United Kingdom

 

How to make the most of online booking

There are many myths around online booking tools that could harm your company’s adoption rates and, in turn, prevent you from meeting your online booking objectives.

Here are some myth-busters and online adoption tips to help ensure the success of your online booking programme.

Myth No.1: Online booking works for every company
There are a number of key questions that need to be considered before you push ahead with implementing your online booking tool, such as:

• Does your company culture embrace change and the use of online solutions?
  
• Does your organisation book a high number of ‘simple’, point-to-point journeys, which are most suitable for online booking?
  
• Are you able to connect effectively with your travel bookers/travellers so that reasons for implementing the tool and how to use it can be communicated clearly?

If you can answer ‘yes’ to all of these questions, you are already set-up to implement an online booking programme.

Myth No. 2: The more customisation, the better
It is important to keep in mind that complex settings result in a more complicated set-up of your OBT and end-user experience. There may also be increased costs and a longer implementation period to allow for the customisations to be built into your tool. We recommend that you challenge the need for restrictions as they can limit the success of your online programme.

Myth No. 3: Booking travel via the web is as good as using an approved online booking tool
Even in today’s super-connected world, there are many reasons why travellers should avoid searching for and booking their own travel online:

• One person searching many websites is time consuming.
  
• Online deals often have inflexible policies, hidden fees, and heightened pricing for services business travellers require.
  
• Hotel booking agents and airline websites only provide rates for one form of transport.

In comparison, your company’s online tool flags preferred properties and carriers alongside your negotiated air fares, hotel rates and published rates to guide your travellers towards in-policy options, while capturing valuable management information (important for future supplier negotiations and traveller safety and security).

Tips to improve online adoption

Know your objectives: Typically these will be around driving cost savings, developing more efficient booking processes, and improving the booking experience. Through setting clear objectives, success can be measured and corrective actions implemented if necessary.

Communicate clearly: Effective communication to bookers and travellers on why the tool has been deployed and why it should be used is critical to gaining employee buy-in. Ideally this is driven from the top of the organisation with full endorsement from senior management.

Involve employees from the start: Actively involving key users during the implementation and pilot phases will ensure tools, policies and processes are configured with your bookers and travellers’ needs in mind; which in turn will maximise adoption levels.

Incentivise rather than instruct: Where a mandate doesn’t fit with your company culture, consider using booker incentives instead. League tables that reveal departmental adoption, messages to non-compliant bookers via CWT Programme Messenger , or rewards for using the online tool all work well.

Stay informed: Receiving and reviewing timely and accurate reports is fundamental to understanding booking trends and identifying opportunities for further improvement.

Search