Beware of the Fruitcake

This time of year is one where holiday cheer is in the air. Holiday gatherings are in full swing and for the most part, you can find everyone in a pretty festive mood.  It's also that time of year when the notorious fruitcake starts to mysteriously show up at office work parties, family gatherings or as a gift from your favorite aunt. It appears wholesome and delicious, but we all know looks can be deceiving.

I compare this to agencies that are recently touting a revenue share option. No transaction fees and a right combination of supplier deals seem too good to be true right? Maybe. Travel and Transport’s core value is to serve as an advocate for our customers.  We work with our customers to provide recommendations and strategies on how to successfully work with suppliers not for the suppliers. Over the years we have had the opportunity to change our pricing structure, but as in all decisions that our company makes we want to ensure that in the end our decisions will be mindful of all our clients. Forcing our customers in a certain direction for the benefit of our suppliers is not what we see as being the most responsible.

Solely focusing on transaction fees is like only eating the nuts in the fruitcake. There is so much more to that candied cherry log.  It’s the responsibility of a travel management company to point out to clients that transaction fees represent less than 1% of their companies’ total travel and entertainment costs.  Day in and day out Travel and Transport travel professionals are able to prove to our customers measured savings of over $100 per transaction by utilizing our ticket tracking software and quality service technology while negotiating contracts on the behalf of our clients. Just think how much fruitcake you can buy and re-gift with those savings!

The value of a partnership is one that we have built our business around. At the end of the day, our customers are and will be our main area of focus. Our commitment to saving our customers money is a result of our experience and expertise as a service oriented company. This has been the T&T mantra for 65 years and it's never going to change.

Just like the fruitcake, while this new pricing formula might be tempting, one should remember it’s really just bread with unrecognizable jellied fruit chunks.

Posted By:

Bill Tech, President and CEO