Five Ways To Become One Of The Best Travel Management Companies
Posted by Mike Atherton on 19 April, 2021
As if it’s not hard enough just winning new clients these days, you then have to keep them happy or they will soon be lured elsewhere. To that end, you should ensure there are positive differences between your Travel Management Company and the competition. This will help your TMC flourish, rather than merely survive.
The competition and indeed new service benchmarks are increasing all the time. Existing TMCs are coming under pressure from new OTAs and even from (forgive the George Bush-ism) the “consumerification” of business travel.
You will only win the loyalty of your clients’ and travelers’ by delivering consistently high levels of satisfaction.
Let’s look at five practical ways you can achieve this by offering even greater support to your corporate clients and their employees.
1. Produce great itineraries.
Travelers and travel bookers still rely on their itineraries and love having all the information they need in one document. Rather than sending dull GDS or generic documents from multiple suppliers use an integrated document delivery service that is trip centric, not supplier centric. Each time your customer refers to this ‘Super Itinerary’ they will be reminded of the value your TMC adds.
2. Help your clients help their employees keep safe.
Invest in a travel risk management service that’s part of your total offering. Don’t give your clients away with referrals to “one size fits all” risk providers. Embed duty of care reporting of itineraries, traveler locations and communications as part of the total care package you offer all your corporate clients. The Covid-19 outbreak has also posed huge implications for the travel industry. Therefore assessing risks prior to travelling is key for clients keeping their employees safe.
3. Help your clients control more of their spend
Capture more of your clients spend by supporting the traveler beyond travel and accommodation by extending your offer to events, parking, ground transportation, helping your client have more visibility and control over their travel program spend. Automating the delivery of these additional services means you don’t need to deflect your consultant from managing the next booking. With the right algorithm you can deliver a ‘zero touch’ personalized traveler experience and make additional merchandising revenue. When this is integrated with your travel itinerary, the traveler enjoys a comprehensive 3600 service.
4. Create a self-service travel information portal.
Easy access to relevant, real-time travel information is really valuable to the business traveler and their employer. Make your travel booker’s life a lot easier by giving them access, via a portal, to quality, complete and accurate reports about their employee travel plans, online and mobile.
5. Have a one-click contact strategy.
Make it easy for the consultant and traveler to make contact when on the move. For the traveler, you can offer the basic mobile ‘click-to-call’ app, all the way up to full interactive messaging. This makes the traveler feel their consultant is with them all the way and gives you the opportunity to be proactive with communicating. Rethink your post-booking contact strategy to one that supports your relationship with the client.
Choosing the right technology and delivery partner is key to making these suggestions work. And while they do not guarantee a client remaining loyal, they do provide clear blue water between your TMC and the competition.