Managing business travel – which tool is the best for your company?
To make a good choice of a tool for managing business trips, you need to find several companies and then compare their offers to match your needs. The “5 times YES” method will help you make a decision. Ask yourself these 5 questions, and if you answer yes each time, you’ve found the right company:
Does the company have access to current hotel and carrier offers, as well as industry experience?
Does it offer 24/7 support for travelers in case of unforeseen circumstances?
Does it offer online support?
Is it recommended by companies as large as yours or larger?
Is it focused on the business customer?
What kind of industry experience and access to offers are needed?
It’s not about the year the company was founded, as a travel agency with a long tradition doesn’t guarantee effectiveness. There are travel agencies that operate in a traditional way but their capabilities do not keep up with the dynamic development of the market and customer needs. They function thanks to cooperation with a few, but accustomed clients.
You should look for a company that can boast access to a large and up-to-date offer of flights and hotels, with an extensive network of contacts in other countries.
What type of travel support is the best?
Three key features that good customer service should have:
– Individual approach to customers,
– Availability 24/7,
– Ability to handle multiple inquiries simultaneously.
There are few companies that have a support department meeting all these 3 features. Usually, if a travel agency offers an individual approach and availability, it will not be able to handle multiple inquiries at once. No wonder, because the time of people answering phones is limited. On the other hand, a company that provides round-the-clock access to its support department and unlimited contact options will not provide an individual approach. 24/7 and unlimited contact are achieved through the support of computer bots.
From the traveler’s perspective, the ideal situation is the ability to call support 24/7, knowing that someone will answer the phone immediately and being aware that there is a human being on the other side, not a computer program. At WorkTrips.com, we offer a hybrid support model – using both chat, phone, and email.
What is the importance of managing business trips online?
If you send employees abroad and the success of these trips depends on your company’s business goals, you certainly value time.
Online support ensures fluid processes. Without it, every action of a company organizing your trip will take longer because even the smallest task will have to be performed by a human being. Even for such a mundane thing as a report, sometimes you have to wait two weeks.
If the travel agency serving your company provides access to modern technologies, this will allow your company to go through a digital transformation smoothly. Time and money savings or the ability to organize more meetings with clients within the same budget can give your company a competitive advantage.
Imagine that planning a trip to a new, distant place (choosing flights and accommodations) takes about 5 minutes. Without digital transformation, planning such a trip quickly, economically, and safely is not possible.
Where to look for reviews of travel agencies handling business trips?
It is best to rely on the opinions of large, international corporations. In this case, the matter is simple: if a given travel company can organize trips for large corporations, it means that it has the resources to help any organization. Additionally, reviews from such clients are more credible.
Which travel agencies exclusively serve business clients?
If business trips are an important aspect of your company, you should consider choosing a solution that is best tailored to your needs. You should ask yourself whether travel agencies whose clients include everyone (including private individuals) are able to meet B2B expectations?
A company operating in B2B should know and understand the needs of the business customer. Good practices and meeting the expectations of B2B customers include:
– easing the burden on the client in settlements (e.g., by offering a single consolidated invoice for the entire trip, instead of separate ones from carriers, hotels, restaurants),
– streamlining the travel plan approval process so that the supervisor has more time,
– showing only those offers that comply with the travel policies applicable in the company,
– generating personalized reports with a few clicks, rather than on request.
Why WorkTrips.com?
Does the company absolutely have to meet all the conditions of the “5 times YES” method? Probably it doesn’t have to, but at WorkTrips.com, we believe that these 5 elements are good indicators of effectiveness in the B2B business travel industry.
Why WorkTrips.com?
Does the company absolutely have to meet all the conditions of the “5 times YES” method? Probably it doesn’t have to, but at WorkTrips.com, we believe that these 5 elements are good indicators of effectiveness in the B2B business travel industry.
At WorkTrips.com, we meet all 5 conditions:
Do we have access to current hotel and carrier offers and industry experience? — we have access to over 2,000,000 accommodations and all major airlines. We cooperate with travel agents worldwide, acting as local experts and support. We have been operating since 2016, focusing solely on business travel optimization and management.
Do we offer 24/7 support for travelers in case of unforeseen circumstances? — 24/7/365 our agents are ready to assist. You can always contact them by phone, email, or chat. They assist in selecting offers, as well as during trips. They can remotely make reservations if, for example, the destination hotel is closed due to a pandemic.
Do we offer online support? — Our solution is SaaS (Software as a Service). We provide clients with AI-supported technology capable of suggesting the best solution (within budget and client travel policies). Traveling with us allows you to plan trips in 5 minutes, and instead of multiple invoices for various services (from hotels or carriers), you receive one from WorkTrips.com.
Are we recommended by large companies? — We are proud to have recommendations from giants such as Microsoft, Google, Vodafone, and Billenium. Our solution is also listed on the SAP Concur App Center.
Are we tailored to the business customer? — We were created to serve the business customer. We understand the problems and needs of companies traveling for business purposes. We built our SaaS solution in a way that the company’s CEO, travel manager, and traveling employee have access to simple and effective solutions. In WorkTrips.com, all data and processes are in one browser-accessible system, and you can try out this system before making a choice.
With kind regards,
WorkTrips.com Team