Let’s face it; corporate travel can be a costly experience for organizations. Expenditure can spiral out of control quickly, resulting in trips that blow the budget through the roof.
These strategies can help your business save money when employees take corporate trips while ensuring their expectations and workload are met.
1- Establish Travel Expenditure Rules
The problem that companies always face is that there is no policy or limit when it comes to expenditure. Many employees or management personnel take advantage of the situation and use it for their gain. The result is blown-out costs on items or experiences that are not related to the trip itself.
This issue can be reduced by establishing rules and policies around what funds can be used for and not. Failure to meet those guidelines should result in penalties for the employee or management. Make the procedure easy to understand and simple; it reduces trouble and confusion that way.
2- Single-Use Credit Cards
This new type of credit card is helping businesses save money more than ever. Credit cards are loaded with a certain amount of money or can only be used for specific purchases.
This limits the amount of money that can be spent while on corporate trips. It also helps eliminate the risk of fraud and improves the accounts payable process at the end of the journey.
3- Encourage Better Flight Inventory
Sometimes too many employees are picky about their trips and expectations. But by focusing on flexible flying options to save money, you can reduce flying expenditure.
Choosing budget-friendly carriers, booking far in advance, and finding deals can help you reduce the costs.
Sure, your employees can be slightly upset about the drop in quality, but there’s a happy medium to be found for both saving on corporate trips and their flying experience.
4- Understanding Travel Spending Trends
Consider what employees and management are spending their expenses and see what is deemed necessary and what isn’t. With this type of knowledge, you can know where the money is going and categorize where money should be spent in future.
Acquiring this data will answer all the questions you’re dying to know about your employees’ spending habits – and help you in the future!
5- Offer Incentives For Staying Within The Budget
If you’re struggling to rein in employees, why not offer them rewards for keeping the travel expenses within the budget?
Offer them a free night at the hotel or bonus pay after the trip has concluded. The options are down to you, but the most significant factor is that by doing this, you can keep your budget in-line while motivating your employees at the same time.
6- Hire A Corporate Travel Management Company
If you can’t rein in the spending and don’t have the experience to do it, why not let an experienced corporate travel management company do the work for you?
These agencies focus on organizing your corporate travel by finding airlines and hotels for you. But more than that, these companies can ensure corporate trips stay within budget while creating a streamlined system for payment and reconciliation. They will also help with any needs requested by the traveller or the group.
Ultimately, travel costs and corporate lodgings are incredibly complex processes to handle. With so much going on, it can be challenging to manage it. Bringing onboard an experienced team can help manage that workload for you.