Customer Case Study: RDO Equipment
How transparency has translated to cost control for RDO Equipment.
Industry: Machinery/Manufacturing
Client Since: November 2022
Headquarters: South-East Queensland
RDO Equipment is one of the world’s most trusted John Deere and Vermeer equipment dealers. They sell and support a wide range of machinery and equipment, providing parts and service support for the agricultural, roads, construction, environmental, landscaping, mining, and forestry sectors.
“The reporting that we get from Corporate Traveller is proactive and allows us to know exactly what we’ve spent and how we’re tracking against budget. This allows us to adjust accordingly once we’ve seen the numbers.”
- Ben Watkins, Planning and Commercial Manager
Background of RDO Equipment’s travel needs:
- Approximately 1000 employees across 32 locations in Australia, from Darwin to Launceston.
- A large regional footprint, but also plenty of team members located in metropolitan areas.
- Company headquarters spread out across three locations in South-East Queensland: Toowoomba, Richlands, Loganholme.
- Most domestic travel is in ‘The Triangle’ (BNE/SYD/MEL), but a large portion of flights also cover regional cities.
- Plenty of international travel is also needed, predominantly to West-Coast USA, North Dakota and Iowa, plus some intermittent travel to Europe.
Before Corporate Traveller:
- Worked with another TMC, but there were issues with service, reporting, transparency of pricing – RDO ended up booking some travel themselves.
- Lack of reporting and invoice management restricted access to clear costs and simple invoicing.
- Couldn’t update travel profiles quickly and at scale.
- No proactivity, especially with reporting – everything had to be requested by RDO.
- Due to lack of transparency, many in the RDO leadership team had lost faith that they were receiving the best pricing options.
The Corporate Traveller Solution:
- A staggered approach to onboarding allowed for an extensive testing phase and the chance to transition smoothly from previous TMC.
- A direct link from RDO’s HR feed into the Corporate Traveller system allows easy traveller profile management (updated instantly).
- Set the standard to provide transparent pricing that is clear to understand.
- Provided proactive reporting and analysis to deliver more control to RDO with advice on how they can better manage their allocated travel budget.
- Ensured that all travellers have access to the Sam app and 24/7 emergency assistance.
Success:
Proactive solutions are now always presented, even before the team at RDO is aware of an issue.
Increased transparency of pricing provides clarity around cost control and time savings, allowing RDO to adjust accordingly.
Quick responses when emergencies come up, which has evolved into an updated travel policy designed to get people home quickly.
There is “total satisfaction with the team” involved in managing the RDO account.
About Flight Centre Travel Group
The Flight Centre Travel Group is one of the world’s largest travel retailers and corporate travel managers. The company, which is headquartered in Brisbane, Australia, has company-owned leisure and corporate travel business in dozens of countries, spanning Australia, New Zealand, the Americas, Europe, the United Kingdom, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, and Asia. ASX listed Flight Centre Travel Group (FLT) also operates the global FCM corporate travel management network, which extends to more than 100 countries through company-owned businesses and independent licensees, along with Corporate Traveller, the flagship business specific to the small-to-medium-sized enterprise sector. For more information, visit fctgl.com.
Ready to put every dollar to good use?
Whether you already have a travel partner in place - or are not sure if your business needs one - our expert advice will help you decide. Our blended approach to business travel management makes us truly unique, fill in the contact form to make an appointment with one of our dedicated travel experts today.
