5 Ways to Take Control of Your Business Travel
Business travel is back! In fact, the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) believes that global business travel spending will reach 2019 levels by 2024, a full year ahead of previously forecast.
It’s an exciting time. All the more so because it is the small to medium-sized companies that are driving the recovery, rather than the corporate giants.
On the other hand, managing travel is more complicated than you think when it’s for several people, and it’s a bit more complicated right now. Think of border closures, travel restrictions and Covid regulations. It’s daunting – and time consuming – for that one person booking travel for everyone in your company.
A company making 50 travel bookings a month loses over £10,000 in wasted time doing it themselves (that’s our own calculation) annually. It can take as long as 49 minutes to research and book even the most basic trip online. And a company can spend up to 10% of its travel budget on change and cancellation fees alone.
Most SMEs don’t have the time to manage their own travels, especially when the team is expanding rapidly and they are traveling to all corners of the world.
That’s exactly what happened to Bennett Aviation when they had a growth spurt. Suddenly booking trips whenever and wherever they wanted became way too much for one person. There was little way to easily keep track of where people were at any given time and how much it all cost. The processes were clunky and it wasn’t long before the PA in Bennett was inundated with complicated travel requests and changes.
But don’t be afraid! There are ways to take control of your business travel.
Understand the frustrations your team faces
Ever got stuck on the phone with an airline call center? In a major incident, it can take hours. It’s very annoying, especially if you are a traveler stuck in a country or if you are the executive assistant who has added travel to his regular daily tasks. No one wants to spend all that time on hold during what is already a stressful time.
Imagine that someone needs help outside of work hours or on weekends. Who do they call at your company, what support do they get? Considering what the past two years have been like, it’s a great thing to consider.
Then think of the administrator. The receipts, expenses and tracking of vouchers and credits. How much time is wasted by travelers and the finance team making sure everything is in order? How do you know the true cost of business travel when you add up the airline, hotel, taxis and meals?
Reduce stress on people and risks
Safety and well-being are now a major concern in all parts of the company. And it doesn’t stop when your team is on its way to other countries.
When your travelers book their own trips, how do you know where they’re traveling to, who they’re booking with and if they’re at risk? Scary. As their employer, you are ultimately responsible for your people when they are on the road.
There are companies and technology to help. It makes all the difference for travelers to know that you are there for them, especially if there is an emergency and they need to be contacted and to travel home.
Know what you spend
Business travel is usually in the top three of a company’s income statement; it is a large spending category. That means it’s important to keep a grip on your spending and identify savings where possible.
How do you start? It’s all in the data, such as:
- Annual Expenses for Flights
- Annual Expenses for Hotels
- Popular routes flown e.g. London – Berlin or Edinburgh – New York
Having that information to hand will give you a basis for saving money in all sorts of ways. A specialized business travel agency like Corporate Traveler has all the tactics and contacts to help. If you regularly use an airline, we can talk to the airline and get discounted prices. Dashboards can show you booking information in real time and you can get reports in minutes.
Reconsider bookings on many different websites
Connor in Sales should focus on his customers instead of spending hours searching for flights and hotels. Endless searching the web and having all those open tabs is so much a waste of time. With the right technology, it can take less than five minutes to book a trip (including hotel and car hire).
We’ve estimated that you’ll save an average of €12.96 per booking using a tool like ours. And when you think about dates, with everything booked in one place, you can get discounts and access special business deals and benefits you can’t get anywhere else. It’s a win-win no matter how you look at it.
Choose a travel partner that suits you
Does your company use Teams or Slack? Fast books or sage? Like all platforms, they have their own pros and cons, capabilities and features. You have chosen the best tool to suit your needs.
Travel companies, aka travel management companies (TMCs) in our world, are no different. You can choose to work with a local travel company, a global TMC or to book trips through multiple websites and providers. In the end, however, you have to consider three things:
- Culture – choose a company that aligns with your vision and values
- Technical capabilities – never settle for less than your business needs
- Prices, including hidden costs
There is no doubt that small to medium sized businesses will fuel the UK’s post-pandemic economic recovery. That is why we have created an SME Corporate Travel Toolkit. It gives you pointers on where to start formalizing travel booking processes, where to find savings without compromising traveler safety, the pitfalls of random online booking, and much more.
