FCM expert shares triumph in sustainability and tech for Australian Construction and Engineering client
Construction and Engineering client expert Ben Collins is an FCM Future Team Leader Account Management for Queensland and Northern Territory. From his two decades of experience, Ben shares one of his most remarkable customer success stories, highlighting a shared commitment to carbon reduction and sustainability reporting. This high-paced construction and engineering consultancy was hungry for innovation and happily embraced FCM's cutting-edge tech platform in the early stages – all because of an open and transparent relationship with the FCM team.
Ben's love for travel knows no bounds
Crafting a true partnership
“This client is a big consultancy company within the construction and engineering industry. They have a global reach and work within several sectors like transport, water, and ground. Their total number of travellers is about 4,500, which is a lot of travellers to manage!
"We've had them onboard as a client for probably six years, and they just re-signed with us for another three years. When we brought them onboard, they were a $6 million customer, and now they're pushing about $12 to $15 million! They have substantial company acquisitions, and it's very fast-paced.
"In a nutshell, great people to work with, they're very friendly, very understanding, and they get it when it comes to travel; they know it's not black and white. They've got a strong procurement team that will back us, and when it comes to procurement, they tell you exactly what they want and how they want it so that we can action it, and if we can't, we'll find a different way.
"They're with another TMC globally; however, the Australian arm of the company refused to switch. Despite internal pressure to move, they just said we're not doing it and stood firm in their decision to stay with FCM because they value our relationship that much”
“FCM is like an extension of their business. It's important that we have an open and collaborative relationship with such a fast-moving customer.”
Early adoption of FCM's new tech
“Reporting is huge for this client. Their team always put the company forward to pilot things for us because they are so good with feedback.
"One of their most prominent drivers is their staff engagement, so they're always passing on feedback about hotels, suppliers, airline experiences, and experiences with our staff. They're very big on employee engagement, making sure their staff are happy because they know travelling for work isn't always fun. It's something within their company culture, and they want to ensure we're also engaged.
"So, they piloted FCM's new platform. They also piloted other FCM tools that allowed the company to access and build their own reports for high visibility, which they absolutely loved.”
Ben (second from left) and his team enjoying FCM End of Year celebrations
Re-education workshops
"Our team will be running a training roadshow for this client in the next couple of months because they're onboarding a new business they have acquired. The roadshow allows us to re-educate them on a few things.
"We do a lot of online training for them. We also have a monthly call and an activity log where we work through projects with them, and that meeting is always an incredibly open and honest conversation. It's always amicable outside of those meetings, too. If there are any issues, they just call.
"They have onboarded a new Procurement Leader within the company who is very green to travel, so she's relying heavily on us to educate her and everything that's happening in the industry, with FCM, even at times educate her on what the company are doing or have done in the past.
"That re-education is also important when we're onboarding a new client. You're teaching them, and you're working together. That's all part of the relationship."
“They really do like us, which is great. And they're just a great partner to work with. They are one of my favourite customers and I think it’s because of that transparent relationship we have with them. We've got access to their management team and their management team are a phone call away from ours, which I think they find unique.”
Focusing on carbon reduction and reporting
“One of this client's main focal points - and what it has been for several years - is carbon emissions and reducing CO2.
"The company does not believe in offsetting. They feel that's the cheap way out - they're all about reduction. They have built a carbon offset dashboard allowing us to send them a data extract every month of their carbon spend year to date using Power BI as an internal tool. This will give each department its own carbon budget.
"Many customers have carbon reduction as a tick box, but with this client, they're actively making changes to ensure that they are supporting carbon green initiatives and reducing rather than just offsetting.
"They were one of the first companies I've heard of that went through their offices and replaced all their light bulbs with LED lights. They did the math on this, and it saved them a significant amount, plus all the reduction in carbon.
"They also removed all their waste baskets from offices - they've done a lot of different things. They're also taking responsibility for supporting indigenous suppliers where they can. They are well along their RAP journey and will go out of their way to support majority indigenous-owned providers where possible. Even taking cost out of the equation when the decision comes down to supporting an indigenous-owned provider."
Work hard, play hard. Ben (second from left) and team get into character at the historic Adina Pentridge Hotel
The future
This client is very happy with what they've got, and they're very much engaged with us through those monthly meetings our teams use to chat and go back and forth.
“The future for this client is going to be growth. They're going to get bigger and bigger, and go from strength to strength.”