How can companies achieve personalization with travel management software?
Personalization is usually described as the act or process of tailoring a product/service/experience according to the target audience’s needs, preferences, and expectations. Several market research studies suggest that personalization is currently one of the hottest trends in corporate travel management.
Most companies and startups help and motivate employees to accomplish business travel goals by achieving personalization. However, each organization distinctly achieves personalization. Some organizations personalize employees’ business travel experience by extending travel choices and booking options.
At the same time, many companies boost personalization by recommending flights, accommodations, car rentals, and other business travel products based on their travel preferences and booking history. Travel management software helps businesses achieve personalization in several ways.
The special-purpose tech solutions help employees book their preferred travel products and make personalized travel recommendations. Your company can implement a travel management system to use personalization to increase the ROI of business travel.
9 Ways Management Software Helps Your Company Can Achieve Personalization
1. Facilitating Self-Booking
A corporate booking tool is one of the critical features of travel management software. The online tool enables employees to access an extensive travel inventory. Also, it customizes the travel inventory according to organizational travel policies.
Employees can use the software to compare multiple travel products without visiting the websites of individual suppliers. They can use the same tool to book their choice of travel products without putting in extra time and effort.
2. Making Personalized Recommendations
The new-age travel management systems personalize business travel booking using artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms. Intelligence technologies make the software effective in understanding the travel preferences of individual employees based on real-time booking data.
Hence, the software recommends best-suited travel products to each employee according to his booking history and travel preferences. The personalized recommendations made by the software help your company boost employees’ business travel experiences.
3. Increasing Travel Choices
No company can provide more travel choices to employees negotiating with multiple travel suppliers. Also, it has to deal with new suppliers to get corporate rates and discounts. Software provided by a travel management company helps employees to increase travel choices and booking options without negotiations.
Your employees can use the software to access a diverse travel inventory according to the business travel destination. Hence, they can choose from many airlines, hotel chains, and other travel vendors while making business travel arrangements.
4. Reducing Air Travel Time
Frequent air travel impacts many people psychologically. Also, many travelers experience stress and anxiety after spending time at high altitudes. Hence, employees remain stress-free and reduce carbon footprints by booking direct flights instead of connecting flights.
A travel management system helps employees choose from flights operated by several airlines. At the same time, it allows employees to book direct flights at lower than market rates. Employees can book the software to book direct flights without violating policies or escalating costs.
5. Including Alternative Accommodations
As highlighted by several studies, accommodations booked by work travelers vary according to their demographics. While booking a business trip, older employees still choose hotels for various facilities, amenities, and add-on services.
But millennial employees opt for alternative accommodations like homestays to boost their business travel experience by meeting local people and understanding the local culture. Travel management software caters to employee demographics by including hotels and alternative accommodations in the travel inventory.
6. Supporting Self-Funded Upgrade
A travel management system simplifies business travel booking by supporting debit cards, credit cards, and digital wallets. At the same time, some travel management solutions these days help self-funded upgrades.
According to predefined travel and expense policies, they show and recommend travel products to an employee. But they allow the employees to travel business class instead of economy class or book a hotel with higher star ratings by paying the differential amount out of their pocket.
7. Simplifying Booking Management
Several studies suggest that work travelers escalate costs by canceling and rescheduling bookings more frequently. Hence, cancellation policies of travel suppliers impact employees’ travel choices directly during business travel booking.
Travel management software enables employees to cancel and reschedule bookings directly. Many travel management systems allow users to change bookings without paying fees or penalties. Effortless travel booking management helps employees book their preferred travel products.
8. Offering Travel Support
While selecting and booking travel products, employees focus extensively on staying safe and minimizing travel risks. They need both information and assistance to secure the proper travel products. Leading travel management software providers these days offer 24/7 customer support.
Employees can get travel assistance by interacting with a customer support executive by making a phone call or sending a message. Likewise, they can avail of emergency assistance using the duty-of-care solutions provided by the travel management software. Travel support and emergency assistance make employees book their preferred travel products confidently.
9. Sharing Data-Driven Insights
Travel and expense data unification and analysis is one of the prominent features of new-age travel management software. The software stores employees’ real-time travel and expense data in a centralized location. Also, it analyzes the data regularly using robust data analytics solutions.
You can use the data-driven insights shared by the software to understand work travelers’ changing needs and preferences. Also, the actionable insights create opportunities for you to achieve personalization by refining organizational travel policies.
Conclusion
Personalization is currently one of the most prominent business travel trends. Your company can meet the needs and expectations of work travelers only by adopting this trend early. In addition to facilitating end-to-end corporate travel management automation, travel management software helps you achieve personalization in several ways.
But your company can achieve high-impact personalization only by implementing the right travel management system. You should implement travel management software that boosts business travel personalization by leveraging real-time data. Also, you should prioritize software that gains and shares data-driven insights using cutting-edge technologies like data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI).
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