Redefining what it means to budget your travel spend
If hearing the word “travel budget” makes you start scanning for ways to trim down costs, we’re right there with you. But what factors are you using to decide what makes the cut?
Something you’ll hear a lot around our hallways is, “If it’s necessary, it is possible.” It’s a great filter for qualifying life’s expenses and works well for corporate travel spend as well… as long as you have no trouble defining what is necessary.
Read any article about budget consciousness and you’ll see the usual- $5 daily lattes add up to $1,825 annually. Throw in a scone every few visits and you’ve peaked at $2,000. Feeling ashamed? Don’t.
Why? Because maybe you just want the $5 latte. It’s a thing. You love lattes. You love your comforting, caffeinated fix… even when it is $8 at the airport. Sure, there are a lot of things you could do without, but this is just not one of them.
Circling to the topic of managed business travel, travel management is seemingly filled with “lattes.” Are we indulging a little too much? Will it be worth the added cost? Could we buy the fancy technology and do this ourselves? Do our travelers really need a place for their elbows?
If you take an open-minded, holistic look at your organization, let one thing guide your decision: if it will make your travelers, travel managers and CFO happy, then it is possible. All you need to do is acknowledge it and build out your budget accordingly.
Our philosophy at Cadence is that true managed travel is a balance between cost savings and traveler experience. It’s about foreseeing necessary expenses, qualifying the value of add-ons, and prioritizing traveler productivity, safety and efficiency. It’s about defining cost and value separately and finding a travel company who will prove their value time and time again- a true partner who becomes such a part of your daily routine that even if you could technically function without them, you’d really rather not.
A recent State Farm insurance commercial ends with the tagline, “We know a lot because we’ve seen a lot.” Isn’t that the truth? After over 20 years of managing travel, we’ve learned that the best way to increase our value is to have the very best service in the industry. We’ve made it a priority to fill our travel programs with complimentary account management perks to keep your travel programs healthy and thriving, from consultative analytics to implementation marketing campaigns. In fact, our innovative team never stops thinking of new service offerings and ways to wow our clients.
Wondering how that adds up in the end? Well, just think about it through the filter of what is necessary. If you value traveler experience and genuine, consultative relationships, we are confident that there is a way to build these things into your budget effectively- it’s why we exist.
