Despite the trend towards the abolition of commissions, the establishment of GDSs (global distribution systems), the visibility of different fares, the emergence of e-ticketing and increased passenger security requirements, business hubs still have their raison d'être. But the way they operate is changing with the development of technology, which favours online booking. Even in traditional offline agencies.
Off-line requests take the form of a telephone conversation between the customer and the travel consultant. Most often, this involves a conversation lasting around three minutes, for any order relating to a business trip. As soon as the conversation is over, the advisor completes the booking file, which can take around ten minutes depending on the complexity of the order.
Search for the best rates
The travel agent enters the customer's request on his computer, then searches for the best rates according to availability and the company's travel policy. Once the order has been placed, the agent formalises the file and sends the customer an "agreement form". Once this has been signed and returned, the plane or train ticket, hotel voucher or car hire voucher is issued in paper or electronic form.
On the other hand, there is generally no verbal communication in online requests. The customer makes the booking and the electronic tool checks the various criteria to ensure that the booking can be made. In this case, it only takes a minute to complete the booking. In the event of a booking request that does not comply, the travel agent calls the customer back, and the procedure is then similar to offline processing. Introducing automation into booking procedures saves customers time. It also has a significant impact on the organisation of business centres. By moving from offline to online, an agent can handle three times as many transactions," notes one observer. Inevitably, this development is leading to a reduction in the number of staff on the business desks, and even to the elimination of some desks within the major networks. In integrated networks such as American Express and Carlson Wagonlit, almost 30 % of transactions are made online and the balance, or 70 %, offline.
Team organisation
Whatever the booking method, the integrated networks, notably Amex and Carlson Wagonlit, are tending to adopt a more flexible segmentation, no longer limited to the profiles of their four markets: national accounts, large national accounts, large multinational accounts and public authorities. Under the combined effect of the rise of online booking tools in companies and the slowdown in economic activity, canopies have been revised downwards in recent months. Within off-line business travel agency networks, the development of online portals is having repercussions in terms of human resources.
Since this automated reservation system significantly reduces the amount of advice given over the telephone, virtually all the networks are reducing their staffing levels. This is despite the fact that the development of these interactive booking services has led to the emergence of new business lines that support companies in their travel processes, for example by training their employees in the use of the tool. Having closed three sites in 2009, CWT now has around twenty business centres, forty or so implants, a centre dedicated to VIP customers and a site dedicated to hotel transactions based in Clermont-Ferrand. "Key accounts are handled by three national customer service centres located in the provinces, while SMEs are handled by regional customer service centres located in the major economic areas", explains Laurent Comte, CWT's Deputy Managing Director. Very small businesses and SMEs are dealt with by the business centres of our leisure agencies located throughout the country". In Saint-Étienne, this integrated network manages the on- and off-line activities of key accounts within one of its largest national customer service centres, which employs nearly 280 people. "When it comes to telephone relations, we use double-listening recordings to measure and develop the quality of our consultancy services and the performance of our teams", explains Jérôme Satre, Director of Customer Service Centres at CWT.
The organisations are based on centres of expertise such as pooled management of ticketing, but also of administrative flows, with electronic invoicing, as well as after-sales service for any complaints and refunds. At CWT, rail accounts for 50 % of traffic. "Given the importance of rail, we are considering the possibility of reorganising the business platforms and setting up a team specialising in rail, at the same time as developing the automation of rail transactions," adds Laurent Comte.
Meanwhile, its competitor American Express has opted to outsource rail transactions. At the end of 2009, this integrated network outsourced part of its rail transaction processing to Euraxo, given that rail accounts for 60 % of its business. This new entrant to the call centre market has positioned itself as an expert in the field of business travel. The other major development was the sale of its portfolio of very small businesses to Avexia in 2008. With eleven business hubs, this independent network deals with companies whose annual business travel budget does not exceed €250,000, and benefits from the advantage of brand licensing within the American Express partner network.
In 2009, American Express had just 23 business hub sites, compared with 41 in 2007. As a result, the major La Défense hub closed in 2009. And of the 135 employees who worked there, almost a hundred now work at the Nation, Cergy and Vélizy platforms. We have grouped some of our customers by type," explains Nathalie Maréchal, Director of Operations at American Express Business Travel. For example, public contracts are managed by our Futuralp site located near Grenoble and partly at Nation, in Paris, which also deals with the luxury sector." Also at American Express, in the space of a year, under the weight of customer demand, online transactions have been boosted and currently account for 30 % of requests.
Validating online orders
One thing is clear for business travel agency networks: the sluggish economy has encouraged the development of online transactions using specialised software called self-booking tools. These tools bring together sellers, suppliers of travel services (airlines, car rental companies, hoteliers, etc.), buyers, companies and, finally, intermediaries such as travel agencies. The transactions are prepared by the travellers, and the travel agent only has to check and validate the bookings, then issue the tickets.
Designed by specialist companies such as Amadeus e-travel, GetThere, KDS and Traveldoo, these technological services enable business travellers to book their trips online by filling in an electronic order form combining the Internet and e-mail. Whether they are integrated or voluntary network tools, they offer a number of functions for placing orders: 24-hour ordering from a PC, memorisation, management for a group of travellers, access to additional orders. For companies wishing to reinforce compliance with specific negotiated supplier agreements and enforce their travel policy, some solutions offer a hierarchical approval system requiring a superior to validate transactions that fall outside the scope of the travel policy. In these integrated networks, key accounts - i.e. companies with a travel budget in excess of three million euros a year - are generally supported by a dedicated team that assists them with both online and offline transactions. This tailor-made service comes at an additional cost.
Ultrapersonalisation
Since February 2010, this possibility of having the same team for on- and off-line transactions has been available at American Express thanks to the new aXcent offer focused on the mid-market and designed for national companies with an annual business travel budget of between one and three million euros. "As the crisis has had an impact on companies and changed travellers' behaviour, through this new brand we wanted to show our customers our commitment to supporting them so that they can continue to travel and develop their business", says Marc-Pierre Lebault, National Accounts Director at American Express Business Travel.
aXcent is structured around experienced, dedicated teams (with an average of ten years' experience) and support available 24 hours a day, providing customers with proximity and responsiveness. Contactable via a single number, these aXcent teams can manage their customers' requests, provide online support and handle routine orders.
In integrated networks, travel agents are responsible for booking tickets and fulfilling orders. But the back office, essentially invoicing, is handled by other staff. On the other hand, in voluntary networks such as Tourcom or the new player, the AS voyages network, resulting from the merger between the Afat and Selectour networks, made-to-measure services cover the entire business travel chain. From order-taking to after-sales service. Even though automation is making inroads in business travel centres, human intervention will always remain essential. In particular to guarantee the quality of the service provided to customers.
