The Challenge of Change

Throughout my professional career, and certainly for all my? travel and expense (T&E) industry peers, we’ve all had to deal with lots of change. This is not a revelation by any means, as the adage that “the only constant is change”

has repeatedly proven itself far too many times in the past. Yet, for many corporate travel and expense managers, change seems like it is such a surprise, and in many cases quite difficult to deal with.?

Now that said, one has to admit that over the past several years, the dynamics impacting the corporate travel industry have felt overwhelming as issues seem to have come to the immediate need to be dealt with, one after another.?

Whether it is about driving cost savings, increasing traveler productivity, improving compliance of your company T&E policies, health and safety, or supporting employee satisfaction, I know it feels like the spotlight is on your travel management leadership, or worst case, lack thereof.?

Couple all this with the fresh focus on sustainability, diversity and inclusion, trip personalization, shifting supplier distribution channels, and the rush to artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), it’s no wonder these are being vetted as main stresses that travel managers are having to contended with.?

We are more than halfway through 2023 and the predictions from multiple industry surveys are for increased business travel to pre-pandemic levels in 2024/25. Now you have to ask yourself, are you and your travel management program really ready for the challenges of change? I feel it safe to say that most are not, but don’t feel bad as you are not alone!?

Take solace in knowing that change is never easy, and if I can pass along any advice, it would be the following:?

·??????Make sure you are in alignment with exactly what your senior leadership wants and expects from you and your T&E team.?

·??????Don’t be the T&E police as this is a lost cause. It is not your role to tell the lines of business (LOBs) how to spend their T&E dollars. They own their budgets, not you. It is your job to negotiate the best value for the company from your suppliers and then provide valuable insights as to how a LOB can obtain the best spend value. Lose all emotion and deal with the bottom line T&E facts.?

·??????Lean on your suppliers to help provide you with the information you need to effectively run your business. Recognize that your suppliers play a key role in helping you to paint the realistic picture your management needs.??

From a service provider’s perspective, having worked for SAP Concur the years I did, I recognized firsthand that service delivery was all about level setting customers’ expectations. I learned the value of being truthful, even if it meant disappointing some customers. We were constantly being asked to make changes to our products. We had to weigh what improvements could be made for the greater good of not just some, but all our 50,000 customers worldwide.?

There also were questions regarding when the evolution of Concur Travel and the new user interface (UI) was going to be delivered. It was tough back then to have to say, “it’s coming,” but we didn’t want to over promise and then under deliver. We did our best to explain that the dynamics of creating the next generation of travel management beyond just a flashy new UI takes time, even for the travel industry leader.?

While it sounds too good to be true, this past August, SAP Concur announced next quarter, it will introduce a new end-to-end booking experience across air, hotel, and car rental for Sabre GDS from U.S. point of sale. It will feature a consumer-grade user experience, robust content, and smart solutions. The revamped airline shopping experience includes richer content and images, sustainability enhancements, and improved search capabilities.?

If you were lucky enough to be at the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) Convention, seeing was believing. SAP Concur previewed live demos at the SAP Concur booth and for those that missed it, you can experience the debut:??

?Video Demo

From everything I am hearing about the new Concur Travel experience, you can expect many more improvements to SAP Concur solutions that will help you and your T&E program successfully manage the challenge of change.

I am of the belief that it will have been well worth the wait.?

All the Best,?

Ralph?

This article was sponsored by SAP Concur. #ad