GUEST BLOG: TMCs of the future

With an influx of household AI assistants from Amazon and Google, and news of a billionaire sending a car into space, expectations of technology are rocketing ahead.  

But how do such advances translate to TMCs? And more importantly, what will clients expect in the future?

Consumerisation

Major consumer-facing brands are obsessed with providing the best user experience and easy-to-use interfaces. Traditional B2B booking tools haven’t necessarily kept pace with these changes. However, a more consumer look and feel to booking tools can provide significant dividends to businesses.

A personalised, intuitive user experience for individuals, combined with a customisable offer for organisations, is the most effective weapon when it comes to fighting leakage. With a new generation who’ve enjoyed quick and easy online shopping all their lives entering the workplace, TMCs who can satisfy those requirements will be best placed to help their customers more easily manage their business travel.

Direct connect

For years, the industry has used the GDS for airline bookings and customers have paid fees for the ‘privilege’. Direct connects have provided a much-needed revolution in distribution.

Travellers can now book fee-free with several major airlines and have all the options they need at their fingertips - everything from adding luggage after booking to increased legroom, or even the ability to strip the fare down to the bare minimum, with no extras, to cut costs.

The next generation of TMCs must use direct connect as standard to meet customer demand.

Engaged and motivated staff

Paying reservation agents commission or incentives on bookings doesn’t give customers the service they deserve.

The role of a TMC is to save a business money on its travel, so account managers should be focused on their customers’ interests, rather than promoting options based on whether or not they are receiving an incentive from a particular provider.

Furthermore, reservations agents are much more engaged and motivated if they can demonstrate absolute integrity, without worrying about their personal finances.

Customers want quality advice, support and savings tailored to their needs and by knowing their decisions don’t impact directly on their agent, they can be confident they are making the right choice every time.

The future is now

We are convinced these steps are the key to the next generation of TMCs. At Click Travel, we have incorporated all three and are seeing the benefits on a daily basis.

This post was written by Jill Palmer, CEO of Click Travel. Jill will be participating in the Business Travel Show conference session ‘TMCs – are we paying them too little, or too much, and with the right model?’ in the Pillar Hall at 11.30 on 21 February.

Click Travel will be exhibiting on stand B650 with its next-generation travel management platform, travel.cloud

GUEST BLOG: 2018…the year of assistance?

 

Google has just announced a new term “the age of assistance.” So what does this mean?

According to Google this term refers to the customer service of today; the new multi-faceted and multi-layered way brands communicate with customers, rather than traditional customer service offerings.

Over the years we have witnessed significant changes in the way that brands communicate, interact and service customers. In a service driven industry such as business travel the importance of these changes is more prevalent than ever.

Good customer service is the lifeblood of any business and crucial for customer retention. You frequently see organisations spending large marketing budgets on customer acquisition; the best product, price and promotion but falling down at customer service and then losing the business.

The complex nature of business travel lends itself to “the age of assistance” where you are communicating with numerous contacts in the supply chain as well as recognising the specific needs and requirements of the end traveller. This is where using big data in a meaningful and personal way can be a key differentiator. It’s not just about the preferences of the individual traveller - wherever, whenever and however they need it - but also delivering real-time data and analytics to travel managers so they can drive better travel policy compliance and in turn, create long-term cost savings.

Technological advancements have opened up new communication channels for brands to embrace. The use of AI and chatbots is beginning to become widespread, whilst mobile, text, social media all now play an active part in brand communication plans.

In today’s hyper-connected, digital world, there is an opportunity to build brand loyalty through providing seamless customer satisfaction across multiple channels. To test the market, Traveldoo is currently undertaking a survey aimed at travel buyers. The survey focuses on the importance of customer service in the business travel industry and the buyers experience of customer service.

The results will be announced at the Business Travel Show.

If you are at Business Travel Show, the Traveldoo team would love to see you on stand B619 from 21-22 February 2018. Register for a free pass at www.businesstravelshow.com/register 

GUEST BLOG: Mobility-as-a-Service: Buzzword or Business Strategy?

Last February when we attended the Business Travel Show to reveal our new app – Mobilleo - we were constantly being asked to explain Mobility-as-a-Service. Industry knowledge about the term seemed restricted to “that’s about driverless cars” or questions like “is that to do with public transport?”. In less than 12 months, the landscape has changed and suddenly anyone worth their salt has latched onto the industry’s latest buzzword.

The image above shows how Google search volume for the phrase has radically increased in 2017 and is set to grow well into 2018. Since the start of the year we’ve seen major players such as KPMG, Deloitte and even the UK Government create content and initiatives to explore what they think Mobility-as-a-Service is.

However, whilst autonomous vehicles and smart cities remain popular topics of conversations, many in our industry still do not grasp the true nature of Mobility-as-a-Service.

MaaS isn’t exclusive to public sector projects on providing accessible transport, nor is it just a new shiny feature that car manufacturers can entice fleet managers with. True Mobility-as-a-Service is the complete offering of not just transport, but the entire journey.

At Mobilleo, we’re one of the very few true technology providers to have created our own intellectual property that does Mobility-as-a-Service for businesses. Our app does the usual flights, trains and taxis but it also recognises the micro-elements of a journey like parking, airport lounges, WiFi codes and places for a bite to eat.

The industry needs to stop equating Mobility-as-a-Service to just a few facets of travel. It goes far beyond that in that it also involves expense management, data analysis, employee morale and much more. Mobility-as-a-Service isn’t a buzzword – it’s a business strategy, and it’s one that companies need to be taking a much closer look at in 2018.

With this in mind here are some of our favourite terms and explanations for those looking for a ‘cheat-sheet’ on MaaS.

What is Mobility-as-a-Service?

According to Mobilleo CEO, Justin Whitston, Mobility-as-a-Service is the intersection of technology and all aspects of travel. Its specific objective is to facilitate convenience, cost and comfort of travel using technology. Tech allows users to not be reliant on owning a car when instead they can quickly access a local car club. It allows users to assess every transport option easily and make a decision based on cost, speed, comfort and even how environmentally friendly it is.

Who is Mobility-as-a-Service for?

At the moment it’s largely a conversation topic amongst fleet managers, financial directors and technologists but in reality, it’s for everyone. Employees benefit from Mobility-as-a-Service as an alternative way to book their travel – they don’t need to be told “this is the cheapest train ticket so you’re going on this train” when they can find cheaper alternatives for themselves. Personal assistants and travel managers benefit from a quicker and more efficient way of finding, booking and paying for travel. Financial directors benefit in that they no longer need to be reliant on company car fleets that can prove costly and tiring to manage.

Does that mean Mobility-as-a-Service will replace the car?

No. Mobility-as-a-Service is about offering the car (or company car) as one option of many to users. Businesses can look to reduce their fleet size by adopting usership models like car clubs, taxis or public transport but can still retain a fleet for those “I need it right now” moments.

MaaS apps like Mobilleo allow car owners to look at their journey and compare how much it would cost them to take their own car versus the train. It’s just a question of what’s most important for that individual journey – cost, comfort or convenience?

What is Total Cost of Mobility?

Another favourite phrase of the industry – total cost of mobility – is a term you can expect to see more and more in the coming months. TCM refers to data analysis that reveals the true cost of your mobility. Too often consumers and businesses only count the obvious travel costs like train tickets or fuel. In fact, travel is often made up on far more micro-transactions that get spent but never recorded. Parking tickets, WiFi access codes, a cup of tea at the station – all of these are expensed but usually never incorporated into the cost of the journey.

By analysing this data and working out the total cost of mobility businesses can identify areas of wastage and make better decisions regarding their travel policies.

How do I get Mobility-as-a-Service into my business?

MaaS isn’t something that you can turn on overnight, nor is it something that requires major changes to the way your business operates. The first step to adopting a true Mobility-as-a-Service approach is to understand what you’re already doing.

Analysis of data such as costs, time spent booking travel arrangements and frequency of travel can all help identify how close or far away your business is from achieving MaaS efficiency.

Every day they are new initiatives and partnerships emerging that encourage businesses and consumers to think differently about how they travel. Ultimately the starting point is education – once you know what you’re doing, you need to explain the process to staff and clearly identify the benefits Mobility-as-a-Service can bring to employees.

What are the benefits of Mobility-as-a-Service?

Benefits include:

·    A more productive workforce as staff no longer need stress and spend valuable time scouring multiple travel websites and companies

·    A more empowered employee – MaaS apps like Mobilleo places the control of business travel into the employee’s hand, but carefully regulated with customisable travel policy settings such as spend limits and ticket restrictions

·    Better business decisions – access to easy-to-digest data means that finance and fleet teams can assess the demand for their fleet and assets when thinking about expanding or shrinking their fleet

·    Cost effective journeys – access to more options will only create more price-effective travel and help your workforce truly think about the cost of their journey

Mobilleo is exhibiting at the Business Travel Show in February where you can meet them and find out even more about MaaS. Continue your registration now for a free ticket at www.businesstravelshow.com.