Introduction
Travel management systems (TMSs) are great tools for managing your business travel and making it easier. However, there are many misconceptions about what a TMS can do for you and how to use them correctly. In this article, we’ll look at some common mistakes that travelers make when choosing a TMS as well as some tips on how to avoid those same pitfalls yourself.
Not understanding your business goals
There are many reasons why a travel management system can be useful to your business. However, it’s important to understand what you want from one before buying one.
There are three main types of TMS that can be used by businesses: CRM (Customer Relationship Management), ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and TMS in general. In this article we’ll focus on CRMs because they’re most commonly used by hotels and other travel companies; however, these same principles apply for anyone who wants more control over their operations.
Not understanding the market
The first and most important step in creating a successful travel management system is understanding your market. You can’t create a great system if you don’t know who your customers are, how they behave, or what they need from their travel experience. If you don’t understand this market, then even if you have the best product available at a reasonable price point—and it does still exist—you won’t be able to compete with other companies offering similar services.
The best way for an agent to understand their client base is through focus groups or surveys that ask questions about demographics (age groups), preferences (type of vacations), interests (activities/sports) and more!
Not choosing the right technology partner
You’ll want to choose a technology partner that understands your business and can help you achieve your goals. You should also look for a partner who is willing to work with you, rather than always pushing their own agenda.
Finally, it’s important to ensure that the company has been in business for a long time—and preferably has an excellent track record of success (i.e., not just because they’re good at making money).
Not knowing what to ask
- What are the key questions to ask?
- What are the questions that you need to ask your customers?
- What are the questions you need to ask your vendors?
- What are the questions you need to ask your employees?
Not testing
It’s important to test your travel management system. Testing helps you see what works and what doesn’t, so you can make changes to the software that will benefit users.
One way to get feedback from users is through surveys or interviews with them at the end of each project cycle or stage in the process.
When testing, always ask questions like these: “What was helpful about this feature?” or “What do people prefer instead?”
Not networking with other travel professionals
It’s an old adage that you get what you pay for. And it’s true in the travel industry as well. If you’re not willing to contribute your skills or knowledge to help others, then chances are they will go elsewhere to get it done—and they’ll probably do a better job than you could have.
When it comes down to it, networking is key if you want success in this business. By joining associations and professional organizations (such as Professional Travel Management Association), meeting people who share common interests and goals, attending conferences where relevant information can be learned firsthand from experts in the field—these all make up one way for professionals like yourself achieve higher levels of success within their chosen profession!
Network with other travelers by sending out invitations via email or social media platforms such as Facebook Messenger so everyone knows exactly where they stand relative towards each other; this way there won’t be any confusion about who belongs where when trying out new ideas together over dinner dates at local restaurants later on down the road after getting off work hours end earlier than usual due
Not paying attention to trends in the market
You may be surprised to know that travel trends are constantly changing. The industry is a dynamic one, and if you don’t keep up with it, you will miss out on opportunities to develop new products and services for your customers.
There are three main ways in which travel trends can help you:
- They can help you develop new products or services (like an app that tells hotel guests where the best restaurants are in town)
- They can give insight into what your customers want (e.g., last year’s crowd favorite restaurant might not be so popular this year)
- They can provide insights into how other businesses are performing relative to yours
Not having a solid plan for managing change
- You might not have a good plan for managing change.
- You need to be able to adapt to changes in the market, technology, your business and employees, customers and more.
It’s easy for any travel management system (TMS) owner or manager to get lazy when it comes time for them to update their software so they can stay up-to-date with current trends in the industry. However, if you don’t have a solid plan laid out before jumping into an update process then you may end up making some common mistakes when implementing an update:
Falsely believing business travel is just like leisure travel.
Business travel is different from leisure travel. Business travelers are more demanding and likely to complain about their experience, which means it’s important for you to be prepared for them. They’re also more likely than leisure travelers to be unhappy with the service they receive, so your staff needs to make sure they understand how important this is.
In addition to the differences between business and leisure passengers, there are other factors that can affect how well your airline handles business travellers:
- More complicated itineraries—When booking flights on an international route or connecting through an airport (such as a hub), it’s important that you understand exactly where your passenger is going and what day of the week/night they arrive at their destination so that you can avoid confusion when providing ground transportation services after departure from one destination city into another destination city overland via train/bus).
Thinking a TMS will solve all of your problems. It won’t.
If you’re thinking a TMS will solve all of your problems, it won’t. A travel management system (TMS) is a tool and should be used in conjunction with an overall business strategy.
A TMS can help you keep track of things like inventory, expenses, employee schedules and more—but if it’s not part of an overall plan for success then it’s just another way for companies to spend money on technology without realizing how much they could save by using other methods instead. For example:
- You might decide that getting rid of paper forms or printing receipts would make sense because they’re so inefficient—but if those things aren’t managed properly then they’ll add up quickly! The cost savings go unnoticed until someone notices there hasn’t been any money left over at the end of each month after paying staff salaries etcetera…
Travel Management Systems can be very useful if used correctly.
Travel Management Systems (TMS) are a great tool to help your business run smoothly, but they can also be very useful in helping you with travel management. TMS should not be used as a magic solution that will solve all of your problems. It’s up to you and your team members to make sure that the system is being used properly so that everyone knows what needs doing, when it needs doing and how much time each person needs before they can do anything else.
The biggest mistake people make when using TMS is believing that their system will save them time or money by automating everything for them automatically without any thought or input from them about how things are done now versus how they might change in the future due this new technology becoming available today!
Conclusion
As we’ve seen in this article, travel management systems are a great tool for managing your business travel. However, they are not the solution to everything. In order to make sure that you get the most out of them, it’s important that you take some time to understand your business goals and market before choosing a TMS company. This will ensure that they’re picking up on what really matters most when working with clients like yours!
