Fox World Travel + SAP Concur: Sixteen Years of Innovation to Bring Unique, Customized Travel Programs to Clients
Fox World Travel is an SAP Concur TMC Elite Partner and didn’t grow to be a leading, global travel management company by chance. Since its founding in 1960, this innovative organization has differentiated itself by going above and beyond. Instead of one-size-fits-all solutions, the Fox team customizes every travel program to specific client needs, combining the best tools and technology with human ingenuity to always “find a way.”
Fox World Travel has partnered with SAP Concur for the past sixteen years to deliver an unwavering commitment to service excellence. It’s a partnership built on mutual trust, creativity, and a track record of success.
“One of the things many people don’t realize is that all TMCs do not support SAP Concur in the same way or fully utilize all of its functionality. With our Elite-level partnership, Fox can support all of the functionality within (SAP) Concur and create solutions tailored to our customers’ needs.” – Mary Jo Theimer, Global Sales Director
One example involves a prospective client headquartered in a city hosting a major, annual sporting event that didn’t want employees traveling to that office during the game week. As part of the RFP process, the prospect asked the responding TMCs to configure Concur Travel to block those dates and provide custom messaging to anyone attempting to book a trip to that location during that specific timeframe.
Fox was the only respondent that could deliver that solution, along with a demo site as proof it could get the job done. Ultimately, that was the deciding factor for the business of what is now a long-term client.
“We were able to take what (SAP) Concur built and configure it in a data-specific and location-specific way, so the only people who saw the message were the people it pertained to,” explained Ben Claxton, Online Technology Manager for Fox.
The Fox team makes it easy for all clients to fully utilize their inventory of unused, non-refundable tickets, representing significant spend for many organizations.
“We programmed the system so, if you’re booking a reservation in Concur Travel and have an unused ticket on file, that ticket appears on three different screens,” Theimer explained. “This eliminates the need for travelers to click a button and tell us to use the ticket. We will automatically use any ticket that they have on file.”
In addition, if a traveler with an unused ticket on one carrier books travel on a different carrier, they receive a reminder message about that unused ticket and is given the option to stop, go back, switch carriers and use the ticket on file, before the original flight is ticketed.
“We can dynamically add customized messaging and policy requirements. For example, we can add links to supplier loyalty programs, information about REAL ID requirements, or push out airline waiver information. If there’s an incoming storm or other weather event, travelers can make changes early on,” Claxton said. “The combination of tools SAP Concur enables us to support our clients at the highest level.”
Of course, tailoring the right travel program is only part of the solution. That program has to be adopted by the company’s users to produce the desired outcomes.
“From the beginning, we talk to our clients about non-compliance — so we can understand why travelers are booking outside of their current program,” Theimer explained. “Then, we look at what we can do with training and messaging inside the booking tool to start driving adoption.”
For example, in addition to in-depth training during implementation, Fox offers ongoing bi-weekly webinars with tips and tricks for new users and refreshers for infrequent travelers. It also allows users who need a little extra handholding to call in and have an agent walk them through the tool’s features. If a user gets stuck, the company makes sure that help is just a click away.
Customers have quickly seen the value of these unique, extra efforts, as have their travelers.
“We have one opportunity to make sure that new user has a great experience. One of the ways we do that is by making it easy to contact us for immediate help via phone, email or chat,” Claxton said. “At multiple points in the booking process, users can click a button and get live chat support from an experienced agent who can give them help within seconds. Help is literally a click away.”
For some clients, the adoption strategy could include pushing out actionable, targeted messages to travelers who book with an agent instead of using the online booking tool.
“In one case, we had a large manufacturing client that had a goal of increasing the use of the online booking tool,” Theimer said.
“Any time travelers called the dedicated booking line, they immediately received a custom message from the travel manager that encouraged them to book their reservation online, with a ten-second explanation as to why, before they were ever connected to an agent.”
From there, they could access a help desk to walk them through the process.
This gentle nudge and handholding at the onset quickly paid off. This client went from no adoption to seventy-four percent adoption within the first years.
A lot has changed with business and travel over the past sixteen years, but the partnership between Fox and SAP Concur has stood the test of time.
“Both of our companies have really evolved over the past sixteen years. As we’ve aggressively grown our business, (SAP) Concur have both been able to run alongside us and stay at the forefront of the market,” Claxton said. “It’s been a good partnership, and one that’s allowed us to continually innovate, and serve our clients in a positive way.”
SAP® Concur® is the world’s leading brand for integrated travel, expense, and invoice management solutions, driven by a relentless pursuit to simplify and automate these everyday processes. The highly-rated SAP® Concur® mobile app guides employees through business trips, charges are directly populated into expense reports, and invoice approvals are automated. By integrating near real-time data and using AI to analyze transactions, businesses can see what they’re spending, improve compliance, and avoid
possible blind spots in the budget. SAP Concur solutions help eliminate yesterday’s tedious tasks, make today’s work easier, and support businesses to run at their best.
Learn more at concur.com or at the SAP Concur blog.
On July 19, 2024, Fox World Travel faced a major IT disruption due to a faulty update from CrowdStrike, which led to widespread system failures and a significant increase in call volume and duration. Our IT team swiftly mobilized, prioritizing customer-facing roles, and successfully restored functionality by the afternoon, ensuring our commitment to exceptional service remained intact despite the unprecedented challenge.
As part of Sysmex’s North American travel program, they utilize a local, in-country TMC in Canada to service their Canadian-based travelers. The Canadian TMC is essential in accessing local fares, complying with regulations, reporting on taxes, and providing Canadian French-speaking agents. With traveler data flowing from multiple sources, Sysmex preferred to consolidate their travel data into a single source to streamline data and reporting.
Ashley Furniture previously relied on static reporting, pulling travel program performance data manually to create reports. This process became tedious and labor-intensive, which ultimately hampered problem-solving efforts for the travel manager. Having to manually create reports also limited visibility to real-time data, where stakeholders were only able to view basic metrics and lacked real-time data insights.
Signify had a specific division comprised of travelers based in Canada that faced the challenge of centralizing North American travel services and data globally for their Canadian-based division. The goal was to provide a single service platform for travelers from Canada and the U.S., establishing a single operational and reporting system that would facilitate streamlined services and travel experiences for their Canadian travelers. Additionally, Signify was required to comply with Canadian laws and regulations while ensuring access to Canadian airline content.