When business travel is involved, the stakes are high. Time wasted means money lost, so many companies are turning to technologies that make it easier to stay on top of business travel arrangements.
The APP Group, an Australian property and infrastructure consultancy, offers integrated services across the full asset capital investment lifecycle and multiple market sectors.
The company has over three decades of experience and is one of the most qualified consultancy firms in its field.
While the company has had a corporate travel manager for over a decade, they recently decided to incorporate Locomote, a business travel software, into their business model. The software makes it easy to manage business travel arrangements and allows travel bookers to book and manage their employee's business travel from an integrated platform.
Since using Locomote, The APP Group has successfully transitioned to newer technologies, such as live chat assistance and a phone app. This has resulted in a more efficient business travel booking process and has saved the company time and money.
Previous Issues and Challenges The APP Group Encountered
The APP Group had a corporate travel manager for over a decade but felt it was time to discover a platform to manage business travel more effectively. While they had no issues with the former system, the business travel landscape has changed dramatically in recent years and they wanted to make sure they stayed abreast of current trends.
Time-consuming Booking Process
The business travel booking process was time-consuming and often resulted in lost productivity. Business travel bookers had to search multiple websites for the best deals on flights, hotels, and rental cars.
With a process that had possible errors, business travel bookers often had to start everything from scratch if they made a mistake while booking. This is an unproductive way to manage business travel and can often lead to employee frustration.
Inability To Provide Integrations and Live Support
While the corporate travel manager The APP Group had been using offered some features that business travel bookers found helpful, it had a limited number of integrations and did not offer live support.
Furthermore, navigating the platform was often tricky, and business travel bookers found that they had to search for a long time to find the information or tools they needed. This is an ineffective way to manage business travel and can lead to business travellers needing help to get the assistance they need promptly.
Solutions That Locomote Offers to The APP Group
With over 500 clients across their services, The APP Group juggles many business travel bookings. Thankfully, Locomote offers a business travel solution that is easy to use and provides the features and integrations that business travel bookers need to be successful.
Efficient Live Chat Functionality
The booking process takes work. However, business travel bookers can take advantage of the live chat functionality that Locomote offers. This way, if they have questions or need assistance, they can get it immediately instead of searching for answers independently.
Hayley Petrovski, an Executive Assistant at The APP Group, specifically loved this feature, "The live chat functionality is a real bonus to the booking process."
Integrated and Easy-to-Use Platform
A travel platform that does not seamlessly integrate with a business's booking process is not efficient enough for today’s fast-paced environment.
The APP Group has taken full advantage of Locomote's business travel software, allowing travellers to easily book and manage their business travel from one centralised platform. This has been a game-changer for the company since they were able to create a more cost-efficient and productive business travel booking process.
Hayley said about Locomote's platform, "Our team of travel bookers loves the simplicity of the portal as it's very user-friendly to navigate."
The Ability To Update Systems With Administrators
The APP Group administrators can make updates independently instead of relaying updates and changes to the Locomote tech team. This time-saving measure allows business travel bookers to get back to what they do best — booking business travel.
With this new capability, The APP Group admins can make changes to their accounts without going through the tech team. This saves time and allows businesses to keep their travel booking processes running smoothly.
This update allows administrators to focus on their core responsibilities while saving time.
Phone App for Travellers on the Go
Soon, The APP Group will be able to take advantage of the Locomote phone app, which is currently in development. With this app, business travellers can easily book and manage their travel arrangements on the go.
The app will also provide up-to-date information on flights, hotels, and car rentals and allow users to access their itineraries and travel documents.
In addition, the app will offer a variety of features to make travel planning easier.
With their previous business travel provider, The APP Group business travellers did not have access to a phone app. They had to rely on the website to manage their travel.
The phone app is currently in development and is expected to be released soon.
Conclusion
The APP Group is a growing company that is continually expanding its reach.
As a result, the company's travel needs have become increasingly complex. Locomote is a business travel solution designed to keep up with the changing needs of the The APP Group.
Locomote offers various features essential for any business travel program, including online booking, itinerary management, and expense tracking. In addition, Locomote offers 24/7 support that will make it easy for business travellers or administrators to get the help they need.
