Even during a steady time, the dynamic and numerous challenges faced by today’s travel managers require flexibility, resourcefulness and resilience. But the spike in activity at this time of year gives the sense that only the questionable ethics of human cloning offers a solution. 

When buyers are this time poor, suppliers need to be really smart about their review meetings, touch points and what constitutes valuable interactions. This doesn’t mean leaving their corporate clients alone during this hectic period. Think of it as another opportunity to demonstrate partnership and customer centricity.

Even before Covid, the hallowed Quarterly Business Review tended to be a mixed blessing, with rather too much reading of reports and platitudes.

Forward-thinking travel buyers have been shifting this dynamic for many years now, with all data absorption expected to take place prior to the precious in-person meeting. High value challenges and opportunities being flagged in advance means the session can focus on agreeing solutions and smart, committed actions.

Suppliers who assume the mindset of how can I help or support my customer’s workload and success, rather than how can I get my unrelated objectives achieved, are likely to fare better and receive more customer airtime just now.

In a commercial role, I have always felt that you want the meeting with you and your team to be the one the client is most looking forward to in their diary this week, as opposed to the one they would ideally like to postpone or speed through to get to more productive, valuable and downright enjoyable stuff.

So, this quarter I would humbly suggest that suppliers read the room and aim to 1) minimise unnecessary updates, 2) ensure you are well researched and don’t trouble your client for information you can ascertain elsewhere, 3) aim to take away/solve one or more of the umpteen tricky challenges crowding their table, 4) ask yourself if you just made the client’s day better, not worse!

itm.org.uk