BMI Publishing

Now more than ever corporates need control of their travel spend and there is no better way of doing that than by installing a self-booking tool. Gillian Upton profiles the experience of online betting exchange company Betfair

On the one hand you could argue that Vanessa Hendler, Travel Manager at online betting company Betfair, has an easy job. She presides over some 300 regular travellers in the UK all of whom are internet savvy and keen as mustard to embrace change and particularly technological change. On the other hand, human frailty being what it is, Hendler has to keep a very watchful eye on exactly what they do purchase on FreeWay, Betfair’s self-booking tool, as they may think they’re all travel experts but, of course, we know they’re not. “Everyone wants to beat the travel agent,” observes Hillgate Travel director Mark Bull, owners of FreeWay. The beauty of FreeWay is that travellers can see that if they travel two hours later, for example, they can save £200, “and only they know whether they can do that or not,” says Hendler, a seasoned travel manager. Betfair has a significant annual travel spend, the bulk going on air, with the budget set to increase this year in line with company growth. The company boasts an impressive 85 per cent adoption rate on FreeWay, but it took two failed attempts with other SBTs before succeeding this time around. “I’m one of the most demanding customers and my expectations are high,” says Hendler, a view confirmed by Hillgate: “Vanessa is like a Rott-weiler and she doesn’t let go,” jokes Hillgate’s Mark Bull. “She’s got the business knowledge and she knows what she wants.” Her stance has clearly paid off, as the average sector cost has reduced from £225 to £150 during the first year of using Hillgate. In addition, the company saved £55,194 in transaction fees in the first 12 months (July 07 to June 08) of working with the new TMC. FreeWay replaced an in-house email-based system where travellers would email the travel department requesting travel. “It was so time consuming,” says Hendler. “This is very quick and our travellers are really, really happy.” Read on to discover how Betfair successfully implemented a self-booking tool third time round.

Step 1: Betfair went out to tender to five TMCs, before deciding on Hillgate Travel. “Hillgate stood out beyond everyone else,” says Hendler. She had positive experience of Hillgate’s FreeWay in her previous job at Euromoney and particularly liked the tight pre-trip process where approval is needed before any tickets are issued. Hillgate was appointed in July 2007.

Step 2: Hendler already had man-agement buy-in for the development, which is an essential pre-requisite. “Our CEO is amazing and leads by example,” she says. “It's the Betfair culture to make the extra effort to take the cheapest fare wherever possible.”

Step 3: Implementation was a short six weeks – tight, but not impossible. It included a communication programme of emails and at-desk training where needed. “We didn’t need much training as it’s very intuitive and very easy to use,” says Hendler. “And we didn’t have to incentivise staff at all. They were really excited about it; our guys want to be the best.” In addition, regular bulletins were and still are emailed to all travellers to encourage and educate them on Hillgate’s ‘Big Five Ways to Save Money’ (see below right). Much emphasis has also been placed on the cost benefits of booking further in advance. Hendler explains: “Only 38 per cent of people were booking more than ten days in advance two years ago but now that figure’s up to 58 per cent.”

Step 4: Implementation included uploading of personal profiles and bespoke changes to the system. Eschewing the idea that one size fits all, Hillgate openly embraces any challenge to the product. “I don’t mind how hard a client pushes us as it improves us and our product,” says Hillgate’s Bull. “That’s our philosophy. No product can just be dropped in, so we listen closely to the client spec.” To comply with Betfair’s travel policy, Hillgate had to customise FreeWay in four different ways: to book all long-haul travel in premium economy class, to charge each trip to a particular Betfair division, plus several specifications with UK rail travel. Specifically, Betfair wanted to book UK rail tickets with delivery only via Fast Ticket at stations and to be able to make several bookings simultaneously so colleagues could sit together. This was achieved by re-programming FreeWay so that reservations are made in a lead name at the start of the booking process with other names, cost centres and project codes added later on. The last request was to have all travel approved prior to ticketing and any costs being incurred. Unusual in the online travel sector, but Hillgate amended the product and installed Approver as an integral part of the Betfair version of FreeWay. “Most importantly of all in the current climate, the fact that every booking generates a message to the line manager prior to the invoice being raised ensures only authorised travel takes place,” explained Betfair’s Hendler. Hillgate pointed out that implementation is effectively ongoing as both Betfair and the market change.

Step 5: Betfair’s travel policy was amended to dictate that all short-haul direct travel was booked online, outlining the system that the Approver decides whether the trip goes ahead and can suggest videoconferencing as an alternative. All bookings are looked at first by Hendler, then by Hillgate. Online accounts for 80 per cent of Betfair’s spend; the remainder is multi-sector and RTWs.

Step 6: Hillgate’s account manager for Betfair, Matthew Humphries, visits the client on a monthly basis and provides missed savings reports with a reason code as to why they didn’t take a cheaper fare. That report goes to the Approver and they can choose to question why. “The opportunity is there now to see all the options on the system and our Approvers are questioning that all the time,” explains Hendler. Daily reports showing the most expensive flights in the company’s top ten destinations is a further price check. “I know what people should be paying,” says Hendler, “although if travel is managed by procurement they may not know. I’ve drawn up a chart for managers showing what the fares should be by colour – green, amber and red,” she explains.

Step 7: Much of the focus has been on air but Hendler is keen to embrace hotel spend, helped by a move to introduce a BA/Amex card over the next few months. Most of Betfair’s hotel spend is in four-star properties, and it's mainly in Europe. With hindsight, Hendler says she would have given a little more time to the implementation. She also advises to test an SBT for a week with live bookings beforehand. Hillgate’s Mark Bull stresses the importance of buy-in from the top and to ensure that everyone who is going to use the tool knows about it. ”

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