Colleen Guhin to the Association of Corporate Travel Executives
ACTE IX Chicago Conference
April 28, 1997

SLIDE 1
What questions or issues do you want addressed in today's session?

SLIDE 2
What do you think are the most important needs of travelers and travel arrangers today?

SLIDE 3
What process changes can you or your company make to address these needs?

SLIDE 4
What are your major concerns with emerging technology in the travel industry today?

SLIDE 5
PROCESS FLOW CHART

Step 1
Determine where you are
Assess Customer Needs

Step 2
Evaluate Alternatives

Step 3
Select the Right Solution

Step 4
Implement

Step 5
Measure

SLIDE 6
WHERE DID WE START?

• Determine scope of project
  - What part of the process will you address - travel reservation, expense reporting, both?
  - Put boundaries around your scope
  
• Establish multi-functional team
  - Include information technology, accounting, audits, travelers, agency (if appropriate), etc.
  - Critical to long term success
  
• Identify a Management Champion
• Contract with travel consultant
  - Let the experts do the detail work
  

• Map reservation and expense reporting process
  - Develop a flow chart of the processes to understand each step and all the players
  - Flow chart can be used to identify specific areas for improvements
  
• Determine cycle time, process time and cost of existing travel process
  - From the flow chart understand the cycle time (from beginning to end), process time (time actually spent on each activity), and associated costs
  - Data can be used for benchmarking with other companies and evaluating impact of changes
  

• Conduct focus groups with travelers and arrangers
  - Have an objective third party facilitate
  - Understand their needs
  - Determine their perceptions of automation
  
• Distribute traveler / arranger surveys
  - Ask them to evaluate importance and performance of each element of the travel process
  - Which processes should be automated?
  - Would they use an automated system?
  

• Interview corporations and suppliers for outside perspective and product viability
• Attend technology trade shows
• Participate in demos of existing products
• Read, read, read
• Develop company-unique criteria

• Develop company-unique criteria: Things to think about:
• Automated Booking System
  - Real time booking
  - Fare information displays
  - Travel policy controls
  - Access to profiles
  - Seat selection capability
  - User friendliness
  - Trip templates
  - 24 hour access
  - Low fare search
  - Etc.
  
• Automated Expense Reporting
  - Electronic approval process
  - Integration with accounting system
  - Travel policy controls
  - Report summaries
  - Currency conversion
  - Paperless processing
  - Electronic reimbursement
  - Allocation of expenses
  - PC and/or notebook connect, etc.
  

• Establish weighting system
• Solicit Request for Proposal (RFP)
• Host a bidders' conference
• Evaluate proposals based on unique criteria (contractor and multi-functional team)
• Select semi-finalists
• Conduct beta test for final selection

• Establish relationship between product supplier(s), company and agency
• Modify software as required to meet your unique requirements
• Train users - both company and agency
• Communicate, communicate, communicate

• Measure customer satisfaction
• Measure productivity gains / cost savings
• Communicate your success

Go Back to Step1!