In theory, good corporate travel management is a definite advantage. What company wouldn't want to know where their employees travel, how much they spend on hotels, car rentals and flights, and whether they can negotiate better rates?
However, there is a tendency to think that integrating a travel management program starts to make sense only for those companies with significant travel expenses.
Now the emergence of new tools and programs are challenging this position. So much so that those travel agencies that have traditionally focused on large companies are now trying to extend their appeal to small and medium-sized businesses.
When to implement a business travel management tool
According to some industry professionals, $1 million in airfares was said to be the basis for implementing a professional business travel manager, mainly because it was felt that this was the level at which companies could begin to negotiate significant discounts on airfares. It was also seen as the level at which cost savings could provide the return on investment for investing travel management resources and tools.
The reality is that companies don't have to wait until they are this big to be able to manage their trips. In fact, it is ideal, although it is also true that you have to have a certain volume of reservations. You have to have someone to manage this task and most of the time there is too much going on to do so.
Therefore, when the company's CEO cannot look at every ticket, that's when you start needing someone to manage the whole operation. In addition, it is around 150 employees that owners realize they are losing control of how their employees are working on a day-to-day basis and whether the company culture is adapting to business travel.
Today, corporate travel management occurs in much smaller companies compared to companies more than 10 years ago.
SMEs understand that there is value in having a managed program for cost control issues, deber de cuidado, etc., and it is becoming more and more necessary. In addition, savings are not always so easy to achieve, so it is important to partner with the right travel manager.
Therefore, if a company begins to have frequent travelers it should consider incorporating a tool to help manage business travel.
Travel manager
When a company reaches high expenses (millions of euros) related to flight reservations is when we can say that a full time travel manager is needed. However, it is a misconception that small and medium sized companies need to hire full-time travel managers to manage their travel. Many people with the title "travel manager" actually spend only part of their time focused on travel, even in large companies.
Great things can be done without the need to have a manager available 24 hours a day, especially when using the new business travel management tools, which automate the entire management process and where prices are adapted to small and medium enterprises, especially now that the incentive programs of many hotels and airlines do not require high minimum expenses.
In addition, these new tools are emerging to merge corporate travel policy with a booking experience closer to that of leisure travel.
The investment in corporate travel management may not pay for itself in the short term, but as the company grows it will be necessary to have these management systems in place to obtain greater discounts.
In addition, companies accrue further savings by partnering with travel management tools, reducing fares and processing costs through the use of online booking and spending tools.
In fact, access to discounted rates is just one aspect of travel management, which also includes support, expense tracking, reporting, and travel assistance functions for corporate travelers.
In short, the relatively marginal savings that companies make from travel management can provide the return on investment that SMEs seek in managed travel.
Efficiency and ease of implementation
One of the great advantages of using this type of tool is the speed of implementation within the company. In a few days the tool is up and running and all users can start using it in a very short time, without the need for high training.
Efficiency is another term that affects travel management systems. For one of the most time-consuming tasks is expense reporting, which must be submitted every time a trip is made.
Therefore, reducing the time dedicated to this task is of great importance, since it is a factor that very few companies devote to optimizing and that with a good management tool we could solve in order to increase the efficiency of the company..
In addition, user experience is a key factor when implementing a type of travel management tool in the hands of small businesses, which are vulnerable to losing key employees. Therefore, the company should focus on making business travel as easy as possible, and avoid all kinds of stress every time a traveler requests a trip.
Having a simple platform that manages and solves all kinds of problems is extremely important for the retention of key employees.
Assistance from the human team
One of the concerns of companies or their managers is the replacement of human resources with machine technology, even when this technology facilitates travel management for both managers and travellers. It is true that technology facilitates all management, however, you still need to have someone to supervise everything.
Even technology companies consider the availability of human support for travelers to be critical to their success. It is a function that is not easily replaced even by artificial intelligence and machine learning.
On the other hand, the possibility of creating personal relationships also brings benefits to the company in the form of discounts. A member of the company can go personally to a hotel frequented by your company and negotiate possible discounts for the future there.
Therefore, complementing a travel management tool with appropriate staff for tracking and assisting travelers is essential to providing a quality service.
