Travel and expense solutions are consumer-based, easier to use – and ever more mobile
Ease-of-use has become the watchword for business travelers when it comes to the tools they use to book, track and account for their trips. The biggest driver of this shift has been a greater focus on extending mobile capabilities catering to an increasingly always-connected, go-anywhere workforce.
“Business travelers expect that the solutions they use for work purposes be just as easy to use, attractive and functional as the apps they use in their personal lives,” says Alan Rich, CEO of Chrome River, a provider of expense solutions. “Whereas a few years ago enterprise software was very utilitarian and almost exclusively accessed on a desktop or laptop – with functional capabilities being paramount – this approach simply doesn’t work anymore. And comprehensive, easy-to-use mobile functionality is an essential element of any business productivity app.”
As its definition implies, “expense management solutions” are in high demand on the road, so this deeper mobile capability is even more critical.
In the past year, much of the effort has gone into improving the user experience, especially for mobile, so that doing expenses on your iPhone is just as straightforward as posting a photo to Facebook. This means removing as many steps as possible from the process for both entering and submitting expense data.
For example hotel folios can now be converted automatically into expense line items, simply requiring the traveler to forward the hotel bill at the end of the stay. Previously any type of granular break down would of necessity be completed manually. Nowadays, intelligent systems can extract this data and populate expense reports effortlessly in one click.
Direct integration is another area that has started to see more traction with services like Uber. Travelers are now able to link their expense account directly with their Uber profile, so as soon as the ride is over, the receipt – complete with a map of the ride – is automatically sent to their expense account.
Experience vs Expense
The convergence of a corporate program’s cost-savings benefits with a consumer based experience, where personalization and convenience are a priority, is important for the modern traveler, notes Beverly Heinritz, VP partner relations at Dinova, a solution that connects business diners with participating restaurants.
“We see that companies are emphasizing the traveler experience as critical and must be aligned with the company’s overall savings initiatives,” she says. “The Dinova marketplace is thoughtfully curated with the idea that today’s business travelers may want the ease and simplicity of a tried and true chain restaurant; a private venue for a client meeting; or a regional taste from a local, independent restaurant.”
In that respect, Dinova diners have the unique ability to select their restaurant preference and price point, while their company still has valuable insight into the overall dining spend.
Teri Goins, director of client services for Short’s Travel Management, notes the industry continues to focus on ‘big data.’