Getting With the Program - Carlson Wagonlit Travel

46 Smart Solution: Program Compliance“If People Are Aware of PriceDifferences, They Care”Birgit Schenscher, Global Purchasing Director, Services, at Henkel, explainshow her company saved nearly US$6 million (€4 million) in one year byupdating the travel policy and reinforcing compliance.Henkel, a world-leading brands and technology company,has achieved impressive savings since reviewing its travelpolicy in 2006. Just one month after communicating newglobal guidelines, the average ticket price had decreasedby approximately 3 percent and one year later thecompany had saved nearly US$6 million (€4 million) or8 percent of air spend and 6 percent of overall travelspend. Yet the expert who led the changes, BirgitSchenscher, remains matter-of-fact: “If people are awareof price differences, they care. You have to show the opportunities and then show theachievements.”In this interview, Ms. Schenscher explains how Henkel has instituted policyimprovements and reinforced compliance worldwide.CWT Vision: What objectives did you set for your new policy?Birgit Schenscher: Already in 2005, we noticed a sharp increase in average ticketprices, mainly for air. In first quarter 2006, our travel program failed to make savings forthe first time. We wanted to reverse this trend. With the help of CWT, we analyzed ourdata (spend and booking behavior) and identified opportunities for savings based ontravel policy and compliance. We then went to the executive board with a very clearproposal, detailing four major changes to the travel policy which would enable us tosave 5 percent of total travel spend. Our aim was to implement the changes withinfour months worldwide and that is what we did.CWT Vision: What were the main changes?Birgit Schenscher: The four main changes we made to our travel policy were:1) Restricted fares: for flights under four hours in Europe (six in the United States andthree and a half in Asia), we required travelers to book the lowest applicable, logicalfare, even if tickets were non-refundable.2) Online booking: we required travelers to book exclusively through our onlinebooking tool for point-to-point destinations. Here, visual guilt played a big role: no onewould choose a more expensive flight if cheaper options were displayed on thescreen. CWT agents supported us by refusing telephone reservations when necessary.