Corporate travel management can be a complicated and time-consuming process. But with the right tools, it can be much easier. As a company with business goals, you need the right travel management system to simplify business travel workflows.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to pick the right travel management software to simplify corporate travel management.
Let’s find out.
Benefits Of Travel Management Software
- Travelers can benefit from market rates and huge inventory.
- Transparency in spending and effective analytics
- It increases direct and indirect savings while also saving time.
- It offers AI support and FAQ bots for customer care.
- It contributes to the safety of corporate travelers.
- It ensures that policies are adhered to.
- It offers travelers more options.
- The application integrates with the accounting software used by the company.
- Updates to assist with the tracking and notification of traveling employees
- The online booking tool supports travel preparation. It has a tariff forecaster that warns business travelers about potential price increases.
How To Choose The Right Travel Management System
Let’s walk you through all the details and features you need to know when picking your corporate travel management tool.
Understand Your Business Needs and Purposes
Companies want to find travel and expense management services to support their employees and accounting departments without slowing down their operations and daily life.
But before you start, you should know all the features you are looking for and any specific problem areas you want covered. Understand the particular needs you have been historically dealing with, and then choose the one that’s best for your organization.
Amount of Bookings
Whether your company is small or large, it all comes down to the travel habits of your employees. Consider how many bookings your company makes online.
Your company should consider adopting the best travel management software if most of your travel bookings are online.
Extensive Inventory
To get your employees to follow travel compliance, ensure your inventory is extensive, with choices for everyone. Also, your policies should be clear, and your team should follow your approval processes. If your travel management software does not include budget hotels or flight service providers, you are missing out on some serious savings.
Ease of Use and Intuitive Dashboard
The software must be user-friendly and have an intuitive dashboard. If it makes the user feel overwhelmed or confused, it defeats the purpose of an online booking mechanism. A travel management solution should show all available flights and their approval status, and the travel policy should have a single window so you can easily book trips. Your team should find what they need quickly, easily, and without help.
Customization of Policy Compliance
It should ensure compliance with travel policies and easy approval workflows. This aspect can relieve the travel manager of a lot of burden. In this way, it will reduce work stress, the cost of travel and streamline approval requests.
Your in-app travel policy should be flexible based on factors pertinent to your company policies.
Quick Bookings
Find a booking tool that makes it easy and fast. Corporate travel booking should be a smooth process. Your travel management software should store the information of every traveler, saving you time and effort.
Expense Management
As for managing and keeping track of your business travel expenses, you will want to find the ideal travel and expense management (T&E) software, such as ITILITE.
If your company has regular business travel requirements, it can benefit from using travel and expense (T&E management) software to keep track of business travelers, their bookings, and expense reports.
Data Analytics
One of the most important features of travel management software is the ability to provide information about business trips. Reporting allows you to make informed decisions that will help you save money by allowing you to identify areas where you are overspending.
The software should help you track travel expenses per department or team, the amount spent, and more.
Omnichannel
Organizing all your business trips in one place makes it easy to keep track of. The main goal of a travel management system is to integrate travel. So, what happens in the real world? The travel management solution should let you log in and track bookings, policy infractions, etc. You’ll need one platform for approval, schedule info, cancellation notifications, etc.
Smooth Payment Systems
The booking system should accept payments and deposits quickly, safely, and effectively. An efficient system helps boost the morale and productivity of your employees.
Customization and Integration With Company Systems
Ensure you hire travel management software that syncs with your website and works well with your office software. It should have customizable features for booking hotels, flights, and other needs according to your budget. Remember, it should communicate with your payment systems.
Customization features may not be available in every software tool, so ensure you pick the one that integrates well and streamlines your expense management process. In this way, work becomes faster and simpler for everyone.
Customer Care
Check if the service provider you choose has responsive customer care and whether they have a review process. If something goes wrong, live online help should be available 24/7 for your travelers. With customer care at your service, you can have peace of mind. Hence, you will fulfill your duty of care obligations to your employees.
What To Avoid When Selecting Your Travel Management System
Outdated or Complex User Interface.
When processes are complex due to outdated software, it presents extra work and anxiety for travel management and financial teams trying to track down lost invoices or itineraries.
Unimpressive Inventory
The purpose of a travel management system is to save money and eliminate the need to browse multiple platforms. Supposing your online booking tool does not offer appealing deals and preferred rates, it is not worth the investment.
Cannot Integrate
Some travel management systems necessitate the use of additional software. A comprehensive service and a well-integrated platform will save you time and money.
Uncustomizable Software
Avoid using technology that does not allow you to include your company’s travel policy. Selecting a customizable travel management solution increases compliance and reduces travel expenses.
Bottom Line: Selecting The Right Travel Management System
Selecting the best corporate travel management solution is critical to optimizing your travel operations, reducing costs, and improving the health and safety of your employees.
With a service provider like ITILITE, you get a user-friendly dashboard and easy access from any internet-connected device. All the features mentioned here allow you to maximize your corporate travel return on investment and continuously improve your travel management processes.