NB: This is a guest artlce by Mike Uomoto, senior vice president for product management for Rearden Commerce.
Everything in your palm. A dream-come-true, especially for those who live on the road. Hauling a carry-on and a laptop bag from one city to the next, in pursuit of the next golden opportunity makes it tough to carry much more.
The growth of consumer travel apps would appear to be the answer. But are they really?
Here, counting down from ten to one, are the top reasons why the hype doesn’t help when it comes to corporate travel.
10. I booked the same trip last week, why can’t you remember that I prefer a non-smoking room and an aisle seat!?
Frequent travelers are creatures of habit, and have very defined preferences. Some consumer travel apps let you set those preferences for a single trip, but aren’t configurable to set and present those preferences across multiple or repeat trips forcing you to re-enter the same thing over and over.
9. There’s so much more to business travel than hotel, air and rental cars.
When on business, travelers need to be able to manage the whole experience – from leaving home to booking entertainment and conference services.
Integrating several services in a single “app” saves time, frustration, and ultimately money.
8. !!*( #-)##-**- another user name and password??!!
Multiple consumer travel apps mean business executives have to log in to multiple applications with different user name and password formats. We all know we’re not supposed to write them down, but who can blame us?
The security risk is often overlooked, but it really shouldn’t be.
7. I just know I can find something cheaper but I can’t spend all day looking for it.
Funny thing about business travelers – they’re conscientious about doing the right thing. When presented with all the options, they want to save the company money – even if it introduces some inconvenience.
With consumer travel apps that are not tied to company policies, this is an impossible task.
6. Wait. It’s Tuesday, wasn’t I supposed be in Cleveland?
Without calendar integration – a missing link in many consumer travel apps – it’s just too easy for itineraries to be lost in the manual translation. Many travelers end up printing out hardcopies of all their various confirmations and end up with a mess of papers.
5. It’s my money!??
An informal survey at Boston’s Logan International airport found that business travelers estimate they lose as much as $500 every year in un-submitted expenses.
Consumer travel apps don’t help tie travelers to their expense reporting system.
4. Tell me again -- which service provider am I supposed to use?
Businesses negotiate deals with travel service providers as a way to control costs, but when preferred providers aren’t automatically populated or highlighted in the travel app, the traveler is left to their own devices when booking and managing their trip. It’s inefficient and is a major driver of #1 below.
3. We spent HOW MUCH on business travel this year!?
When it comes to travel budgets these days, being able to track and manage the end-to-end costs is a critical component of success. Consumer travel apps without their tie to company policy don’t support that need.
2. One app, two app, three app, more....
How many apps does it take today to plan a business trip? One for every discrete step in the travel process is too many. And they don’t work with one another.
Business travelers don’t have the time – or the patience – needed to navigate multiple apps.
1. PIE
Ultimately business travelers don’t want to be hassled – they want a personal, integrated experience that is within the boundaries of their company policies and programs.
They want everything tied together neatly – in one simple package – that integrates the end-to-end components of their trip, ties it with their calendar, and is contextual and location aware.
Bottom line
The proliferation of "apps" actually increases the burden on corporate travelers and doesn’t do much for the T&E team back at the office either.
The future lies in a location aware mobile-enabled platform that is both relevant and contextual. Road warriors can log in once and view all the aspects they need to plan and manage a trip, including their company’s travel policies and preferred suppliers.
If done right, the right mobile solution can help create a positive experience for the traveler, and drive compliance and control, translating into a win-win for everyone involved.
NB: This is a guest artlce by Mike Uomoto, vice president of product development for Rearden Commerce.