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‘Twas the night before the offer, when all through the house
Not a care in the world for my family and spouse.
Plans for dinner with friends, I take time to prepare
Instructions for the sitter who soon will be there.
Last week, while I was sitting on a plane traveling back from a series of prospect meetings, I pondered the ultimate sales question: what are companies really looking for when selecting service providers? For the most part, service providers provide similar services and get the job done in one way or another. Relocation services are pretty much that same as other services, although I will argue that relocation providers need to have an inherent sense of sensitivity and care. We aren’t making widgets here – we are guiding living, breathing families through a stressful life change.
In my last post about tax issues that will impact relocation in 2013, I want to cover per diem rates. This really only applies to government employees, but some corporate programs do follow the government rates when it comes to per diem. If you are a relocation manager for a government entity or a business that follows government rates, then you already know that the Government Services Agency (GSA) establishes the per diem rates for the United States. These are the maximum allowances that federal employees are reimbursed for expenses incurred while on official travel. This travel does include home finding trips, so your transferees will be impacted.
