, the ideal electronic travel system does not exist yet. There are high points and low points of all three products. They could each benefit from usability studies. These products were originally created to meet specific requirements. Yet once the vendors actually acquired agencies as customers, they were slow to accept input from those who have real world experience in Government travel. This sluggish response to required enhancements led to a slow adoption of the products by the Government. Many types of training are vital to reach the maximum amount of the traveler/arranger/approver audience, so they can feel comfortable with the E-Gov Travel system. Hopefully now that adoption has increased, improved products will be realized by all.

by Jaqueline Lynch

The contents of this message are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the Government or my agency.