Healthcare
Global healthcare company had a successful travel program through American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT). Although managing meetings didn’t run as smoothly as travel. The company found it difficult to determine total meetings spend worldwide.
The company expanded its relationship with us to integrate travel and meetings management. By utilizing all three of our services: travel, Meetings & Events, and Global Business Consulting (GBC), the teams could strategize meetings more holistically.
Global healthcare company had a successful travel program through Amex GBT. Although managing meetings didn’t run as smoothly as travel. There were over 100 different meeting planning companies to work with globally. Approvals and logistics needed to be streamlined and outsourced agencies needed to be able to work with peer agencies. Yet most challenging was oversight of meetings spend. Since many teams didn’t have the ability to manage all of their suppliers, it was difficult to tell how much was being spent on meetings worldwide.
The company wanted to strategize meetings more holistically. Amex GBT’s flexibility and global reach have been serving them well when it comes to travel. Many managers thought, “why not expand our relationship and have Amex GBT take on our meetings program?” The integration of travel and meetings through one management partner can allow for easier reporting, contracting, and service-level agreements with agencies. The teams wanted consistency throughout each region so that everyone in the company works through the same structure. Adding on the services of Amex GBT’s Meetings & Events team was the likeliest solution to their needs.
Since a holistic meetings strategy was key, they decided it was best to utilize the services of GBC as well. Consultants to help with strategy lets them offload a lot of work they would typically do themselves to optimize air and hotel spend. Meeting corporate sustainability goals was another priority. Considering that GBC has experience and proficiency in this area, it made sense to partner with GBC.
Now that the healthcare company has integrated travel and meetings management through one partner – Amex GBT – the teams find they’re getting the holistic experience they were after. According to the head of travel:
“Everything goes back to account management. If we have issues, we have one point of contact to get it fixed. Escalation cascades to all three areas: travel, meetings and events, and consulting without any need for third-party approval. Amex GBT has all of the data to aggregate and apply where necessary.”
While the company is still in the early stages of the travel and meetings integration, the teams have already noticed they have:
The company’s head of travel, meetings, and expense noted, “Our needs are heard and our concerns are resolved when expressed.” This senior leader feels other large companies with similar complex needs can benefit from Amex GBT’s breadth and scope. The leader also recommends Amex GBT to companies with less challenging programs that need a streamlined end-to-end management solution.