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Taking a step forward with a corporate travel partner: when’s the right time?

May 14, 2024, 5 minutes read

For growing businesses, everyday decisions are often a moving target. Your needs today might be very different from your needs a month from now. This prompts the question, when is the right time to bring on a partner to manage your business travel? And what does a travel management solution even look like?

Why enlist a managed travel partner?

Corporate travel management companies offer you the structure and support you need to handle all your employees’ travel bookings. They’ll give you a platform where travelers, travel arrangers, and travel managers can make travel arrangements and book business trips while keeping company travel policy compliance in mind. They’ll provide support when your travelers need it should travel plans change. And they’ll help you mine your travel data for insights so you can find ways to save and identify areas that need attention.

With a travel partner, you can transform scattershot bookings into a strategic lever to help you save, build your company culture, gain a competitive advantage, and even boost your ability to attract and retain talent.

When’s the right time?

The short answer is, now. If you’d like to streamline travel spend while enhancing the travel experience for your employees, then it’s time to bring on a managed travel partner. And for fast-growing businesses, it makes even more sense to get systems in place – with details like a travel policy and approval processes – before new hires arrive making it exponentially more difficult.

“We often talk to companies that ask, “Am I too small to receive a benefit from partnering with a managed travel partner?”, says Samantha Shoemaker, senior director of worldwide sales development for Amex GBT. “Are you looking for cost savings, process improvement, or an amenity that creates a hassle-free experience for your travelers when they’re on the road? If the answer is ‘yes’ to any of those questions, then I think it’s the right time to look for a managed travel partner.”

What’s the next step?

Take stock of how you view travel. “The biggest piece of advice I would give fast-growing companies switching from unmanaged travel to managed travel is to think of travel not as a cost, but as a smart investment,” says Ronan Bergez, vice president of AMER & EMEA sales for Amex GBT Egencia. “And as an investment, think about the benefits in terms of value, sustainability, and traveler well-being, which we know all play key roles in every company today.”

Thinking of travel as a strategic investment unlocks all sorts of doors when building your business travel management plan. Instead of simply asking, “What’s the cheapest way to book flights, hotel stays, build itineraries?” You can factor in elements that support employee safety and traveler, culture fit, risk management, volume consolidation for negotiated rates, and much more.

How do I find the right match?

Once you’re looking at business travel as a strategic investment, it’s time to ask what type of partner would best support your travel needs.

Here are three questions to get you started:

How tech-savvy are your travelers?
Are your employees used to manually balancing books and writing out grocery lists, or are they already using mobile apps to handle these tasks? Based on your answer, you’ll want to find a travel partner with highly trained travel agents, who provide an intuitive, user-friendly platform and mobile app, where travelers can largely self-service their travel needs.
How important is data to you?
For most growing companies, data is crucial in making informed business decisions including when to hire, where to expand into new markets, and what kinds of innovations are worth investing in. Ask yourself – are you comfortable with your travel expenses being a blind spot? Or would it serve you better to find a company to partner with who could give you access to real-time insights and analysis based on consolidated travel data provided by travel management software?
How important are strategic savings to you?
Fast-growing businesses must keep close track of their bottom line and have access to the best rates when they book travel, to keep the business healthy and to prove to their investors that they’re spending – and saving – strategically.

If expense management is your priority, look for a partner who can help you save on travel costs without compromising your company culture or taking perks away from your employees. For the most bang for your buck, look for a travel partner with a wide breadth of negotiated rates and machine learning technology to help you save behind the scenes and best serve your business needs.

The bottom line? Don’t wait until a problem arises with your business travel. Take your next step towards better business travel by finding the right partner now, so you can start shaping a travel program that will serve you not just today, but at every stage of your growth.