However, while the corporate travel industry is working on new travel booking tools which better mimic the consumer experience, many travelers and travel managers aren’t completely happy with the results to date. Despite the hype, corporate travel booking tools are still not as user friendly/useful/streamlined as their consumer counterparts.
For years, many TMCs didn’t pay attention to technology or their customers’ user experience in travel booking tools, says Michael Gulmann, chief product officer for Egencia, business travel. They simply rented or white labeled another company’s booking tools. That’s certainly changed over time.
“Ultimately, employees want a simple, seamless and intuitive experience, just as they would get if they were at home booking their personal vacation – and tools they can access anywhere,” he says. “In a recent study we conducted, an amazing 68 percent of Americans would like to do more with their mobile phone when it comes to business travel. So if you want greater compliance, make sure you’re offering tools that fit into your travelers’ on-the-road, mobile lifestyle.
”Personalization is another growing trend that is driving innovation in the industry. For example, imagine a search experience that is so highly personalized that your app knows – based on your previous booking history – that you want a direct flight on Delta, a four-star hotel that you have a loyalty program with, within two miles of your office for under $200. It saves time while also encouraging program compliance.
For those seeking solutions that parallel the ease and convenience of the consumer travel experience, Bob Neveu, CEO of Certify, says such products are out there. They can be found in a growing number of mobile applications and in the advanced online booking interfaces that make it easy for employees to compare itineraries and pricing.
“Of course, even with these tools in place, there are many reasons the experience of the business traveler might differ from the leisure or consumer traveler, not the least of which is corporate travel policy,” Neveu says. “Booking tools that deliver a consumer-like experience while making it easy to navigate and enforce corporate policy will change perception.”
In Neveu’s view, the mobile tool app has to be easy to use but at the same time easy for the traveler to stay within policy guidelines.
“The system and policies can’t be too restrictive and must strike a balance between helping the company save money and allowing the traveler some flexibility in booking travel arrangements,” he says. “Having a tool that meets user expectations and functional standards, along with a policy that affords some flexibility and is easy to follow will encourage employees to use the tool and not seek workarounds.”
The problem, says Michael Strauss, CEO of PASS Consulting, Miami, FL, is not that there is no new business travel technology out there, but rather that nobody knows about it.
“Mid-size tech providers can create very good OBTs which are tailored to the needs of the client,” he says. “These companies focus on being profitable with minimized risk. They cannot – or do not want to – spend ridiculous amounts on marketing and PR. They focus on technology, flexibility, return on investment and on their clients.
”New technologies are available, according to Nigel Meyer, HRG’s global technology services director, but they tend to start out at a smaller scale than the mainstream products. So, in essence, travel managers should be gravitating toward experiences that are light, easy and intuitive, but also fully functional.
“It’s not always easy today with some of the legacy and history around the travel industry, but that’s what customers are asking for and travelers are hoping for,” he says. “Many people are frustrated if you can’t complete the process.
”In addition, Meyer recommends having information around billing and payments integrated in the same platform. That’s something he says is at the forefront of the corporate travelers’ demands.
“That needs a big investment in the existing infrastructure in terms of the distribution ecosystem,” he says. “I think existing booking tools are built around corporate requirements, rather than end-user requirements.” Challenges to Ideal Solutions
The roadblocks to creating a seamless system are the same as those that exist for consumer-facing technologies. Gulmann says what the travel industry as a whole is solving for now is a seamless, cross-device experience.
According to Oliver Quayle, vice president of product marketing and innovation for American Express Global Business Travel, when it comes to employees traveling for business, traditionally the overriding challenge for organizations has been to keep up with ever increasing consumer-oriented expectations.
“When employees access consumer technology to book business trips in the same way they do personal trips, it leads to significant operational and financial challenges,” he says. “Company travel itineraries that are patched together through online travel search engines, individual suppliers and sharing economy apps deprive businesses of valuable travel data, savings and service.”
This fragmented approach means organizations can’t access the insights needed to implement effective travel policy and negotiate rates with travel suppliers. It also makes it difficult to meet basic duty of care obligations.
The individualization, Strauss says, is another roadblock. “The leading booking tools try to tell every organization what is the ‘perfect trip’ (in their mind),” he explains. “However, the perfect trip for a sport fashion manufacturer might be the cheapest but safe trip to China for most of their employees. This is not necessarily the same for employees of a financial institution, where trips may come up at the last minute, wait-listing is a normal procedure and the highest priority is that the travelers come to their destination on time but also to some extent relaxed to make such a meeting beneficial.”
Travel Managers on the Lookout
A fundamental challenge when comparing the consumer experience to the corporate booking experience surrounds the application of policy, according to Jay Richmond, head of business travel for Amadeus North America.
“In the consumer world, the traveler has the ability to construct the largest kind of superstore-shopping experience that they want and have a chance to see every product at every price point with every variation and timing combination,” he says. “They can take whatever their requirements are and start to filter down to what makes sense.” In the corporate world, he adds, policy may limit the amount of product the corporate traveler can see.
“Travelers come to the corporate tool and get frustrated because they know there is content available and not being displayed,” Richmond says. “What is available, and what is evolving, are booking tools that are more like the consumer experience and more applying situation logic relative to policy.”
For example, many of today’s tools have integrated more multimedia elements. So decision making has an easier look and feel, especially around hotel.
“There’s also a better display of information around what’s included in an airline fare family – what are the features and benefits, what’s included in the price, what are the restrictions and rules, etc.,” he says. “In the corporate world, what’s happened really well is the integration of all of the functionality and information around the trip lifecycle.”
Quayle notes travelers care about getting exactly what they want, when they want it and with the least amount of time and effort. Quick time-and-motion studies are a good measure of the effectiveness of a booking tool and don’t require a lot of effort by the travel manager.
“It terms of what travel managers should be looking for to keep travelers coming back, the simple answer is to ensure you engage travelers in the selection process when it comes to an online booking tool,” he says. “Travelers take trips as part of their job and the technology and service elements should be almost invisible unless there’s a problem. Travel managers should be on the lookout for a consistent, high quality experience across all booking channels.”
Companies looking to get the cheapest fare from A to B subject to general rules and policies will go with the big off-the-shelf vendors, Strauss says. However, he warns travel managers to be prepared to have employees book around the system and spend work time to find ways to trick it into giving them what they prefer.
“If you think that the cheapest is not always the best and subject to many aspects, then you need to find a tool with an integrated rules engine, so that you can manage these individual preference, policies and rules to customize the product down to the individual user,” he says.
Richmond says a corporation’s goal is going to revolve around its own strategy. Some want to lower costs, others want to optimize cost and look at traveler productivity, others look to the traveler work/life balance.
“The traveler is hopefully trying to make the best decision in some sort of balanced way for the company in their own productivity. Then you have the company with their own goals,” he says. “If you look at the distribution of travel activity within the corporate employee workforce, you still have the same long-tail problem you have in any retail channel. The road warriors and frequent travelers will have different expectations from the tools than the infrequent travelers.
”The goal, he says, should be finding a solution that presents a user experience and interface which can be meaningful to an array of travelers with different expectations and different trip frequencies.
The Franken-tool
If one were to create the perfect tool, it would need to have some basic attributes for the business traveler.
In Gulmann’s eyes, a successful, truly user-centric tool would be completely intuitive, simple but useful, and know all preferences – for travel, for communication, for policy – and base its recommendations and communication on these preferences. “It would also be designed based off of user research,” he says, “using both qualitative and quantitative data to constantly evolve the user experience.”
Quayle’s perfect tool would be invisible. “It would know the traveler’s intention, purpose before being asked, and base options on the perfect combination of corporate policy and user preference,” he says.
“I think a traveler-centric tool goes beyond the user and considers the end-to-end journey. Any tool should allow for a seamless service which could also proactively manage the business trip without bothering the traveler unless absolutely necessary.”
Quayle notes these tools are available now and travel programs are absolutely missing out by not deploying them. “It goes beyond savings, compliance and productivity,” he says. “Companies that focus on the experience of their employees can attract and retain the best talent which can secure their ongoing business success.”
Strauss’s version of the ideal would offer flexibility so that the travel manager is in the driver seat. “He can listen to his travelers as well as the goals of the company to apply the best solutions for each and every person,” says Strauss. “However, he needs to get the tools in his hands to make adjustments on the spot. Technology needs to be an enabler and not a burden.”
Road to Success
Travel management companies today are integrating consumer-like solutions with travel policies seamlessly woven into the recommendations, so it’s getting closer to achieving the ideal. “The more we continue to follow the consumer-side lead, while also integrating a smart and easy-to-use travel management backend, the more likelihood we’ll see policy adherence,” Gulmann says.
Since Egencia is part of Expedia, Inc., Gulmann says that its technology solutions are very consumer focused. “Beyond our iOS and Android mobile apps, which integrate itineraries, booking abilities, alerts and maps, transportation, easy customer service options, and more, we also offer apps for wearables (example: Apple Watch) for even easier itinerary access and updates,” he says.
HRG believes that its Helix represents the perfect tool. Meyer calls it a singular-modular platform with everything you would want to do within it. “It’s fully self-registering, it has all of the compliance controls required, and it has everything and anything you need to do to complete the process in one place,” he says.
A strategic “partnership” approach between travel manager, the TMC and the technology provider is the only way to guarantee sustainable traveler satisfaction.
In the drive to simplify business travel and make the process, tools and technologies more consumer-oriented, Neveu says Certify has always been about making travel booking and expense management easy – for business travelers, travel managers, administrators, accountants and company executives.
“Easy means it’s intuitive and that key parts of the process are automated to reduce hassles and eliminate costly inefficiencies,” Neveu says. “Specific to travel, Certify offers two solutions uniquely designed to the needs of smaller businesses and mid- to enterprise-sized organizations with a tailored set of features and functionality. In this way, we’re able to bring the tools and technologies together so it's customizable, from the basics of booking and policy to seamless integration with any travel management company.”
