A prerequisite of any managed travel programme is the ability to monitor and measure success.

For many organisations the audit process only takes place when it is perceived a supplier is underperforming. Auditing performance should be part of the supplier management and development strategy and is sound business practice.

The key to a quality managed travel programme is to get the fundamentals right. The best time to do this is at the request for proposal (RFP) stage of TMC selection. At this time it is critical to identify requirements from key stakeholders and understand their expectation for a successful programme.

Once goals have been identified and agreed they can be translated to operational key performance indicators (KPIs) to drive business/programme goals. In addition to the KPIs, a well thought out Service Level Agreement (SLA) should be implemented, ensuring SMART measures in order to gauge expected service standards.

At the RFP stage you should also consider how you will audit the performance and reach an agreement with the TMC on what level of data and reports will be required, negotiating requirements at this stage will ensure no surprise costs for providing this information further down the line.

Auditing performance can be time consuming but the effort is quickly repaid with improvements in performance and often removes the need to go back to the market.

There is also value in a financial audit as often costs and charges appear that are not always as agreed.

Most TMCs are committed to providing a quality service at the agreed price but this is not a given.