This year’s Business Travel Show featured presentations and panel discussions with experts from across the industry. We’ve collated our highlights for those who missed the event.
With so many online booking and expense management tools to choose from, it’s difficult to know which ones are right for your company. Head of process development at Travel and Transport Statesman, Kushad Ulje, shares his insights on how to choose and implement the best tools for your business:
Direct or Outsource?
When choosing new booking and expense management tools, Kushad suggests clarifying whether you’re going to deal with the provider directly or you outsource to a travel management company (TMC). He recommends asking yourself: How much of the relationship do I want to own?
If you’re not a large organisation, it may be easier to hand over the process to a TMC as they’re already doing the same thing for a number of clients. If you’ve decided against using a TMC and are going to keep things in-house then you need to figure out how many people will be involved in the selection process.
How Will You Communicate Changes?
The key elements in your communication plan should outline the benefits to the company and the traveller. If people don’t have background knowledge of the changes you are making then you’re more likely to get negative feedback. Having in-house champions – people with knowledge of the tool who colleagues can refer to should they encounter problems – will help with successful integration.
Make Adoption Easy
It’s always difficult to implement change. Some people still like to do their own booking and some shy away from new systems. To encourage travellers to make the change from self-booking travel to an online booking system, impress on them the company’s duty of care and incorporate changes into your travel policy.
Any new tools brought in should be easy to implement. “If you have a booking system that needs training there’s something you’re not doing right,” says Kushad. “It should be self-explanatory.”
Key Takeaways
- Decide whether you want to keep booking and expense management in-house or outsource it.
- When changing booking systems, outline the benefits to both the company and the traveler to ensure negative feedback is kept to a minimum.
- Train people in-house on the new tools so they can act as champions and be available should problems arise.
