Category: Executive Q and A

Executive Q&A: Christopherson’s CFO Shares Details on How the Company Financially Navigated the Pandemic

Post author By Christopherson Business Travel
Post date July 30, 2021

Next up in our Executive Q&A series is an interview with Christopherson’s Chief Financial Officer, Heather Young. Heather shared insight on how Christopherson financially navigated the COVID-19 pandemic and where the company stands now as travel restarts.

Q: It’s no secret that the last year and a half has been brutal on the travel industry. From your perspective as CFO, how did Christopherson’s financial philosophies protect the company through the pandemic?

A: Our owners, Mike and Camille Cameron, have taken a conservative approach to running and growing our company over the past 31 years. Additionally, at the beginning of March 2020, they had just paid off our corporate office building. This meant that as the COVID-19 pandemic began, Christopherson was in a great financial situation with good liquidity and very little debt.

As a company, we also rely on data to drive decisions. Because we review our ticketing information everyday through our data visualization dashboards, we could see travel bookings begin to decline in the weeks that led up to the pandemic being declared. By seeing that change early, our executive team was able to come together quickly and make a solid plan to weather this storm. We have been able to make important decisions throughout the pandemic, faster than many, because we track that key data in real-time.

Q: So as we see the pandemic coming to a close, where does Christopherson now stand in terms of financial stability?

A: We are in extremely good financial shape. We began the pandemic with sharp focus on protecting our cash, our people, our clients, and our clients’ customer experience. By the end of 2020, we were able to shift our focus back to investing in our future, particularly through a human and digital transformation.

Even though sales are still below pre-pandemic levels, we are currently tracking higher than the rest of the industry. We are strategically investing in areas that will allow us to continue being a leader in travel. We are able to make these investments because of our conservative fiscal approaches. We have also utilized the government’s COVID relief programs to aid our stability. Our cash reserves remain strong and we have the financial ability to make these investments for our future.

Q: You mentioned you do a daily review of travel bookings. What are you seeing in terms of business picking up? Is business travel on the upswing?

A: We are definitely seeing business pick up. We said all along that leisure travel would lead the way, followed by business travel. This is exactly what we are seeing. Our leisure travel division’s bookings began increasing in early 2021. That is now being followed with more business travel bookings as well as meetings and groups. We also implemented numerous new clients throughout the pandemic and have been excited to see these new customers begin traveling this summer.

Q: Part of Christopherson’s plan to weather the storm was protecting its people. How has Christopherson been able to support its team members over the last 18 months?

A: We kept a sharp focus on our two company values—1) We create value. 2) We value people.—in all our decisions over the last 18 months. At the beginning of the pandemic, we all experienced the difficulty of making the sacrifices needed to preserve our financial stability and allow us to keep as many people employed as possible. We are happy to report that we were able to reinstate our 401(k) match and restore any pay reductions even before we returned to profitability. We’ve retained much of our staff and have also been able to hire back many of our previous employees as business continues to ramp up this year.

Protecting our teams’ mental health was also important to us during the pandemic, so we made sure our employees had access to programs that provided unlimited access to professional help with stress, depression, financial concerns, family difficulties, and more. We also enhanced our employee benefit package by adding paid short-term disability in 2021, paid bereavement leave, and COVID-related paid leave. We continue to evaluate our benefit offerings for competitiveness in the market and ensure our decisions demonstrate that we value people.

Q: So having gone through the last 18 months, how would you say Christopherson is doing now?

A: COVID gave us an opportunity to make difficult decisions and we have emerged stronger. We spent that first month looking through all our expenses with a fine tooth comb, cancelling or negotiating better terms on anything we could. We learned who our real business partners were—those who were willing to work with us as we navigated through this very unique time. And while business was certainly slower, we used that time to strategize how to increase the value we bring to our clients and the industry.

We are being even more deliberate with where our money is being invested. We are hyper-focused on the design and delivery of our service model and are expanding our product development team. We have an ambitious roadmap of enhancements planned that combine the human and digital experience in a transformative way and will allow us to lead the future of business travel.

Q: Just for fun, do you prefer …

Window or aisle? Aisle—I hate feeling trapped and I try to stay hydrated while traveling 😉
Beach, mountain, or city travel? I’m a beach person at heart.
Salty or sweet travel snack? Sweets.
Where are you looking forward to traveling next? My husband and I had an anniversary trip to Portugal booked for the fall of 2020 that was cancelled due to COVID. We are looking forward to rescheduling that soon.

Business and Leadership Executive Q and A

Executive Q&A: Christopherson’s COO Talks About Delivering the Right Service Experiences for the Future

Post author By Christopherson Business Travel
Post date July 1, 2021

Next up in our Executive Q&A series is an interview with Christopherson’s Chief Operations Officer, Nathan McClellan. Nathan shared his optimism for the future of business travel as well as what’s needed in order to deliver the right service experiences for that future.

Q: In a recent leadership meeting, you outlined three things management team members can express to effectively lead their teams—reality, vision, and hope. Can you share a bit more about how those three things can help us all as our industry recovers?

A: I have always liked the quote attributed to Napoleon who said, “The leader’s role is to define reality, then give hope.” Reality is seeing the world as it actually is. Defining reality creates trust within the organization that its challenges are known, understood, and quantified. This need not be bleak, nor should it be covered up.

A leader’s role is also to give hope. Hope provides confidence that positive outcomes are achievable. When leaders cast the vision for employees, outline the path forward, and set clear expectations, hope is felt.

As the travel industry recovers, new challenges arise. Every leadership challenge has its own set of constraints. Constraints catalyze creativity. People are the source of creativity. When people understand the problems and are engaged in their work, good things happen. Defining reality and giving hope fosters this environment. This simple leadership skill can turn into a very tangible competitive advantage.

Q: Why do you feel hope and optimism for the future of Christopherson and business travel in general?

A: Conducting business face-to-face remains as essential for companies now as it did before the pandemic. It is true some travel will be displaced through technology and virtual interactions. However, business conferences, networking events, sales calls, special projects, consulting engagements, and recruiting trips, to name a few, still have value.

Company policies regarding when travel will take place are evolving, but travel itself is a mainstay. Companies will leverage future travel as an investment in their business with a clear ROI, as opposed to simply viewing it as an expense. This type of purposeful travel recognizes that personal relationships enable companies to transact business.

I am optimistic for our industry because of the power behind these relationships. Travel is a key component for building and leveraging relationships.

I am also optimistic for our own company due to the investment we are making to meet the expectations and demand of the future while also reinforcing our own relationship-based service model.

Q: What changes are you seeing in operations as recovery begins and business travel rebounds?

A: The service industry is shifting from a transactional model to a consultative model. This is true whether engaging in a digital or human channel. Travelers are increasingly comfortable with technology to book their own trips. This is ideal for simple itineraries. When things become more complex, customers want the confidence of working with a trusted professional.

A next generation travel advisor cannot simply be an order taker possessing technical proficiency and industry knowledge. They must also be problem solvers, offer useful advice, consult proactively, and take ownership of the traveler experience.

A next generation digital experience will use predictive analytics to streamline the interaction, anticipate customer needs, match preferences, and optimize the traveler journey.

Q: Christopherson has communicated that it’s undergoing a human and digital transformation. Both of these things affect operations. How are you and your team positioning your side of the transformation?

A: Operations is an exciting part of a company where the human transformation and digital transformation come together to create the best possible service experience for customers. Many companies have perfected the human experience, and others have mastered the digital experience. Few, if any, are able to deliver on both. Enter Christopherson Business Travel.

Our investment in the digital transformation is two-fold. First, we are investing in the technology used at traveler touch-points to make things easy for our customers. Second, we are investing in behind-the-scenes technology to facilitate the service experience. This is how the human transformation and digital transformation come together. The easier we make it for our employees to take good care of our customers, the more likely we are to consistently achieve this goal.

In addition to our technology enabled human transformation, we have also restructured our organization to focus on the human-to-human customer experience. The tenets of our coaching framework enable advisors to create positive connections with customers, create trust and confidence, and create value. This approach seamlessly integrates both the digital and human components of our business transformation efforts.

Q: Why is accessibility/availability so important for customers and how is Christopherson making it happen?

A: Our goal in operations is to provide the right service in the right moment. We don’t choose those moments. The customer dictates the terms of an interaction. They determine when to contact us, in which channel to contact us, and whom to contact. The role of operations is to be available to provide an excellent experience whenever, and wherever those interactions take place.

Online interactions are managed through automation. Offline interactions require a human touch. Metrics like accessibility and availability enable Christopherson to more accurately forecast our staffing needs to accommodate anticipated business volume. They also ensure we do a better job matching the utilization of our existing staff to the contact arrival patterns of our customers. This translates to a better experience for customers who can quickly have their needs resolved.

Our travel advisors are the ones making this happen. We have invested heavily in creating an environment of intrinsic motivation where employees use self-discovery and self-management to maintain high levels of engagement. Engaged employees give discretionary effort to their work and exude a love for what they are doing. Our customers notice the Christopherson difference.

Q: What is your vision for the future of Christopherson’s operations?

A: Our vision in Operations is to continuously improve our capabilities. It’s one thing to talk about continuous improvement, and another to build the kind of infrastructure where it permeates our DNA. Someone once said, “a good customer experience anywhere changes customer expectations everywhere.”

The service experience of the future is evolving quickly. Walker Information, an experience management consulting firm, has noted that the furiously fast pace of innovation will continue and that customers expect companies to keep up.

Our vision at Christopherson is not only to keep up, but to set the pace. We can’t do this by relying only the things that have made us successful so far. We are never done getting better. This environment of constant refinement requires a commitment to change across the entire organization. Accomplishing this vision starts by increasing our advisor capability, followed by expanding our customer capability, and finally by growing our operational capability.

Q: Nathan, thank you for sharing your thoughts about Christopherson’s operations. One final question just for fun: What’s your favorite travel destination and why?

A: The more I travel, the more I learn about the world around me. The more I learn about the world around me, the more I want to travel. It is a virtuous cycle. Traveling to Thailand exemplifies everything I love about travel. It’s rich in natural beauty and culture.

For western societies, Thailand has been a well-kept secret—although I think it is starting to get out. In addition to the jungle scenery, mountain terrain, vibrant cities, and delicious miniature pineapples, I am most impressed with the people. Thai people are some of the most down-to-earth people I have ever met. Yes, the country as a whole is amazing, but it is the people that make it beautiful. Through them, I have been inspired to become better myself.

Executive Q&A: Christopherson’s CTO Talks About The Role of AI in Business Travel

Post author By Christopherson Business Travel
Post date April 29, 2021

Next up in our Executive Q&A series is an interview with Christopherson’s Chief Technology Officer, JB Walsh. JB shared his expertise and insight on artificial intelligence (AI) and its place in business travel software.

*JB Walsh, CTO at Christopherson Business Travel*

Q: Before diving into the application of artificial intelligence in business travel, let’s just start with your thoughts on where things currently stand with AI.

A: AI has been in the media for years now, but several factors have more recently allowed it to mature to a level where it is being used prevalently across multiple industries. Being comprised of multiple sub-disciplines, AI required advances in deep learning, machine learning, and even natural language processing to really take hold.

Q: For any of us non-tech people, can you explain a bit more about deep learning, machine learning, and natural language processing?

A: Sure. Deep learning are the advances in hardware and cloud services that have allowed real-time analysis of much larger data sets than ever before. Machine learning is the result of the rapidly growing marketplace of off-the-shelf machine learning tools that have opened the doors to inexperienced users wanting to experiment. And natural language processing refers to the advances in natural language processing engines that have allowed developers to easily apply AI services in a variety of new platforms such as mobile devices, bots, etc.

Ultimately, all of these advances mean it’s much less expensive today to invest in AI than it was 5 years ago, so the adoption of AI is growing rapidly.

Q: So how do you see AI being used in the business travel industry?

A: Travel companies across all verticals in the industry have troves of anonymized data available to them for use in business travel-related AI applications and services. An example of this would be the personalization of products and services where anonymized business traveler data is being segmented into various profile types and is then used to predict everything from flight, room, and car preferences, to the best times to offer value added products and services.

Another example would be self-service offerings where AI is used to create bots that can interpret natural language input from business travelers to help them self-service their bookings and other travel needs.

Reputation management is another example. In this case, AI-based applications monitor social networking feeds to determine real-time customer sentiment and automatically intervene where appropriate to abate potentially negative situations.

As a travel management company with industry-leading proprietary software and an in-house development team, we are consistently evaluating where our technology can benefit from AI and in turn restructuring the data we store. Doing this allows us to provide clients with continually better tools that actually help them make informed decisions for their travel programs.

Q: What do you think are the most important benefits of AI for business travel managers?

A: One of the great benefits of AI is the ability to self-serve. Servicing individual traveler needs can be very time consuming for corporate travel managers and can create a work load that fluctuates dramatically. By using technology that employs AI to allow business travelers to self-service their bookings, travel managers can save a lot of time and help mitigate large fluctuations in workload.

Another benefit would be the ability to better evaluate their travel program more quickly. One key success metric for travel managers is to achieve cost savings while retaining high levels of service. While some changes to a travel program may be obvious, AI can uncover seasonal or other less obvious trends that could lead to big cost savings.

Q: From your perspective, do you have any predictions for AI progress or applications in the near future?

A: Today, AI requires large sets of data in order to find meaningful patterns. Additionally, the data still needs some level of intervention by people in order to identify what data is important and what data isn’t. I think the focus over the next five to ten years will likely be to improve in these two key areas. Advances in these areas would allow AI applications and services to run on less powerful devices and make real-time decisions with less historical information. These advances would also help alleviate the growing issues around storing large amounts of personal data while also opening the doors for more advanced self-service bots, innovative disruption management services, and new fraud detection techniques.

Q: Do you have any tips or advice for business travel managers regarding AI?

A: The starting point for travel managers is to understand the data they have available to their organization. Then they need to identify how it can be used to drive additional revenues or lower expenditures. If they’re unsure of how to do this, Christopherson’s Account Managers work closely with our clients to do exactly this. I would also encourage travel managers to utilize our software integration with Domo, to better understand and visualize their data, so that they can in turn make data-driven decisions that benefit their travel program.

Executive Q&A: Christopherson’s CCO Talks About The Era of Purposeful Travel

Post author By Christopherson Business Travel
Post date March 31, 2021

Next up in our Executive Q&A series is an interview with Christopherson’s Chief Consulting Officer, Matt Cameron. We sat down with Matt to get his thoughts on the travel industry entering “The Era of Purposeful Travel.” What is it and how do organizations implement it?

*Matt Cameron, CCO at Christopherson Business Travel*

Q: Can you share your perspective on how companies and organizations reacted to what happened in the travel industry over the last year?

A: Traditionally, most organizations based their travel budget on the previous year’s budget, plus or minus a bit. If the organization was growing, then it made sense that the travel budget should also grow. If they were consolidating and cutting costs, then it made sense to tighten the travel budget up. Travel was viewed as a cost to be managed.

That status quo changed on March 11, 2020—the day that shocked the travel industry when international travel to Europe was halted by the US government in response to the growing concern over the COVID-19 virus. In an instant, leisure travel, business travel, and group travel came to a screeching halt. Nobody knew what the impact of the virus would be. Would people die? Would the economy be sent into an unrecoverable tail spin? Or would it all be over in a couple months? Amidst these concerns, organizations acted to protect their employees and their liquid assets. As we all experienced—employees were sent home to limit their exposure. All unnecessary costs were eliminated. And the world went into lockdown.

After the initial shock wore off, it became clear that some travel was still necessary. This was the start of what was dubbed “permissible travel.” There were still questions: Which governments would allow travel into their countries and if so, under what guidelines and restrictions? How would organizations manage the health risks and financial risks of sending their employees on business trips? Would employees even be willing to travel with all of the unknown risks and personal fears? Travel in 2020 was characterized by these shifting sands in the travel landscape.

Q: So after a year of permissible travel, what comes next?

A: It’s now been a year since COVID-19 changed the world. It’s also springtime, a season of new growth and opportunity. With this new season, I’d say we’re also entering a time that marks “the era of purposeful travel,” to use a term coined by Festive Road, an influential thought-leader in our industry.

“Purposeful travel” is the idea that all travel must have an ROI and relies on zero-based budgeting. Travel is an investment to be made to drive business results. Corporate travel programs need to be asking who, where, why, when, and how about their business travel. And every trip should support an organization’s objectives, drive strategic initiatives, build important relationships, or generate revenue and growth.

Q: How then, can companies and organizations make the shift to implementing purposeful travel?

Corporate travel managers should work with their leadership teams to consider several key questions: What is the best way to achieve our objectives? Will a video call suffice or would it be more powerful to meet in person? What is the level of influence needed to meet our objective? What is our competition doing and could we get a competitive edge by being in the room with the client or prospect? Who should be in the room, i.e. do we need the full team or could we be as effective with a smaller team? What is the most efficient way to get there—air, train, or car? Can we accomplish multiple objectives in one long trip or should we focus on shorter day trips?

All these elements and more should be considered as organizations think about aligning travel with business results and achieving more purposeful travel in 2021. Of course, Christopherson’s Account Managers are ready and available to help our clients explore the concepts of purposeful travel and successfully implement this idea.

Executive Q&A: Christopherson’s CRO Shares What Companies Really Need From TMCs

Post author By Christopherson Business Travel
Post date February 17, 2021

Travel Management Company CRO - Kathleen Roberts

Next up in our Executive Q&A series is an interview with Christopherson’s new Chief Revenue Officer, Kathleen Roberts. She shares her thoughts on what organizations really need from corporate travel management companies, the value of partnership, and the opportunities that lie ahead for the business travel industry.

Kathleen Roberts, CRO at Christopherson Business Travel

Q: As we come through to the other side of the pandemic, there seems to be a shift occurring in how organizations manage their business travel. Can you share your insights on what you’re seeing as you help these organizations find solutions?

A: The majority of business trips taken during the pandemic have been business critical. As companies prepare for a broader return to travel we are seeing increased interest in traveler safety and well-being, as well as the employees’ overall disposition to traveling again. The sharp decline in 2020 travel budgets is leading to increased awareness from finance and leadership around the value of each trip. And while the industry has made significant advances in duty of care, there are new expectations emerging. These factors are leading to an increase in pre-trip authorization requirements, ease of access to planning tools and travel vendor safety information, and improved risk-management resources.

Q: What seems to be most important right now for organizations as they revamp their travel programs?

A: Travel policy. Historically, travel policy review often centered around cost-savings and reimbursement. The current environment requires a more holistic approach involving additional topics and stakeholders. HR, security, and legal teams may become involved or at least topics relating to the areas of traveler safety, risk management, and liability.

Q: What do you think is the greatest value a travel management company (TMC) brings to the table to meet these pressing needs?

A: Partnership. By using a TMC, organizations are able to consolidate travel spend, vendor negotiations, risk management, policy compliance, data, and reporting into a trusted partnership. They gain integrations with industry-leading technology, improved traveler experience, and significant cost savings. We’re able to customize travel programs that align with our customers’ culture and corporate objectives. We’re then able to quantify the value of our partnership through detailed scorecards and traveler surveys.

Q: You’ve worked in travel for a while—what are the biggest opportunities you see today in business travel?

A: Consolidation. The pandemic has organizations of every size evaluating how they purchase and manage travel. Existing customers that allowed outside booking methods are directing travelers to utilize our services to ensure program consistency, compliance, and consolidation. Prospective clients with travel budgets of various sizes and who have not previously worked with a TMC are eager to engage with us. They found themselves facing numerous challenges at the start of the pandemic and are seeking a better solution post-pandemic. Providing the benefits of a managed travel program and assisting them with developing solutions that address organizational requirements, improve the traveler experience, and help them prepare to return to travel is absolutely rewarding for both parties.

Q: Not only have you worked in travel for a while, but you’ve been with Christopherson for 15 years now. How has the company changed or evolved?

A: Growth. I joined the Christopherson team in 2006 as they became the largest travel company in the state of Utah with $125 million in annual bookings. We ended 2019 at nearly $700 million and in the top 15 travel firms nationally. While 2020 was a detour from our revenue growth, we successfully implemented 96 new accounts last year, most of which have yet to resume traveling. With a solid financial plan in place, we have maintained our momentum and growth strategy.

Q: As a sales executive, you traveled frequently before COVID. Why do you think travel is so important for doing business?

A: Relationships. Virtual meetings have provided valuable connection throughout the pandemic, but they’re not a substitute for in-person interaction. The following scenario may be overused, but it’s a valid point: “Once the person who presents over webinar loses a deal to the competitor who presented in person, they’ll get back out on the road.” This applies beyond sales to include most business interactions. The Global Business Travel Association reported in their January 2021 survey results that 49 percent of business travelers are currently “somewhat willing or very willing” to travel for business. As the vaccine rollout continues, I expect that percentage to increase.

Q: And finally, just for fun, what are your favorite business and leisure travel destinations?

A: Business travel has taken me to exciting places that I may not have otherwise experienced. Memorable business trips in recent years included traveling to interact with Christopherson team members in Colorado and Alabama. I’ve also enjoyed amazing leisure travel experiences. Some of my highlights include Africa, Australia, and Europe. But I think my first post-pandemic, international vacation might be my most appreciated. I’m ready to travel again!

Executive Q&A: Christopherson’s CEO Reflects on the Past, Present, & Future

Post author By Christopherson Business Travel
Post date January 21, 2021

Corporate Travel Management - Christopherson CEO Mike Cameron

As we begin a New Year, we took the opportunity to sit down with our CEO, Mike Cameron, to reflect on the challenges of 2020, learn how Christopherson is currently doing, and get his take on what he sees for the future.

Mike Cameron, CEO of Christopherson Business Travel

Q: Mike, as you reflect on the last year, what are your thoughts about what we’ve collectively been through?

A: Early on I used a metaphor with our team that enduring COVID-19 would be like driving through the long tunnels in Switzerland where there is no obvious end in sight but you have confidence that that part of the journey is temporary and that there is light at the end of the tunnel. I’ve been just as confident there will be light at the end of this tunnel. The vaccines have definitely created some visible light.

When the pandemic hit, we had to be decisive, conservative, and compassionate. We immediately made a pivot from our growth strategy to a protection strategy–one that protected our people, our clients, and our customer experience–while also protecting our cash.

Although it has been painful, I’ve had a calm feeling during the past ten months that our strategy was solid, our liquidity was adequate, and we were going to come out stronger and better than before the pandemic began. Fortunately, we are still ahead of the plan.

Q: What did you find to be the most difficult aspects of the year?

A: As a family owned company,?we had?to reach deep into our souls?to?accept the reality of what was happening?and?find?solutions that would be as compassionate?as possible,?but?also?realistic to ensure that the company would survive. My wife and I had to make?the most difficult?decisions we’ve made?in our 30 years of owning the business. It was gut-wrenching to ask our team members to embrace sacrifices that would impact their personal lives in dramatic ways.

We took decisive action and made the necessary furloughs, layoffs, and pay cuts all at once in that first week as the pandemic wreaked havoc in the U.S. We got some bad press for doing so, but we have since been able avoid making any more significant personnel changes relating to the economic pressures of COVID-19.

Decisive action early on also gave us the luxury of steadily improving things over the last 11 months. It allowed us to avoid the alternative of asking our employees to face continual rounds of layoffs or “death by a thousand cuts.” I believe this helped make our team’s morale more positive, and thankfully, we still have more than 50% of our team intact even though our bookings are less than 25% of 2019’s.

Q: How do the challenges 2020 brought compare to previous challenges Christopherson and the travel industry have faced??

A: Previous challenges, including the airline commission cuts that began in 1995, the launch of Expedia (the first major online travel competitor) in 1996, the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, and the financial collapse in 2008 were nothing compared to last year. We were able to adapt and navigate the other four major challenges with relative ease. In 30 years we never had a non-profitable year or even a half-year until 2020.

That said, we’re prepared to lose money, or as I like to call it, “make investments,” in 2020 and 2021. We hope to be profitable again in Q4 of 2021 and for sure by 2022. In either case, we’re prepared to make whatever investments are necessary.

Q: Did anything positive come out of 2020 for Christopherson?

A: There has been so much positive that came out of our most difficult year ever. We started with a focus on managing the travel crisis, taking care of our people, and stabilizing the business. As soon as we felt confident that we had a solid plan for long-term viability, we started investing in strategies to be leaner, smarter, and better.

To be leaner, we created a smaller footprint with less office overhead. To be smarter, we eliminated costs that didn’t create value and replaced some of the technology we previously built with best-in-class, third-party alternatives. To be better, we began reinventing a better digital and human customer experience.

Q: How does Christopherson stand today as a company?

A: We now have more people working on our team than we had after the initial layoffs and furloughs. We’ve called some team members back, and we’ve also recruited from outside for the digital reinvention in which we’re investing. We still have the liquidity to weather the rest of the storm.

Q: What do you think are the greatest impacts the pandemic had on the travel industry?

A: The most significant by far is the human cost. The layoffs, furloughs, and compensation reductions have impacted tens of millions of people in what was previously a fairly stable, robust industry. There are countries and even U.S. states where travel and tourism was their leading economic driver. It has been devastating for everyone.

Q: What are your goals for Christopherson in the coming year and beyond?

A: Two weeks before the pandemic began, we had just announced a billion-dollar booking/sales goal. Frankly, it didn’t seem like much of a stretch, based on our 30-year trajectory. What a difference two weeks makes! We know we will be back on track soon to reach that goal. We’ve had bit of a detour, but our journey forward will be more secure with us being leaner, smarter, and better.

Q: In your opinion, what should companies do to position themselves for success in 2021?

A: At a high level, don’t forget about the people that helped you become successful and don’t forget about the strategies that made you successful. While many of the cost cuts everyone made were necessary to survive the crisis, don’t assume that they can all be permanent. Some will be because we had to become smarter.

To that point, even travel cuts, which were made for safety reasons and did provide budget-cut benefits, will not likely all be permanent. While we probably won’t see many people traveling for a one-hour internal meeting because Zoom is a much better alternative, when it comes to winning new business, organizations will quickly see the ROI on travel when a competitor does their presentation in person and you do yours on Zoom. We may also find that where some organizations bring their teams together for collaboration, engagement, or performance rewards, and others don’t, Zoom may be a losing strategy when trying to outpace competitors. Ultimately, no one knows how much travel will be forever reduced.

Q: What new opportunities do you think the pandemic opened up?

A: The pandemic accelerated digital adoption. It transformed business forever and created both the need and the opportunity for travel management companies, or any company really, to accelerate and transform their own digital and human customer experience in order to remain competitive.

Those who have the ability to meet that need will be more successful than others. Those who can find the right blend of both a digital and human customer experience service model will grow faster than others. We can no longer do business as usual.