What Does a Good Travel Management Company Look Like?
Travel Management Companies (TMC) are essential to having seamless travel operations for most businesses, corporations, or even municipalities and governments. When an organization is selecting a travel management company, there are a few key factors they look for.
A company’s goal in hiring a TMC is to reduce their own stress when it comes to booking company travel accommodations. Organizations are looking for organized, well-respected TMC’s that engage in consistent communication with clients. If you want to establish yourself as an ideal travel management company, prioritize these characteristics in your company.
Organization:
Organized TMC’s have data and information readily available, showing clients the necessary information when needed. Utilizing an efficient data processing solution, your TMC is able to seamlessly create travel options for companies or organizations.
When a corporation or organization is seeking out a travel management company, they’re looking for an organized and efficient solution to their problem. The best way to attract profitable clients is through an organized system that can speak for itself. An efficient TMC will provide an all-encompassing travel solution tailored to each client.
Communication:
A general business practice that many companies tend to overlook is having a highly communicative relationship with their clients. Your travel management company should be engaging with their clients so they always have an open line of communication.
TMCs play a large role in many businesses ’ operations by creating efficient ways for employees to travel without hassle. Engaging with clients, especially large companies or organizations, will bring added value to a travel management company. Walking alongside a client and explaining how your TMC can aid in creating a stress-free work environment through organized travel solutions will build your TMC’s value.
Following Up:
Following up is an essential good business practice. It is important for clients to feel like they were heard throughout their relationship with your TMC, whether that is before, during, or after a trip. Following up after a trip has ended shows your clients that you are genuinely interested in creating less stress for the company.
Travel can be stressful and hectic for many people but by following up you are ensuring your clients that you want to hear if there are any ways to make the journey less hectic for their employees.
Timeliness:
TMCs have a level of account management to them that many people don’t realize. It’s crucial that employees are timely and structured enough to work with deadlines and keep clients informed about any changes being made. If your travel management company has account managers that are always hitting deadlines and producing information as soon as it’s asked for or needed, your reputation will reflect that.
President of ServeVita, Danny Eldridge, touched on timeliness in an article, stressing the importance of tracking the time your managers are spending on each account, that way you can maximize productivity and charge clients accordingly. Account management is generally thought of as a value-add, but if you show how productive your managers can be, you can transition to making account management a fee you always charge for. Show your clients the value of timely account management!
If you have questions about upgrading your current travel management company’s services or solutions, reach out to us. At ServeVita, we aim to serve our clients and give them the necessary tools to run their TMC flawlessly.
How to Keep your Back Office Inspired
Keeping employees engaged and inspired about their work can be difficult, especially if those employees are in the back office and don’t often receive the praise or limelight that more visible employees do. If you want to see your employees find fulfillment and get excited about their work again, try and implement some new practices.
There are many ways to engage employees, but we’ve compiled a list of what we believe is the most effective in inspiring and engaging back-office employees.
Internal Career Development Opportunities:
One of the biggest challenges in keeping employees happy and inspired is giving them somewhere to move forward. If your employees feel stuck, they’re less likely to work above and beyond in their position, because there’s seemingly no way up.
Inspire your back office employees through opportunity. An easy way to do this is through free webinars or classes taught by more experienced individuals in the company. Your back-office employees will be able to learn from those in higher positions and see a clear path to moving upward in the company. Forbes Magazine says that “Career boredom is a common reason for disengagement. Sometimes, employees leave because they want to experience something new.”
Encourage Employee Feedback:
Allow your employees to have the space to voice their concerns, what they’re excited about, etc. Employees, especially those in the back office, want to know they’re being heard and respected. If they know that their management wants to hear their opinions and feedback, they’re more likely to want to grow with the company and work through any potential issues.
If you let small issues go unnoticed or ignore your back office employees’ opinions, eventually it will pile up and could potentially lead to multiple employees quitting. Ask and encourage honest conservations between management and employees. Make sure to let your employees know that you value their dedication to the job and want to know how to improve or what to keep doing.
Stay Positive:
The U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics found that negativity costs U.S. businesses more than $3 billion annually. If you have an abundance of employees in the back office, negativity can spread like wildfire. Encourage positive verbiage through your emails from management and any other corporate documents that they will receive. Don’t lie and use positive language if there’s something negative happening but if it’s possible, stay positive when you can! A positive attitude and mindset can create a work environment that encourages and uplifts all employees and inspire them to produce better work.
Reward Your Employees:
Set up a way to reward your hard-working employees in the back office. If you’re regularly rewarding employees and showcasing their dedication to the company and their work, they’ll feel valued and appreciated. This will inspire them to continue putting forth their best effort in their work. In addition, make sure to verbally reward them when management is interacting with back-office employees.
A performance-based reward system could also be a great incentive to inspire and encourage employees to put their best foot forward. You could use something similar to an employee of the month award, or you could offer extra incentives like vacation days or bonus’.
All of these are ways to engage with your back office employees and show them that they have value and are crucial to the success of your company. Back office employees are often who keep the business running. Remember, employees want to feel heard and respected, and they deserve to know they are. Without their aid, many companies would be scattered and lost in their own data, so make sure to encourage those employees to work with the numbers in the back office.
If you need to improve your back-office productivity and inspire your employees, reach out to us! We want to serve you and help you find fulfillment in your business and your life. Back office employees and solutions are what keep businesses running, so take the necessary steps to ensure their efficiency.