A Corporate Travel Management Company is a service provider that looks after and manages travel for a business or a venture. Typically a business relies on a travel management company to help them keep all trips within company policy and to offer the travelers timely support. There are so many different corporate travel agencies in the market that it becomes almost impossible to understand and summarize the service and benefits they offer. Larger corporate travel companies offer telephonic support in many different languages but charge for every call. Smaller travel companies might be hard to reach during off hours and not cover as many languages, but might charge a decent efficient monthly fee that covers your needs.
A Corporate Travel Management Company should understand the complexity of modern-day business travel and most importantly, your business travel needs. A Business Travel Management Company should have a value and solution driven approach while providing service. A “glocal” i.e. Globally Local approach which can provide world-class facilities to local markets hence raising exposure and travel standards. A Travel Management Company should have the capability to closely monitor and follow the international quality standards, and local expertise help a travel management company to optimize your travel requirements that gives you a totally unmatched experience.
9 Ways to Choose the Best Company for Corporate Travel
Below listed are a few key points which will help you choose the best possible corporate travel agency or company for your business travel;
- Research about the Travel Management Company
Carrying out research about your Corporate Travel Management Company considering all possible factors from reputation of the company in the market or the views and feedback of the audience they serve. This is one of the most important steps while choosing a Business Travel Management Company. The company which intends to avail the service of the Travel Management Company should thoroughly go through the services and travel policies of the service providers and understand and analyze if the service that we’re availing would be completely within and according to the mentioned requirements and policies because spending money on the very much required facilities is what every single company desires. Corporate travel professionals need somewhat different skills than those who handle leisure travel.
2. Identify the criteria that matter to your business
As a company availing service and facilities from a Travel Management Company, one should take into consideration the main essential services required by your firm. As a company relying highly on Corporate Travel for business expansion, one needs to give preference to the basic necessary services like Air & Rail Ticketing, Hotel Accommodations, Passport & Visa Facilitation and Foreign Monetary Exchange all at feasible costs with maximum possible corporate benefits and completely customizable options to plan it according to your way. Travelers should be able to book for themselves is that is their preference. At the same time, it should be very easy and enjoyable for administrators to book for others.
3. 24*7 Customer Support and Assistance
This is where the human element really comes in handy. At this point, there’s no amount of technology that can comfort you when your flight has been cancelled and you really need to get to a place for business needs. A real live human can quickly find you an alternate route. Look for travel support that is offered 24/7, in multiple languages, and has great reviews from the people who have already availed services. The best corporate travel company will be one that not only assists up front but is there for you behind the scenes as well. Travelers might not be able to always get help on nights and weekends, meanwhile office managers feel the strain of having to work overtime.
4. Travel Expense Reporting
Getting visibility and detailed insights into travel spend is a fairly necessary part. With travel booked in so many different platforms, it’s very hard to get all the data. The data is spread all over the place and can’t get accessed until it’s expensed. Look for a company or platform that offers real time detailed reports for your finance team so that the Expense Reporting process is simplified. In order to optimize their budgets, corporate businesses need to know which departments are spending what on travel.
5. Transparent Expenses with no hidden costs
Understand the fare structure before you sign up with any travel management company. The Travel Management Company should put forth the expense and billing well in advance for the company availing service for them to choose better. Look for red flags like charges for support calls or for simple, routine bookings.
6. Clear all queries well in advance
Experience matters, because you’ll be relying on the agency’s network to get you the best possible rates and deals. Do your due diligence and ask how they will help manage your budget, costs, and avoid expenses. And ask about their success in accomplishing those goals for companies similar to yours in size, budget, and travel needs.
7. Travel Policies and Approval
Understanding the Travel Policies and Request Approvals which abide by within your norms set by a company. Detailed information about all the things covered in the policy by a dedicated professional to make you understand the benefits and importance of the policy. Each company has some sort of rules that make up their travel policy. A travel agency can enforce these guidelines when booking.
8. The time frame you have to implement your travel program
Some corporate travel solutions, like hiring a corporate travel manager, have a long on boarding process, while other solutions, like using corporate travel software, can get your travel program running in a matter of hours. Choosing the best corporate travel solution for your company is a process that requires stakeholders to think about the business’ current and future travel needs.
9. Tools and resources for planning corporate travel
Working with a travel agency means that they would plan all business trips for your employees. Travel agents provide one-on-one service for your travelers. Hiring an internal travel manager can help your team stay organized and on budget. With one dedicated person taking care of all your bookings, your travelers will always know who to contact with any questions or problems. It will also take extra work away from anyone else that was helping book travel, allowing them to focus on their main responsibilities. Introducing a digital corporate travel solution will enable you to customize your travel guidelines, while allowing your employees to book for themselves through a centralized online booking tool.
Final Words
All the above mentioned points regarding Corporate Travel Management will help you in choosing the perfect agency to achieve a seamless Business Travel Experience and provide you a greater edge in booking your corporate trips.
