The Client
Sika Corporation is a chemicals technology company with approximately $4.6 million in annual air spend.
The Opportunity
Prior to joining Direct Travel, Sika felt grossly underserved by their incumbent travel management company (TMC), with an uninvolved account manager. Their largest frustration was the TMC’s set-it-and-forget-it approach to the Concur Travel online booking tool (OBT). They wanted a configuration tailored to their needs, and for their TMC to proactively make adjustments for continuous improvement, with minimal distruption for travelers.
The Solution
Knowing that the OBT was a major pain point, Direct Travel engaged our product support team during Sika’s bid evaluation process to conduct a free audit of their Concur site. We evaluated their site side-by-side with our customized Concur demo site, and Sika realized that their OBT setup was years out of date and that the incumbent TMC hadn’t updated the site to fit their evolving needs.
During this consultation, Direct Travel learned that Sika has a multi-layered, complex travel policy that, among other items, was not built into the OBT the way the client needed. Out-of-policy trips weren’t getting accurately flagged and actioned.
In all, we identified 15 separate instances where functions beneficial to the client were not enabled by the incumbent TMC. Upon contract award, we worked with Sika to customize Concur Travel and its features specific to their travel program needs.
From programming the site to exclude layovers longer than four hours, to integrating Cvent so that travelers could more seamlessly register for events, we built rules and integrations based on the client’s exact needs.
We helped Sika see that not only does Concur Travel have a wealth of customizable features, but that the tool also gives them the freedom to independently make tweaks if they so desire.
Most importantly, once Sika made the decision to select Direct Travel, we didn’t simply hand their contact to SAP Concur for the client to manage their transition alone; we stayed involved from day one. We approached this client’s needs the way we do with all clients: We took the burden off.
The Results
Ultimately, Sika chose to become a client of Direct Travel and continue using the Concur Travel OBT, eliminating the significant cost of change – both in financial investment and time to train travelers – that would have come with switching OBTs.
Today, their site runs smoothly and travelers are able to easily book policy-compliant trips. When changes are needed, our dedicated programming team’s consultative, hands-on approach makes the process simple. We stay connected at all times and proactively make suggestions when we feel there is a real benefit to the client.
Best of all, Sika’s online adoption rate now sits an an impressive, best-in-class 90.8%.