Companies and startups increase business travel spending to boost customer acquisition and revenue generation. But they find it challenging to increase the number of business trips due to high global inflation. Also, they have to explore ways to help employees reduce the average business trip costs.
Many enterprises these days get higher ROI by automating one of the crucial steps in business travel management. They automate and centralize business travel booking by investing in a corporate booking tool. The specialized tech solution enables each employee to book her preferred business travel products.
Also, employees can use corporate booking software to complete business travel bookings quickly and directly. But leading tools are available as premium software solutions. An enterprise has to incur upfront and ongoing costs when employees use the software regularly.
That is why; decision-makers like you often conduct a cost-benefit analysis to measure the ROI of a corporate booking tool (CBT). We are making it easier for you to understand and measure the ROI of corporate booking software by highlighting some of its key financial benefits.
8 Financial Benefits to Consider While Measuring the ROI of a Corporate Booking Tool
1. Ensure T&E Policy Compliance
You can help employees book the right business travel products by defining and communicating organizational travel and expense (T&E) policies clearly. But you should remember that organizations find it challenging to reduce costs by ensuring 100% travel policy compliance.
While configuring the CBT, you can implement granular T&E policies for employees, departments, or destinations. The software will select and recommend travel products according to the policies set by you.
Hence, employees will control costs by booking only in-policy travel products. Also, your organization can reduce the average business trip costs by eliminating policy violations.
2. Boost Business Travel Experiences
You cannot motivate employees to accomplish business travel goals without meeting their needs and expectations. Most business travelers these days want options to book their choice of flight, accommodation, car rental, and other business travel products.
The CBT will enable your employees to access a travel inventory customized according to business travel destinations and business travel policies. Hence, employees can book their preferred travel products without escalating costs.
Also, the new-generation CBT recommends travel products to employees according to their travel preferences and booking history. The personalized recommendations meet one of the key expectations of employees.
3. Get Corporate Rates
You can control business travel costs by getting corporate discounts on flights and hotels. But you have to negotiate with many vendors and suppliers to get corporate discounts on flights and corporate hotel rates.
The CBTs provided by leading travel management companies enable your business to get corporate rates and discounts without lengthy negotiations. Your employees can save money on business travel booking by booking expensive travel products at negotiated rates.
4. Reduce Business Travel Costs
The CBT will help your employees to reduce costs by finding the best deals and offers while helping you get corporate rates. Also, your employees can use the software to book fully-flexible tickets. They can cancel or reschedule the tickets at the last minute without paying fees or penalties.
Business travelers these days cancel or reschedule bookings frequently. The CBT will help your organization control additional costs incurred due to last-minute changes to employees’ business travel itineraries.
5. Meet Duty of Care Obligations
While making business travel budgets, your organization must meet its moral and legal obligations by investing in the duty of care resources. You need resources to keep employees comfortable and safe by helping them mitigate various business travel risks.
The CBT will help your employees manage business travel risks by sending real-time alerts. Employees can check these mobile alerts to know the real-time flight status and manage minor risks like flight delays and cancellations.
6. Streamline Travel Expense Management
Your business cannot control business travel costs without streamlining travel expense management. The CBT will help your business automate travel expense reporting. Your employees can use the software to submit auto-generated expense reports.
Your finance team will not require additional time to review and process the digital expense reports. Also, you can track travel expenses in real time and get a 360 degree view of business travel costs by integrating the CBT with an expense management solution.
7. Incentivize Employees to Save
Many organizations reward and incentivize employees to save money on business travel booking. They run reward programs that allow employees to keep a part of the money saved due to cost-conscious travel choices made by them.
The CBT helps you run such incentive and reward programs without incurring extra costs. Employees can use the software to estimate the business trip costs. They can earn a part of the estimated cost as rewards by booking low-cost travel products.
8. Find Cost Reduction Opportunities
The advanced CBTs these days feature data analytics. They use data analytics to make sense of the business travel and expense data of your employees. Also, they share actionable insights with you by analyzing the real-time data.
While making decisions or strategies, you can leverage data-driven analytics to find opportunities to curtail unnecessary expenses and prevent overspending. Also, the insights will help you identify important factors escalating business travel costs.
Conclusion
Your business has to incur upfront and recurring expenses to leverage a corporate booking tool. But the investment will help you increase the ROI of business travel by automating and centralizing business travel booking.
The special-purpose software will help you make business trips successful by improving business traveler experience and safety. Likewise, business travelers can use the software to save money on business travel booking in several ways.
Also, you have several options to leverage a booking tool without escalating costs. For instance, you can curtail infrastructural overheads by opting for a cloud-based software. Likewise, you can control ongoing costs by accessing the software based on pay-as-you-use pricing plans.
Hence, these financial benefits outweigh the costs when you understand or measure the ROI of a corporate booking tool. Also, you have several options to increase the ROI of the tool in the long run.