TRAVEL COSTS - 08.10.2020

Carry on cutting travel costs

Less need to travel

Data published by the Office for National Statistics showed that since the 2008 financial crisis “people are travelling less on business than before”. Before this year’s lockdown, more than 26% had shrunk their travel budgets. The two most popular ways of doing this have been to choose cheaper travel options and/or reduce the frequency of trips.

Cheaper travel

You can control rail and airline provider costs by making sure that employees are only reimbursed for appropriate rail journeys or flights at an agreed class of travel. This doesn’t always mean second class; as we discussed in a previous article, travelling business/first class means they are better able to work, reducing unproductive hours and saving you money ( yr.10, iss.09, pg.05 , see The next step ). The option to travel in less crowded carriages should be well received given the pandemic.

Reduce the number of trips

The coronavirus pandemic has changed the negative attitude of video calling so now you can easily reduce the number of trips staff are making (conferences etc. are also moving online).

Low cost. Instead of fuel or public transport costs, a meeting via Zoom or Skype will cost next to nothing. For meetings where these options aren’t sophisticated enough, there are others such as BT One Collaborate, which provides audio, video etc. Tip. The restrictions won’t last forever, but your business should have a “think virtual first” policy for meetings. Your clients will also be more receptive to this idea - you are not only reducing the risk for their staff but also showing you are operating a socially responsible business. Example 1. Acom’s five sales staff used to cover the region by car and train. The average cost of each external client meeting was £125, with 20 taking place every month. That’s an annual meeting bill of £30,000. These face-to-face meetings were beneficial for the business, but the company had a 2018 target to cut these meetings by 10%. This was achieved, saving £3,000, with no notable negative impact on performance or sales.

New target?

Pre-coronavirus a 10% virtual meet target would have been realistic. However, your clients will now be as experienced in this tech as your staff, so a 75% reduction (or more) is achievable. This can be reviewed accordingly. Choose the clients that are most receptive to the idea or you have long-term relationships with. This will allow you to trial the idea and maintain early face-to-face meetings with new clients if they prefer. Example 2. Instead of four meetings each per month, Acom sets a target of 75% of these to be undertaken virtually, selecting clients accordingly, e.g. first new client meetings, or existing customers that still want the personal touch regardless.

For a link to the previous article, visit http://www.tips-and-advice.co.uk , Download Zone, year 13, issue 01.