From a travel buyer to a TMC BDM: How to never settle for less for your program or career
I was tired of watching good travel programs settle for less than they deserved when I knew better was possible. So, I did something about it.
Published date: June 30th, 2026
By: Lindsay Balram
For years, I sat where you're sitting now. I was the travel buyer going to RFP, scrutinizing SLAs, and asking hard questions of every TMC and travel supplier. I quickly learned the difference between managing around a supplier instead of moving forward with a partner.
So, when colleagues ask why I left the buyer's seat to join the FCM team, the answer is simple. I wanted to help buyers find what I found – and stop watching good programs accept less than they deserved.
Here's what that journey taught me, and how I think it can help travel buyers now.
The three things I never compromised on as a travel buyer
When I managed a travel program, three things mattered more than anything else. These concepts remain a part of who I am as a person, and they still shape how I work today.
- Transparency and honest communication. I needed to know exactly who I was working with and what they actually brought to the table. No vague promises or surprises in the footnotes of a contract. Just straight answers I could take back to my stakeholders, from C-Suite to travellers, with confidence.
- Genuine partnership over transactions. A typical TMC relationship is transactional – it works fine as long as both sides keep getting something out of it and can very easily become simply “fees in, service out." But a TMC-buyer relationship’s real value shows under pressure, when a trip falls apart at midnight or a crisis hits a region where your travellers are on the ground. That's when you find out whether your TMC is a vendor or an extension of your team. The strongest partnerships are the ones where both sides stop asking "what do I get from this?" and start asking "how can I be a better partner to you?". It is always a two-way street in my mind.
- Never stop learning. I made it my job to stay sharp on industry trends, on what my own company was building, and on what my travellers and internal stakeholders actually needed. I pulled them into policy reviews and supplier evaluations because their feedback made the program better. Curiosity wasn't optional - it was the job.
Over the years, I kept noticing how closely FCM's culture lined up with those values. I knew them well from the customer lens and always felt an innate connection to the company even then. In the back of my mind, I always knew that when I was ready to jump to the other side of the table, FCM would be my new “home." And now, here I am.
Why I’ll never do a hard sell – and what I do instead.
First thing’s first: I don't do hard sells. It's not in me, and it never worked on me when I was the one being sold to. No one likes being strong-armed or pressured into making a choice.
My approach is built on the same things I valued as a buyer: open communication, transparency, and a real genuine conversation about what partnership could look like. Every discussion I have starts with the value of the relationship, not a list of tools and features.
That comes from experience. I spent years on your side of the table, so I understand more than your program requirements. I understand the conversations you're having internally. I know what it takes to justify the ROI of a managed travel program to leadership, again and again and again. I know the pressure of proving the value of your own role to stakeholders who don't always see what you do behind the scenes.
When I talk with buyers now, I lead with that knowledge. Trust gets built faster when the person across from you has lived your reality. And the buyer in me still loves to hear how program owners are facing today’s current challenges and opportunities in their own way!
What "don't settle" really means for your program
I think a lot about the difference between a business transaction and a business relationship. One is functional, the other is commitment.
A real TMC partnership runs on trust, honesty, and transparency. As a partner, we owe you the truth about who we are and what we can deliver, the same way any healthy relationship depends on both sides being upfront. Your TMC should be indistinguishable from your team, taking the time to understand who you really are while being clear about who we are in return.
Settling looks like accepting workarounds as normal. It looks like lowering your expectations until disappointment feels routine. You don't have to live that way. The right partner is out there, and compatibility is worth holding out for.
My inspiring corporate travel & expense team during my travel manager years.
Don’t settle in your role, either.
The "don't settle" idea isn't only about choosing a TMC. It applies to your career too.
The travel manager role can drift into pure operations. You spend your days putting out fires, keeping everyone happy, and combing through data. All of it matters, but it's easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. Here's what helped me stay strategic, and what I'd pass along to you:
- Keep your eye on the big picture. Carve out time to think ahead, not just react. Strategic thinking is the part of your role that's hardest to delegate and easiest to neglect.
- Build your network and protect it. Stay connected with suppliers and fellow buyers you can learn from regularly. A strong circle around you makes you better at your job, the same way good people around you make everything else easier.
- Be the voice of the customer. Stay close to your TMC's innovation efforts. Tell them what's working and what isn't. Share the positive and the negative. Honest feedback is how partnerships improve.
- Say yes to growth. Join industry associations, attend events, and take the speaking opportunities when they come. Remember, never stop learning.
- Don't be afraid to take a leap. Your skills as a travel manager transfer further than you might think – whether that's a buyer role in another industry, a move to the supplier side, or a consulting path. It's okay to be curious. It's okay to take a chance on something that might not turn out to be a perfect fit. That's how you find the one that is.
I personally took a huge leap of faith in my career within the last few years - moved across the globe from the US to South Korea by myself – to a country that I’d never stepped foot in, where I did not know the nuances of the culture, nor did I speak the language. It was an opportunity to manage a fast-growing travel program while simultaneously learning first-hand all the “ins and outs” of the APAC market. That experience not only added depth to my industry background but also taught me the value of being brave and taking chances. Those two years were transformative for me in so many ways. My life will never be the same because of that one fantastic chance I took.
My next move from buyer to BDM was my version of not settling. I took the experience I'd built over years and bet on a company whose values matched my own. Now I get to help other buyers get what they deserve alongside FCM, the TMC that had my back for years as a travel manager.
My first day on the job in South Korea!
Lindsay Balram, Senior BDM, FCM Travel Americas
Former travel manager at a global pharmaceutical company, now helping buyers find the partnership they deserve.
Find a partner that gets you
You've spent enough time managing around providers who don't show up the way they promised. You deserve a TMC that treats your program like a relationship worth investing in, one built on transparency, genuine commitment, and a real understanding of your world.
That's the work I do every day, and it's the conversation I'd love to have with you. Reach out to FCM for a meeting and a demo of FCM Platform and Sam, our platform intelligence built to power your program from day one.
Let's talk about what a partnership you don't have to settle for actually looks like.