Choose the Right Travel Management Software for Your Business
While there are numerous software options available, it’s crucial to choose the right travel management software for your business needs.
TripMatrix travel management software is designed to automatize payments, boost travel agents’ productivity, centralize all the business trip information and much more. Ultimately, it’s a powerful solution positioning you ahead of the competition.
In this article, we’ll walk you through a step-by-step guide for selecting the best travel software for business travel.
Step-by-step Guide to Choose Travel Management Software
The Travel Management Software Market is estimated to reach $20.1 billion by 2032. As the market expands, there is a growing variety of corporate travel software options to choose from.
To help navigate this growing selection and select the best software for your needs, explore five key steps for choosing travel management software below.
Step 1: Making a List of Priority Features
The first step in selecting the right travel management software is to create a list of the features that are most important to your business.
As a travel agent, you likely already know which tasks consume most of your time. Take note of what you’d like to automate, centralize, or simplify to make your workflow more efficient.
To help you get started, we’ve reviewed features from some of the top travel management software for business trips, offering additional ideas for your feature list.
Integrated CRM
For example, you may spend a lot of time searching through client information.
Rather than wasting valuable time sifting through Excel sheets or complex CRM systems, travel management software offers an integrated CRM with a search bar.
This feature allows you to quickly add, find, and edit client information in just a few seconds, improving efficiency and saving time.
Moreover, the integrated CRM is designed specifically for travel agents, making it intuitive and tailored to meet the unique needs of your business.
Payment Overview
Other time-consuming tasks may include tracking payments manually.
With travel management software, you’ll have a centralized overview of all client payments, making it much easier to manage and track them.
Each time a client makes a payment through a unique Stripe link, their payment status will automatically update, saving you the hassle of manual record-keeping.
Automated Payment Processing
With Stripe integration, there’s no need to send your bank account number or payment instructions to clients. Payment becomes quick and simple—once the offer is confirmed, clients receive a secure Stripe link to complete their payment.
Automated payment processing ensures that payments are fast and accurate, reducing manual work and potential errors.
Your corporate clients can easily and securely purchase travel packages, making the entire payment process more efficient for both you and your clients.
Product Inventory
When working with multiple suppliers, it’s important to have an organized, centralized location for all your products.
Travel management software includes a product inventory feature, where you can add and manage all your products and services in one place.
More advanced versions of the software allow you to categorize your products into various types—such as accommodation, experiences, and transportation—making it easier to navigate and manage your offerings.
Intuitive Trip Builder
Traditionally, trip offers are sent as PDF or Word documents, which can be time-consuming to create. Travel management software, however, offers advanced trip builders that simplify this process.
Creating trip offers directly in Word documents requires searching for images and manually adjusting all the elements, which can take a significant amount of time.
With a trip builder, you can easily add products and services directly from your inventory, streamlining the process.
Once the trip offer is created, it can be downloaded as a PDF and sent to clients for review.
Moreover, making changes is much quicker and easier in a trip builder—just a few clicks to update details—rather than manually rearranging elements in a Word document.
Step 2: Comparing Travel Management Software Options on the Market
After compiling a list of your priority features, the next step is to compare the travel management software options available on the market.
While you can eliminate some options based on your priority features, there are other important factors to consider.
As a solo travel agent or small travel agency owner with limited resources, it’s essential to choose software that offers added perks.
For instance, some travel management software comes with an integrated website to help improve your online visibility.
Others may provide opportunities to connect with more suppliers through a marketplace, expanding your product offerings.
Step 3: Exploring Pricing Plans
Along with useful perks, travel management software can significantly differ based on their pricing plans.
Some corporate travel software operates on subscription-based pricing, while others are commission-based, or even combine both models.
A subscription model—whether monthly or yearly—might not be ideal if you only operate for a few months a year. Similarly, paying for additional seats for multiple travel agents can become expensive. It’s important to choose a travel management software provider that offers a flexible payment plan.
For example, TripMatrix offers a commission-based pricing option with no extra cost per additional user.
Additionally, there is a custom pricing option tailored to fit your specific business needs.
Step 4: Researching Customization Options
Customization options are key to helping your corporate travel business stand out from the competition.
As mentioned earlier, some travel management software providers offer an integrated website. While these websites often come with premade templates, they still provide plenty of space for customization.
You can add your branding colors, travel agency logo, and social media links to match your business identity. Plus, it’s a more affordable option compared to building a separate website from scratch.
Product inventory can also be highly customizable. For example, the accommodation category can include detailed information such as check-in/check-out times, star ratings, location (generated through Google Maps), and more.
One major benefit of using advanced travel management software is that you don’t need to upload pictures for each accommodation manually. The best software can pull hotel images directly from Google, saving you time and effort.
Moreover, the ability to create highly customizable trip itineraries is a major advantage. You can tailor each trip to your client’s needs in a short amount of time, and making updates or changes based on client feedback is as simple as a few clicks.
TripMatrix product overview – Hotel
Step 5: Opting for a Free Trial or a Demo
Before making the final purchase decision, sign up for a free trial or request a demo.
While travel management software can have great features and an affordable pricing plan, user experience is equally important.
Signing up for a free trial will give you enough time to explore the software interface and possibilities.
Similarly, requesting a demo allows you to ask questions and gain a better understanding of travel management software features.
Participating in a demo provides insight into customer support.
Why is TripMatrix the Right Travel Management Software for Your Business?
TripMatrix is all-in-one travel management software tailored to travel agent’s needs.
In cooperation with travel agents, our software includes key features for simplifying your daily activities.
- Replace external CRM with TripMatrix’s integrated CRM
- Avoid errors with automated payment processing
- Ensure secure payments with Stripe integration
- Track client payments in the payment overview
- Build an extensive product inventory
- Add and manage products
- Create and export travel documentation in PDF
- Increase your visibility with an integrated website
- Find suppliers through TripMatrix marketplace
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Published on: August 16, 2024