How to Implement Travel Management Software Smoothly?

August 11, 2023

Travel management software helps your firm increase the ROI by streamlining and automating the business travel management process. But you can only automate the process by focusing on selecting and implementing travel management software.

You should initiate the automation process by choosing software that helps your employees accomplish business travel goals without increasing the average business trip costs. At the same time, you need to integrate the software into your business workflow by implementing it smoothly.

A travel management company‘s cloud-based tech solutions are easier to customize, implement, and integrate. However, you should adopt a slew of best practices to implement travel management software smoothly and effectively.


10 Best Practices for Smooth Implementation of Travel Management Software

Involve End-Users across Departments

Onsite and remote employees will use the same travel and expense management solution across departments. For instance, employees will use the software to book business trips, receive real-time information, get the required travel support, and generate digital expense reports.

Also, the finance team will use the software to track, review, process, and reimburse employee travel expenses. Hence, you must involve work travelers, travel managers, the finance and HR teams, and other critical stakeholders in the implementation process. The ideas and insights they share will help you make the software a part of the business workflow. 

Customize the Software

A travel management company facilitates end-to-end business travel management automation by embedding many features and tools in the software. But it allows your firm to add or remove specific features by customizing the software according to precise business travel needs.

Before implementing the software, you should evaluate its core features according to needs, pain points, and challenges. The customization will help you fully implement software that meets your firm’s business travel needs.

Implement Granular Travel Policies

Your firm can control business travel costs and enhance business traveler safety by defining travel and expense policies. While configuring and implementing travel management software, you can enforce organizational travel policies in a short amount of time.

But you can make it easier for employees to access relevant rules and guidelines by implementing granular travel policies. Hence, divide the organizational travel policy into small sections using department, project, and business travel destination parameters.

Configure Approval Workflow

Work travelers these days cancel and reschedule business travel bookings frequently. It becomes easier for your firm to save money when employees start business travel booking only after getting approval from the appropriate authority.

While implementing travel management software, you must define a multilevel approval workflow. Also, allow each employee to send the business travel request to the approver directly using the software.

Support Self-Booking

Leading travel management systems facilitate self-booking by featuring corporate booking tools. Employees can use the corporate booking tool to access a travel inventory customized according to the business travel destination and policy.

Also, the tool enables them to book travel products at lower than market rates. While implementing the travel management software, you can meet employees’ expectations and boost the business travel experience by supporting self-travel booking.

Enable Notifications and Alerts

New-age travel management software streamlines the process by sending automated notifications and mobile alerts. For instance, it delivers real-time information like travel regulations and flight status by sending mobile alerts. Likewise, the tech solution speeds up business travel approvals and expense reimbursements by sending notifications to relevant managers.

While configuring the software, you must allow it to automatically send notifications and mobile alerts to employees. Similarly, you should train employees to streamline the business travel management process by reading the alerts and notifications proactively.

Support Multiple Currencies and Payment Options

Employees these days use various payment methods while booking business trips. For instance, some employees use corporate credit cards, while others use their personal debit or credit cards. Likewise, many work travelers prefer digital wallets and virtual credit cards to conventional payment options.

While implementing the travel management software, you should enable each employee to use his preferred payment method. Similarly, make the software supports multiple currencies to make it easier for employees to book international business trips.

Automate Data Unification and Exchange

The travel management software stores employees’ travel and expense data in a central location. Your finance team can use the dashboard provided by the software and review to track travel expenses incurred by employees. Also, the software shares data with accounting, HR, and other enterprise systems after integration.

While implementing the software, you should ensure that the software updates and shares the data automatically. At the same time, you must safeguard employees’ sensitive data by imposing access restrictions and enabling two-factor authentication.

Promote Software Adoption

Remember that employees need time to use a new software solution regularly. Your implementation strategy must focus on promoting employee adoption of the latest travel management software in a short amount of time.

Travel management companies provide software your employees can access and use seamlessly using computers and mobile devices. But you still need to boost software adoption by providing elaborating training and answering various questions.

Perform Post-Implementation Performance Evaluation

A travel management company allows your firm to evaluate and assess the cloud-based travel management solution on trial. But you must not forget to consider the software’s functionality and performance after its implementation.

The post-implementation performance assessment will help you identify areas of improvement. Hence, your implementation team must test the software regularly to suggest improvements and identify various issues.

Conclusion

You can successfully implement a complex business process like business travel management by selecting the right software and implementing it smoothly. You can partner with a travel management company to implement the software without increasing implementation time and costs.But you must focus on configuring and customizing the software according to your firm’s travel policy and needs during implementation. Hence, you should adopt several best practices to integrate travel management software seamlessly into your business workflow.





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