Our People - Chris Lynch

Name:         Christopher Lynch
Title:            Team Leader
Location:    Brisbane

Chris Lynch’s current role at FCM Travel Solutions is a long way from his start in retail travel, fresh out of high school some 20 years ago. Working for a travel agent in regional Maryborough, Chris did everything but fly the plane. “I worked in the office doing the bookings, but as we had the contract for the airport too, I’d also drive out to the airport to check-in the passengers, load the bags on the plane, trim the plane and assist with the catering!” said Chris. “To say it was a hands-on role is a bit of an understatement – but I loved it and I learnt a lot.”

Leaving the smell of aviation fuel behind, Chris moved into a corporate travel management role with another company, before joining FCM in 2007. After two years Chris was promoted to Team Leader with five other travel managers in his team.

This close-knit team look after a large portfolio, with annual travel budgets ranging from $1M to $11M. With the majority of customers being in mining and related sectors, regular travellers include FIFO workers, plus executives and CEOs flying both domestically and internationally.

Chris is a firm believer in the importance of understanding his customers’ business and he makes the time to meet face-to-face with executives, to inspect a client’s aircraft building business or another which sells and services heavy-duty custom trucks.

“It helps to know their challenges, so we can then look for creative solutions which are outside of the norm to help solve any issues,” said Chris. “It also gives you an appreciation of why they may be requesting last minute bookings or regular changes, for example.”

With his passion for the business, Chris’ positive energy flows through to both his team and his clients. “When you love what you do I think it’s infectious and that genuine authenticity and integrity helps to build trust with your clients,” said Chris. It has certainly inspired the commitment of his team which has regularly been ranked the in the top five FCM teams in Australia. While in 2018, the team won the national FCM Outstanding Team Achievement award.

One of the keys to this success is Chris’ focus on driving internal productivity improvements, so the team spends less time of the more mundane tasks – and more quality time on proactively servicing clients and building relationships. With some clients having been with Chris for over eight years, he continues to add value through monthly reports which highlight all of the ‘waivers or favours’ negotiated for clients and the dollar savings achieved. Chris also conducts quarterly reviews to look at every facet of the booking process, to see where improvements can be made.

For Chris, it’s all about going home at the end of the day knowing that his team has done a great job. Only then, can he think about relaxing the way he enjoys best – by travelling, of course!