INSIGHT
Essentials to modern day travel management
Travelling is a bit different these days. With new rules and regulations in place, there's a lot to consider in your travel management provider.
Many travel managers have used lockdown to review the ins and outs of their travel programs in hopes to have a stronger processes in place when things begin to resume. Similarly, TMCs have been reviewing and revamping their business over the past year to work more efficiently in a post-COVID world.
FCM, in the wake of unprecedented disruption over the 16 months, has dedicated itself to ensuring customers can adapt and thrive in this new world. Check out 5 these tips below to discover what a modern travel management program should consist of.
1. Going beyond duty of care
An alternative mindset takes into consideration so much more than vetting transport suppliers or accommodation establishments.
It’s about pre-travel risk assessment and educating your employees (both around your travel policy and how to mitigate their risks while on the road). You need to update their travel profile, contact details and next-of-kin information so you can alert them to any travel advisories or itinerary changes. And, importantly, be able to track your travellers so you can bring them home quickly and safely should the need arise.
Today trust, communication, and the flow of timely, accurate information between TMCs, travel managers and travellers is more important than ever before. For decision makers and travel managers alike, this means working closely with a TMC that can ease traveller timidness with the reassurance that comes from managing the logistics of pre- and post-COVID travel and communicating the health and safety protocols at every point of the journey.
With FCM’s new Safety and Risk tools, you will be able to customize a safety dashboard to your needs, ensuring that all vital information is in one place. Our travel experts always go beyond the call of duty – and are on hand to provide information, advice and moral support 24/7/365.
2. An agile, flexible approach to customer needs
Not only do travel managers need to know that their travellers are happy and safe, but they need a travel partner that can respond quickly to their needs – and to any unpredictable situation – with ease and flexibility.
FCM’s new digital booking platform can be customized to your needs. You can gather and analyze data from travellers, including insights around likes and dislikes, queries, traveller friction, traveller preferences and travel behavior – meaning you can design the best itinerary and book the best product to meet their needs.
Our digital travel champion Sam just keeps getting better. Now available across the FCM platform and app, ever-evolving Sam will soon solve problems proactively, often before you (or your travellers) are even aware of them. This will include rebooking suggestions, itinerary updates and travel alerts.
What's more, FCM’s ‘always available’ promise means that your travellers can access information via Sam’s live chat widget, or be connected to a dedicated travel consultant whenever needed.
3. A unique culture and caring people
The FCM family is a fun, forward-thinking and committed team who is ready to change the face of corporate travel.
An unconventional, alternative mindset requires a certain attitude and culture. An energetic, can-do team of out-of-the box thinkers who can have a real and positive impact on their client’s business.
4. Game-changing technology
In today’s fast-paced environment, travel managers and bookers are no longer willing to put up with slow, clunky systems. A new world requires reliable technology.
Innovative plug and play functionality means that you can integrate your preferred OBT into the platform instantly putting a wide range of travel content (matched to your budget and travel policy) at your fingertips, be it your laptop, tablet or mobile phone.
Approvals and reporting also just got a whole lot easier. COVID-19 has resulted in stricter approvals for many multinationals as decision makers assess the necessity of each and every trip, the risks associated with certain destinations, and the needs of their travellers. FCM understands this and works with your team to make sure the process is as seamless (and painless) as possible. FCM’s newly-refined Approvals system allows all traveller requests to be integrated into one report, while approvals go directly to the traveller on their mobile.
Reporting is also a breeze. FCM’s functionality allows you to analyze your company’s travel behavior, spend, bookings and leakage – pulling up-to-the minute reports for cost analysis, budgeting and planning.
5. Creative and unique solutions to customers’ problems
They say that necessity is the mother of invention, and there is no doubt that COVID-19 is driving progress and innovation. We’re living in a world where contactless check-in, biometrics, virus screening and digital health passports will become the norm. Look for a TMC which is tackling the current chaos head on, exploring new ways of doing things and delivering creative and seamless solutions for companies who need to be back on the road.
As Kate Smaje, Senior Partner at McKinsey explains:
“COVID-19 has launched the greatest behavioral change in our lifetime. We vaulted five years in the adoption of digital in just eight weeks. This great digital migration has forced every company into a massive experiment in how to be more nimble, flexible and fast.”
See how FCM has implemented bespoke solutions for these customers:
