British Airways aims to launch a self-service account management portal
for corporate clients by the end of this year. Head of sales Mark Muren told
BTN Europe the portal will allow travel managers to view reporting, such as
performance against deal targets, and access “all things news-oriented and
administrative. It will also be a place where waivers and favours are able to
be executed, hopefully in a fairly seamless way.”
The portal will also be accessible to travel management companies, which
are likely to be the first users of the tool, and BA’s own account management
team. The technology is being built on Salesforce, which Muren characterised as
“the nervous system within the IAG (International Airlines Group – parent of BA)
sales organisation”, in collaboration with third-party developers.
All three major US carriers have launched similar portals in recent
years, and Muren said there is a similar need in Europe, especially for better
visibility of deal tracking. “We want to develop a single view that everybody
involved with that account can see,” said Muren. “It shouldn’t be something you
have to ask the account manager to bring to a quarterly review.”
Muren added that BA has worked closely on the portal with joint-venture
partner American Airlines. “They have been extremely transparent about the
things in their tool that they love and things that they are thinking about evolving,”
he said. “It’s going to be a game-changer on this side of the Atlantic.”
Other BA plans revealed by Muren during a wide-ranging interview
included:
- Continuing to roll over existing negotiated
agreements with corporate clients, but with no penalties for missed targets,
until supply and demand stabilise post-Covid.
- Steering agreements towards market-share rather
than volume targets where market conditions and regulations permit.
- Aiming “to say yes” much more to corporate
client requests for helping their travellers, such as switching flights.
- Working urgently on providing more granular
point-of-sale data on carbon emissions.
Read our interview with British Airways' Mark Muren here.