Travelling for business is not always easy. It can cause a lot of anxiety for the traveller: feelings of guilt for travelling away from family, unfamiliar surroundings, time management and safety concerns. It is important to listen to your travellers to keep them happy and satisfied and in the corporate world of travel, 2017 was the year where companies became more invested in their employees’ well-being and needs.
In the most recent edition of Business Travel News, titled,
Voice of the Traveller, the publication measured business travellers’ satisfaction with their travel programmes to learn more about what travellers want and need when they are on the road. They identified the five most important trip factors based on the number of trips a business traveller takes per year and found the following to be true:
- Access to reliable Internet & data connections
- Access to travel-disruption support
- Convenient flight times and hotel locations etc.
- Ease of expense reporting
- Personal safety support
Now that you know what travellers prefer, here are some resources to help you understand
your traveller’s satisfaction levels. We know that travel managers have multiple audiences with differing needs that they work to fulfil – both travellers and business decision makers – so it is important to take both into account when starting your roadmap to success.
For example, some finance and procurement departments require a direct link between traveller satisfaction and retention or productivity; leaving its value only equivalent to cost. Carol Velasquez, AVP Procurement at Macerich, acknowledges that establishing traveller-friendly policies requires securing executives’ affirmation and
shared how she approached this sell-in with her C-suite.
You can create your own story and better convince the C-suite that it
is traveller satisfaction that delivers retention, productivity and therefore cost savings, by downloading
this customisable PowerPoint template.
Personalisation through technology
Once you have your C-suite on board, you want to ensure that you have a good understanding of your traveller. Personalisation is a key element towards increasing traveller satisfaction. Travellers want to see relevant options when booking their travel, across any device. Business travellers expect past booking behaviours to shape and influence their booking and travel plans. For options and the most effective personalisation, you will need technology to understand the context around user behaviour as it happens. Imagine landing in an unknown city and being able to immediately know whether ground transportation, car sharing, walking or public transportation would be fastest, cheapest and in-policy.
Relevant choices can be just as important to a business’ bottom line, as it is to travellers’ satisfaction. There can be significant time savings and reduced frustration from finding a hotel or travel option that fulfils the wants and needs of an individual traveller, quickly. A business traveller having readily available access to options that suit their desires can also
improve the likelihood they’ll book in-policy.
You can check out the
travellers’ hierarchy of need to learn how personalised travel programmes can make your business traveller feel valued and satisfied. The happier travellers are with the tools, services and support systems that their companies provide, the more they will engage with the programmes.
Business + leisure = Traveller satisfaction
A recent
study from Expedia Media Solutions, the “Profile of the American Bleisure Traveller”, found that 43 percent of all business trips are extended to become bleisure trips. Bleisure is a term used to define business travellers who mix leisure with business. Business travel today is more about the experience, and getting the most out of the trip. So why not stay a couple of days longer, and bring the family along to enjoy the experience together? Bleisure travel can also help relieve some of the anxiety travellers experience when travelling for business.
In an era of
global uncertainty, many business travellers might not feel safe while travelling. Because of this uncertainty, both travel managers and travel management companies have increased their attention to their duty of care to those on the road. Nowadays, it is important to discuss concerns that your travellers might have, educate them on practices and policies, and provide them with the right technological tools to help them manage their trips.
Click here to download and customise this health and safety checklist to ensure your travellers’ safety and well-being!
Remember, it is essential to treat business travellers as individuals with diverse needs and wants. Doing so will lead to an improved travel experience, increased compliance to policies and result in happy, satisfied travellers.
