Why unmanaged business travel is costing your company money

Business question has galore moving pieces, which leads galore companies—in hopes of redeeming connected time, money, resources oregon headaches—to fto employees negociate it themselves. 

But does this truly marque sense? 

After all, you astir apt don’t fto employees bargain immoderate bureau furnishings strikes their fancy connected the institution dime. And you astir surely don’t fto employees negociate their ain benefits oregon payroll. 

So wherefore bash truthful galore companies let employees to negociate their ain travel? 

Let’s instrumentality a look astatine however unmanaged concern question mightiness beryllium costing your company. 

What is unmanaged concern travel? 

Unmanaged concern travel, sometimes known arsenic “self-booking” lets employees marque question bookings connected their own—typically by contacting question agents oregon utilizing an online booking level that caters to leisure travelers and past submitting receipts for reimbursement. 

The drawbacks of unmanaged concern travel

Generally, unmanaged concern question is touted arsenic being easier connected everyone. It provides much flexibility for employees and it requires little management.

External question absorption tin besides beryllium expensive, truthful allowing employees to simply publication question ad-hoc tin look to beryllium much cost-effective arsenic well. 

But is it? 

Let’s instrumentality a person look astatine immoderate of the drawbacks:

Lack of argumentation (or argumentation enforcement)

Unmanaged concern question solutions are often utilized by smaller companies who don’t yet person standardized booking policies. Even if you bash have policies successful place, unmanaged question programs marque enforcing those policies overmuch much difficult. 

Either way, a deficiency of enforced policies typically creates a fig of problems: 

• higher question costs for your company 
• non-compliance with ineligible question regulations 
• lack of data 
• difficult oregon non-existent support processes, resulting successful a deficiency of oversight oregon cognition astir wherever your question fund is going 
• frustrated employees, who whitethorn unintentionally overspend owed to unclear oregon non-existent policies 

Fragmented booking processes

Similarly, fragmented booking processes are inevitable with unmanaged concern travel. When employees marque their ain question arrangements, they’re apt to publication question connected aggregate websites, creating much invoices for your concern squad to juggle. They’ll besides request to beforehand the outgo and hold for reimbursement, which tin origin fiscal hardship for employees. 

Fragmented booking processes besides mean that everything happens manually, creating disorganized and ineffective processes that waste time, resources and company spend. It besides prevents you from getting consolidated question information for invaluable insights into institution trends, question walk and allocation. 

Insufficient question enactment & hazard management

Another communal occupation is insufficient question enactment for your employees.

When your employees are traveling for business, you person a work to them—to guarantee they tin question safely, set question plans arsenic needed and supply enactment for immoderate unforeseen circumstances oregon changes. 

If the COVID-19 pandemic showed america anything, it’s that circumstances tin alteration rapidly, particularly with planetary travel. Unmanaged question processes unfastened your institution up to overmuch much risk, some financially and successful presumption of information and security.

The benefits of managed concern travel

On the flip side, managed concern question solutions mean that companies negociate their concern question arrangements for their employees, either done an online oregon cloud-based booking tool, oregon done an outer question absorption company. 

Business question absorption is often avoided due to the fact that companies think: 

• it’s excessively expensive 
• they’re not large capable to warrant a managed question program 
• they’ll brushwood excessively overmuch worker resistance 
• it volition beryllium much hard than asking employees to self-book 

On the contrary, firm question absorption tin really result successful cost-savings done exclusive concern discounts, negotiated rates, VAT recovery, amended quality to way and negociate question spend,ing and more. 

Systemized processes 

Whether you outsource to a accepted question bureau oregon a modern question absorption platform, similar TravelPerk, you instantly get much power implicit the booking process. Increased power allows you to streamline processes and centralize data, which tin amended efficiency. 

Travel exertion besides supports process automation, allowing you to much easy enforce corporate question policies, automate approvals, negociate disbursal reporting and show worker travel. 

Discounts and supplier connections 

Working with a managed question institution oregon level besides gives you connections to preferred providers, corporate question discounts and exclusive question suppliers that aren’t disposable connected user websites. 

For example, TravelPerk uses the combined buying powerfulness of its lawsuit basal to springiness you entree to exclusive negotiated rates and help you reclaim VAT connected your concern travel. 

Manage hazard & safeguard against emergencies 

Perhaps astir importantly, a managed question level provides you with resources to mitigate risk. This includes some round-the-clock lawsuit work to assistance employees resoluteness immoderate question issues arsenic good arsenic flexibility with question readying and bookings—both of which are indispensable for concern trips. 

You tin besides adhd FlexiPerk to your bookings and get 80% of your question costs refunded, nary questions asked. In addition, we connection a full-service Duty of Care solution that keeps you and your travelers afloat informed done pre-trip hazard alerts and travel reporting to enactment up-to-date connected immoderate risks oregon information concerns successful your employees’ travel destinations. And, with 24/7 lawsuit work and a traveler tracker that allows you to spot wherever your employees are successful real-time you tin remainder casual knowing that you tin enactment accelerated for immoderate changes.  

The cardinal differences: unmanaged oregon managed concern travel

The bottommost line: it depends connected your concern size, goals and the magnitude of question you manage. 

Take a look astatine immoderate of the benefits and drawbacks of each side-by-side: 

	Unmanaged concern travel	Managed concern travel
Travel policies	Travel spending is wholly babelike connected your employees’ preferences.	Travel policies are easy and automatically enforced and baked into your question absorption platform
Travel processes	No standardized processes make inefficient and fragmented workflows.	Processes tin beryllium standardized, streamlined and automated to prevention clip and money.
Cost of travel	Travel Policies	Travel walk tin beryllium monitored and capped arsenic needed, and reduced done exclusive suppliers and negotiated rates.
Risk management	Your institution is solely liable for employees’ information and information portion traveling.	Management tools and squad provides hazard management, exigency assistance and 24/7 support.
Preferred suppliers	Employees tin marque decisions connected who they privation to question and publication with, further fragmenting your process.	You are successful power of preferred and approved providers, gaining further discounts and preferred rates arsenic a result.
Customer support	No enactment for employees, oregon HR oregon different interior squad has to beryllium “on-call” to assistance support	24/7, 7-star lawsuit enactment (through TravelPerk) ensures employees are ever supported during concern trips

With TravelPerk, you get an all-in-one question booking and disbursal absorption level that allows you to: 

• only wage erstwhile you travel, and lone wage for what you use
• negotiated rates that let you to prevention up to 30% connected concern question costs
• comprehensive, user-friendly level that allows you to publication and negociate each travel-related reservations successful 1 place 
• consolidated invoices and automated processes to prevention time 
• 24/7, 7-star lawsuit enactment and Emergency Assistance 

The station Why unmanaged concern question is costing your institution money appeared archetypal connected TravelPerk.