Starting the conversation: winning stakeholder buy-in for your travel programme 

You know your corporate travel programme inside out. You know it’s working when there’s fewer fires to put out, and when you can get the data you need, quickly. What’s harder is getting everyone else to see it – especially those who hold the budget, set the policy, or don’t think about business travel until something goes wrong. 

That’s largely because travel managers are reporting on activity – bookings made, policies enforced - rather than on the value. And it can’t be a blanket approach for all your stakeholders; they want to hear different things.  

 

 

Three professionals engaged in conversation in a bright office setting.

Key Takeaways 

  • Stakeholder buy-in is best achieved when you consider their world before the travel world.  
  • Your approach should be different for each stakeholder.   
  • A small shift in your style doesn’t only help that stakeholder, but the conversations they will have afterwards, too.  

Contents

Start with their priority, not your programme 

When preparing for a pitch or conversation, it’s natural you’d want to showcase what your travel programme does, and how it’s improved. But most stakeholders aren’t trying to understand how a business travel strategy works – they want you, and therefore travel, to help solve a problem. The fastest way to be listened to is to open with something they already care about, and then the travel details can follow.  

A useful habit to start with: write down what this person is measured on or delve into their latest company update to understand their key priorities. That’s what should be your conversation or pitch starter.  

Look to obtain all the data and insights beforehand so you can answer any question that might come your way; your TMC’s predictive analytics and account manager can help.  

Here’s how it plays out by each stakeholder.  

How do I talk to CFOs and Finance about budget? 

What they care about: Cost, risk, visibility, and predictability. They aren’t anti-travel; they don’t like surprises. More CFOs are under pressure on budget uncertainty, so it’s common for conversations on travel spend to head into a topic of control.  

How to open it: Lead with a number they recognise from their own reporting like savings realised, exposure avoided or spend projection against the forecast. Frame as risk reduction or return, not as more budget for travel.  

Potential talking points: 

"Here's what our travel spend looked like against forecast this quarter, and here's the one variable that could move it next quarter. I'd like your take before it becomes a problem." 

“External factors mean we’re seeing prices climb in this region. Here’s what I’ve discussed with our TMC that will make the impact of this softer, and some additional recommendations that would help us further.” 

Personalise this email: 📩  Loop in your CFO   

How can I review suppliers with Procurement? 

What they care about: Supplier performance, contract value, and consolidation risk. As there’s lots of consolidation in travel at the moment, they’re more worried about the vendor than travel risk.  

How to open it: Frame the conversation around supplier accountability and leverage, not service quality. Prove that your current setup is earning its contract, or if it’s not, where you want to negotiate.  

Potential talking points:  

"I want to walk you through how our current supplier is performing against contract, and flag one area where I think we have leverage, we're not using." 

“Since our TMC’s recent acquisitions, I want to sense check whether they’re still the right fit for us. I’ve put together a comparison against a few other providers – I’d like to use it as the basis for deciding whether we renegotiate or go to market.” 

Personalise this email: 📩 Loop in Procurement   

How do I get HR buy-in on travel policy? 

What they care about: Duty of care, employee experience, and wellbeing. They’re more in tune to the human side of the travel programme – burnout, friction, and those dreading a trip.  

How to open it: Lead with a person, not the policy. Stories about employee experiences will get you further.  

Potential talking points:  

"I want to show you what the traveller experience actually looks like right now - the good and the friction points - because some of it touches wellbeing more than people realise." 

"Recent developments in [region] make me think we need to do more to keep our people safe when they travel there. Can we spend some time mapping out what that should look like, and bring in the right people to help us get it right?" 

Personalise this email: 📩 Loop in HR  

How do you talk to IT and Security about travel risk? 

What they care about: Data integrity, compliance obligations, and system risk. Travel is a risk to devices, people, and sensitive data moving across borders.  

How to open it: Speak around visibility and control over the risk – where travellers are, what systems touch their data and how quickly you can locate someone.  

Potential talking points: 

"I want to talk through how we currently track traveller location and data exposure during a trip, and where I think we have a gap worth closing together." 

"Recent developments in [region] have HR and me looking at what more we can do to keep our people safe when they travel there. I want your view on the risk and visibility side – could we being you in to map this properly?” 

Personalise this email: 📩 Loop in your IT/Security  

How do you talk to sustainability and ESG leaders about travel emissions? 

What they care about: Credible progress against emissions or targets, and evidence they can use in a report.  

How to open it: Open with data. This audience responds well to a clear baseline and believable trajectory, more than ambition.  

Potential talking points:  

"Here's where our travel emissions currently sit and how they're trending - I'd like your view on what 'good' looks like from where you sit." 

"Our travel emissions are running a little behind where I'd like them to be against target. I've spotted a few process changes, mainly around when flights are booked and which ones, that could close some of that gap. Would you be open to going through them with me?" 

Personalise this email: 📩 Loop in Sutainability/ESG   

How do you involve travellers and travel arrangers?  

What they care about: Reliability, speed, less friction, and support if anything goes wrong. Your travel arrangers especially feel inefficiency first but are not always that interested about the policy or business travel platform choice – they just need it to work.  

How to open it: Treat them as the experts on what you’re working on day to day. Ask arrangers about their challenges. Skip the programme language entirely – they care more about the trip.  

Potential talking points: 

"You deal with our travel booking process more than almost anyone - what's the one thing that would make your week easier if we fixed it?" 

"What's the one moment on a recent work trip that made things harder than it needed to be?" 

Personalise these emails:  

📩 Ask a traveller   

📩 Loop in your EA community   

The one habit 

that ties it together 

The pattern is the same: lead with a sentence about their world, not ours. It’s a small shift that will make a big difference between being sold to or understood.  

And don’t forget that most of those you speak to need to continue that conversation with their own circle of stakeholders. If you nail the conversation first time, it’s then easier for them to explain or forward the update onto someone else’s inbox. Over time, you position yourself, and your travel programme, as a strategic asset.