SRP Companies Case Study

Picture this: You run one of the top in-store merchandising companies in the country, with over 400 sales representatives serving more than 50,000 stores nationwide. You do your best to control costs by setting caps and processes for managing employee expense accounts, but these efforts don’t always produce consistent results.

For one thing, the dynamic nature of hospitality pricing means that room rates can change from night to night. While it is sometimes possible to secure an average room rate that complies with company-wide rate caps, that’s not always possible. Another issue is “gotcha” add-on costs, such as “resort fees,” local and state taxes, and “energy surcharges,” which are not always obvious to travel consumers using online booking sites.

SRP Companies’ reps were quick to note these problems, as well as the fact that they were merchandisers, not travel agents. They were just as sick of being confused about hotel rates as SRP’s leadership was over non-compliance with cost limits.

Another issue was how the representatives paid for their rooms: Team members used their personal credit and debit cards to book and pay for accommodations. This removed a layer of accountability, made it difficult for SRP Companies to establish preferred supplier relationships or negotiate lower rates, and created a whole category of accounting issues.

SRP’s leadership realized that its approach to handling employee travel cost the company a lot of money—close to seven figures each year. It needed help, and fast.

Fortunately, they came to CLC and asked for an employee travel management plan. We were able to reduce or eliminate all of SRP’s challenges by:

• Streamlining hotel booking and payments, securing preferred rates with no “gotchas” on the final bill

• Offering more accommodation choices

• Providing reps and SRP’s accounting department with an easy way to reconcile expenses

The savings were impressive. How much? Find out by downloading our case study here.