TRAVEL buyers are looking
at alternatives to the
traditional RFP process,
with some opting for the
less formal approach of
shortlisting and interviewing
possible matches.
A survey by UK-based
consultancy, Festive Road,
showed that, for buyers,
the RFP process was too
time consuming, often
causing other projects to
stagnate. From the TMCs’
perspective, they felt that
an RFP rarely allowed them
to demonstrate their skills
and creativity.
The consultancy suggests
that doing away with a 100-
page, canned response RFP
and instead introducing a
dialogue process, will help
clients get the best culture
match for their company.
Open dialogue between
the client and the TMC
during the selection
process allowed them to
sum each other up and
decide whether they would
be a good match. Travel
buyers who had more
interaction with their TMCs
claimed to have a better
success rate.
Sharon Leong, national
sales manager for
Thompsons Travel, says:
“I believe it could speed
up the process of tenders,
as both parties would not
need to spend time on
information overload and,
instead, a shortlisting of
providers can be done
upfront.”
TMCs also believe that
establishing a relationship
and building rapport is
more effective than simply
filling out an RFP and
hoping for the best.
Mary Shilleto, ceo of
Thompsons Travel, says
she believes in matching
clients or consultants to a
client’s corporate culture.
“This invariably ends up
being a win-win business
partnership.”
While it is likely that
this new approach would
work better for SMEs,
which do not necessarily
have to work through as
much red tape as larger
corporations, there has
also been interest from big
companies. Ryan Potgieter,
gm of Flight Centre
Business Travel, says over
the last six months, larger
corporates are starting to
employ the same dialoguebased
process too.
