Summary of the conference in Madrid on the levers for negotiating with suppliers
Forum Business Travel has analyzed negotiation strategies with corporate travel suppliers in its training session held on April 23 in Madrid. The presentation given by Mayte Saboné, travel manager of Laboratorios Lilly, pointed out the difficulties of maintaining a mutually beneficial relationship, given the lack of maturity of the Spanish market.
“Up until a few years ago, shopping was practical: I need something, I buy it and that's it. Now they have a strategic component. The question is whether we are willing to pay for an added value, because the real value in shopping is not free”. The start of Mayte Sabon's presentation at the NH Collection Eurobuilding hotel could not have been more forceful, a thought-provoking dart.
According to the Forum Business Travel expert, the strategic relationship with suppliers is a long-term one: "It is like starting a journey together in which you share risks and, in some cases, investments," Sabon said. The aim is for buyer and seller to become partners.
The speaker went further, saying that the market in Spain is still not very mature in this respect. Suppliers are not quite ready for strategic relationships."
The Lilly travel manager expressed herself, in a somewhat ironic tone,against the contracts:
What value do they add? They are a mere bureaucratic red tape. The relationship with the supplier has to be worked day by day, not through a piece of paper.DEMANDS FOR THE TRAVEL MANAGER
According to the paper presented in Madrid, for the strategic management of travel purchases it is necessary to:
-Gather and analyze all the information to share it with the supplier.
-Define the purchasing category: types of travelers (employees, guests, etc.); business units (activity, geographic, etc.); types of services (main, main, main, main, etc.); types of services (main, main, main, etc.).), types of services (main, secondary, events, etc.)
-Decide the strategy, relying on the benchmarking performed.
-Find a balance between travelers' well-being and price.
-Measure the results.
Internal customers
For Saboné, it is essential to know better internal customers, ask more regularly, probe their expectations, beyond the cold data of overnight stays or routes frequented. In addition, as the speaker reminded, “staffs change, new generations are incorporated and preferences change”.
On the other hand, the internal impositions can condition the purchasing strategy. This is often the case with globalized travel accounts. “A supplier that is very good in Germany need not be as good in Spain”.
MEASUREMENT
Although the expert acknowledged that measuring a service is more complicated than measuring a product, it is necessary to make an effort in this regard: “It interests both the supplier and the buyer, as it is difficult to improve when problems are not identified”.
?And what do we measure? The SLA (Service Level Agreement) can be cumbersome and not very useful. According to Sabon's recommendation, it is necessary to focus on what is really important for the company and find a simpler monitoring model with fewer indicators. For the travel manager, the KPI(Key Performance Indicator) must be specific, measurable, achievable and realistic, and always refer to a specific period.
TECHNOLOGY
Finally, Mayte Saboné referred to technology to highlight the power of the tools that exist today to carry out online quotation requests online quotation requests ;n online (eRFX), but also warned that they cannot fully replace face-to-face meetings with suppliers, especially in large or complex companies.
I also note that electronic auctions “are often not positive”, since the level of detail of the requirements has to be very high to avoid surprises with the winner. As for collaborative consumption, Sabon said that it is a door that has not yet been fully opened for corporate travel, but offers enormous opportunities yet to be explored.