How should corporations motivate their travel planners, be they in-house staff or TMCs?
Motivation does make a difference. In a Motivation for Excellence survey sponsored by SITE (Society of Incentive Travel Executives) Foundation of New York, 85 per cent of employees said their level of motivation affected both the quality and quantity of their work.
Some things are more motivational than others, of course. Leading the list are work/life programmes, such as flexible hours and sick day banks.
Also high on the list is employee recognition. Interestingly, of all the rewards for doing a great job, the one that ranks last is lunch with the company president!
How should travel and meeting planners motivate themselves?
One of the greatest motivators is a sense of accomplishment. An easy way to remind yourself of the things you are accomplishing is to keep a To Do list. When you get something done, check it off the list.
Many people do that already. But here is the key: keep your lists. When you feel like you are not making progress, look at your list.
You’ll be reminded of all the things you have accomplished.
Can there be real creativity in a job such as travel planning? What constitutes creativity here? Any examples you have witnessed that demonstrate creativity by a travel planner?
The field of travel planning has changed significantly in the last few years. You cannot do things the way you used to – and creativity is the key to dealing effectively with change.
Airline rules are different, commission structures have changed and hotels are changing the terms of contracts and the penalties imposed for last-minute changes. All of these changes require creative alternatives.
Creative changes can be subtle. For example, a conference I spoke at was faced with large penalties from hotels if they did not book their committed block of rooms. But attendees were booking rooms at nearby hotels at lower rates than the conference hotels.
So they came up with a creative incentive to encourage the attendees to stay at the conference hotels. They offered a discount on the conference registration to those who had their travel planner book their room at a conference hotel prior to registering for the conference.
Do corporations and travel managers often forget the very people who are travelling? What is your advice to balance the need to lower T&E costs and the need to keep business travellers happy and effective?
Unfortunately, they do often forget the stress and strain imposed on business travellers. They see the exotic sounding destinations and forget the business traveller will be missing his family and sitting in conference rooms, not sightseeing.
If corporations and travel managers would see the impositions that business travel makes on people, they can take actions to compensate the business traveller.
For example, if a businesswoman is out of town from Monday through Friday, she is isolated from her family and friends and social activities throughout the whole period.
Giving her some compensation for all of the time away from home would go a long way towards making the traveller happy and effective.
If you were a travel planner, how would you do things differently?
I would smile more. Even if you are talking to someone on the phone, a smile changes the tone of your voice, your disposition and makes you more uplifting. We know that we smile because we are happy. But, surprisingly, we also are happy because we smile.
Scientific studies have shown that intentionally smiling will actually make you happier! Now, that is something to smile about.
And if you were a business traveller clogging in millions of miles every year on behalf of your company, what are the three wishes that will make you a more effective and productive business traveller (PS: Dom Perignon cannot be on the list).
This is not a hypothetical question for me. I have accumulated more than three million flight miles so I know the ups and downs of air travel. Here are things that are important to my productivity as a business traveller:
- Make it easy for me to book the flights.
Whether it is a telephone conversation with a travel agent or an online website, make it easy. Do not make me punch in numbers and codes and then ask me for them again. Suggest alternative airports or routings that are cheaper or faster.
- Go the extra mile.
When I am travelling and something unexpected happens – a delayed flight, a missed connection, a change in plans or whatever it is – help me. Do whatever it takes to make it work even if it is not your fault or is not officially your job to fix it. Make an exception and break the rules if necessary to get me where I need to be when I need to be there.
- A well-equipped hotel room.
That means a big desk, high-speed Internet access, free or reasonable charges for telephone use, a coffee pot, a comfortable bed and a good configuration, ie, a configuration that enables me to use my laptop, the telephone and see the television at the same time from the desk.
And another thing – do not make the bed with a sheet that is too small to cover the mattress or tuck everything in such a way that when I pull back the top sheet to get into bed, all the sheets come out together and I have to make the bed all over again myself. (Sorry to bring that up but this just drives me nuts.)
- I know you asked for my three wishes but I’m being creative and giving you a fourth. Dom
Perignon – in take-home six packs.
Your favourite airline, business hotel and corporate travel agent – and why.
My favourite airline is Northwest Airlines. Part of the reason is that Northwest is one of the few that fly out of the airport in my home location. But the bigger reason is that they treat me well knowing that I am a Platinum Elite member of its frequent flyer programme.
For example, it provides a special phone number to connect to agents. If I am on a plane and the flight gets cancelled, I can call to get rebooked while everyone else has to stand in line to be rebooked.
It also lets me reserve choice seats, including exit seats, ahead of time. The biggest advantage is automatic free first-class upgrades days before the flight. I just get an email that tells me that they upgraded me. That is great!
My favourite business hotel is Marriott. The hotels usually have a large desk and high-speed Internet in every room. And they have a coffee pot. To me, that is a requirement!
