Whether you are a large or small business, a corporate travel management system is necessary because it is the cornerstone of growth and development.
With a good strategy, you can set a budget, determine your objective, and create a program to help you reach those goals. Further, it is a great way to inspire trust in your employees and make them more responsible and accountable in their travel decisions. In the meantime, you will be creating a great corporate travel experience.
Keep reading to learn strategies for efficient and cost-effective business travel management!
Maximizing your business travel management: Tips and strategies
Define your business travel goals
If you are a corporate travel manager, you know how hard it can be to plan, negotiate, and organize travel for your employees. Most employees rely on their company to help them book flights, hotels, and rental cars. Clearly understand your company’s travel goals and employee needs.
Safety and security mandate
The pandemic has made it even more critical for corporate travel managers to secure their employee’s safety and comfort. They should ensure their partners and service providers follow safety protocols.
Employees won’t be willing to travel if there’s a risk of getting sick. So, corporate travel managers must look into safety tips, health mandates, and regional regulations to make the trip successful.
Establish clear-cut company travel policies
Regarding setting out your corporate travel policy, there are several things to consider, like booking flights, meal allowances, and handling expenses. So, examine your current travel policy and see if it’s strong enough to cover all your business travel management needs.
First, ensure you have the basics – like a proper approval process, policies on when to book and how you can make reservations, how to manage payment on-site, and how to handle expenses. Having clear rules and guidelines will help you get your business travelers to make decisions that stick to your policy and won’t cost you extra money. If you don’t have a policy, consult a travel management expert.
Partner with a travel technology platform
You can collaborate with a travel technology platform to enhance your corporate travel experience. If you want to help your business travelers save money, Travel Management Software can be a great way to do it. For example, it can alert travelers to unused tickets, vouchers, or credits.
Business Travel News reported that companies had $1 million in unused tickets globally in 2020. If such tickets aren’t used or recovered, it can really hurt your company’s finances. Most companies lose a lot of money because of improper ticket management annually. Look for a professional platform to manage these unused tickets.
Travel management software can help you manage these unused tickets with real-time policy alerts and track compliance and travel behavior. It can also help you identify areas where you need training or support.
Chart a pre-approval process
If you’re looking to cut down on your corporate travel expenses, one of the easiest ways to do that is by having a system to approve every booking. That way, you won’t have to worry about canceling trips after booking and creating wasted expenses.
If you’re working with a travel company, use their online booking tool as much as possible. This step will give you more control over how your employees set up their travel plans. A good business travel management tool lets you pick which employees can make self-bookings for hotels and flights. Then, you can easily track all of their bookings. In other words, you can take swift action if they don’t follow your travel policy.
Plan bookings in advance
It is a good idea to plan your trips in case you want to keep your business travel budget in check. Last-minute bookings can cost you more in the long run. Encourage your employees to book their trips in advance so you can get the best rates.
Set a time frame for booking your business travel. For example, most companies won’t let you book your trip until two weeks before the start date unless you have a specific purpose. Flexibility with your travel dates can help you get the best deals on flights and hotels since airlines and hotels often use dynamic pricing, which means rates can change depending on how many people are there and how busy they are. Most business travel takes place on weekdays like Mondays or Tuesdays, which can increase airfare prices. Planning your trips in advance can help you save money.
Motivate employees with incentives for cost-saving decisions
Each time your travelers choose a more cost-effective option, they’re helping your business save money over the year. So why not incentivize them to deliver even more savings? With a travel platform like ITILITE, you can encourage your employees to make cost-conscious decisions and save your organization money on your business travel management program. It is a great way to thank them for saving you money and get them to keep it going.
Also, you can save even more money if your business takes advantage of corporate rewards schemes. These are free and give your company points each time you book for a great corporate travel experience. You can then use those points to redeem them for airline tickets and upgrades, as well as hotels and car rentals.
Follow up for a seamless corporate travel experience
Once you have everything set up, it’s not the end of the road. You’ll still have to deal with unexpected issues like flight delays, hotel bookings, and travel budget issues. But don’t worry; you will have plenty of time to figure out what to do and fix any last-minute issues. You also need to make sure you’re communicating with traveling employees. It’s necessary to keep them updated on schedule amendments and organizational changes.
The Takeaway: Optimize your business travel management
If you want to grow your company, business travel is essential. When planning and organizing business travel, follow the tips we shared here to get the most out of it. Ultimately, it’s all about effective business travel management. Focus on cost-cutting strategies, streamline processes and travel trends. That way, you can increase efficiency and productivity while building beneficial business partnerships with customers.
By controlling your company’s travel expenses, you can get more out of your travel program and maintain a healthy bottom line. Use a platform like ITILITE to make data-driven decisions, enforce policies, and get your employees involved in cost savings.
