Supplier initiative

By Lynda White, HRG Business Manager

Sometimes clients come to us to help improve the partnership with a third-party supplier and therefore the overall service to travellers.

A major confectionery client had a global contract in place with a car rental business but had been experiencing service issues resulting in extra man hours for both HRG and the client.

We worked alongside the supplier to review the issues and begin the trial of a penalty clause as a means of improving service, billing and delivery.

The client’s complaints with the supplier included invoices with charges that should not apply, car safety, car cleanliness and delivery and collection issues.

Changes are also required to the credit process as the supplier credits the card rather than issuing a credit note while the client’s expense process requires a credit note.

The penalty clause process works with the HRG classic teams producing a list of issues on a monthly basis. From this, the supplier related-issues can be extrapolated and forwarded to the national account manager.

The HRG account manager can then liaise with the car rental account manager to agree which bookings qualify for a payout under the penalty clause.

Any credits will go direct to the card used for the original payment with a list also provided to the travel buyer of who has received a payout.

In the first month of the process, 34 out of 37 issues resulted in a credit being paid and all parties are now working together to reduce this further.

The car rental business views the penalty clause as a way for their branches to take more care and improve service levels. In addition to an additional fee, branches will appear on a league table of poor performance.