Several employees, and sometimes contractors, are usually involved in organizing a business trip. Their communication, organizational issues and arranging business trips take a lot of time. Today we will talk about how you can speed up these processes.
Use online booking system
The traditional way of organizing a business trip through travel agencies is not very fast in itself. Booking any trip, even the shortest one, in this case is a complex process consisting of several stages:
- Stage 1: problem statement. First, representatives of the customer company must describe to the agency where and how many employees will go, give suggestions on cost, etc.
- Stage 2: collection of information by the agency. At this stage, the travel agency connects to the booking systems available to it and explores options. Then a shortlist of those most suitable for the customer’s parameters is compiled and sent to him.
- Stage 3: selection of option and travel confirmation. After the company receives the options selected by the agency, the most convenient one is selected. Then you need to confirm the availability of tickets and hotel rooms and make payment.
The problem is that since this entire process takes place offline, it takes a lot of time. Selection of options, approvals, invoicing and payment can last for hours and days – during this time the best flight and accommodation options may no longer be available.
You can avoid this by using online business travel booking systems. For example, in OneTwoTrip For Business you can independently search for air and train tickets and book hotels. In this case, the extra link in the form of an agency disappears, which means you save time. You can pay for selected tickets and hotels in different ways directly in the system – this also makes the process of preparing a trip faster.
Draw up a travel policy
Travel policy is a set of rules and regulations for organizing business trips. Such a document spells out all the important points regarding business trips: rules for their approval, documents necessary for reporting, what tickets and hotels can be booked, etc.
Having such a document will allow you to save money, since company employees will clearly understand the limits when making reservations. At the same time, travel policy also speeds up the organization process. When everyone knows exactly how a trip is coordinated, to whom to write requests for a business trip, and within what time frame, what reporting documents should be submitted after its completion, this is always a plus.
Optimize document flow
Of course, when organizing and processing business trips, the most time is spent on paperwork. This means that it should also be optimized and digitized.
When working with different travel agencies, you will have many different pieces of paper that need to be somehow stored in one place. It is much better to use an online booking system because you will see all the documents for all your trips in one place online. Employees involved in registration and accounting will not have to look for invoices and checks in the mail and various websites.
