Success Tips and Best Practices for Travel Managers

No matter where you are in your travel management career, it’s essential to keep certain skills sharp and to adhere to some best practices.

Here’s our advice on where to focus your efforts and make the most of your travel management career.

Hone These Travel Management Skills

Successful corporate travel managers have to bring a wide range of hard and soft skills to the role. Expertise in the industry and its technology is essential, but make no mistake: Developing relationships is just as important in creating a successful travel program. Focus on these technical and behavioral skills:

• Sourcing inventory. Develop a strong understanding of the different ways travel suppliers distribute their content.
• Assessing software. Corporate travel vendors offer a range of services, including online booking tools (OBTs), travel management companies (TMCs), expense management software, and payment options. Some require cobbling several services together, while others offer all-in-one solutions. Travel managers should understand the strengths and weaknesses of all options — and the differences between unified solutions — to have an informed opinion on what’s best for a particular business.
• Analyzing data. The ability to analyze travel data helps enable travel managers to identify trends, optimize itineraries, and control spend.
• Embracing innovation. A familiarity with artificial intelligence and machine learning can further enhance decision-making and automate routine tasks.
• Communication and interpersonal skills. A successful travel manager should champion the cause of the traveler and be the voice of the travel solution within the company. It requires frequent communication and collaboration with the travel solution as well as internal stakeholders like finance, procurement, and HR.
• Organizational and problem-solving skills. Travel can be complicated. Travel managers have to maintain their calm under pressure to support travelers in exceptional circumstances, such as adverse weather events and closed air spaces. Being able to think on your feet and pivot at a moment’s notice is key.

Best Practices for Travel Managers

Keeping these procedures in mind will help keep you operating at a high level:

• Align travel management with broader business objectives. Every trip has a purpose. By showcasing the return on investment (ROI) of efficient travel management — from cost reductions and compliant bookings to enhanced traveler safety — you can position travel as a strategic component of overall business success.
• Leverage technology to streamline processes. Embrace integrated solutions that connect booking systems, expense management tools, and real-time reporting dashboards. These technologies not only reduce administrative burdens but also provide invaluable insights to optimize budgets and enforce duty of care.
• Keep policies current. Corporate travel policies aren’t one and done. Everything evolves — from regulations and supplier terms to company objectives. Work with your finance team to regularly update policies.
• Build strategic supplier relationships. Data is your friend. Work with your TMC to review program data and evaluate if corporate negotiated rates would enhance your program, or if the upfront discounts offered by your travel solution are already providing the required benefits.
• Articulate value. Travel is essential to businesses of all sizes, but it comes with a cost — often a large one. Successful travel managers have to feel comfortable defending their program and articulating its value to finance teams and the C-suite.

A Travel Manager’s Secret Weapon

Here’s something that’s neither a skill nor a best practice for a travel manager: Getting bogged down in logistical details. It’s an easy trap to fall into, however, given a travel manager’s many tasks. Remaining above the fray requires the assistance of a partner to help you streamline, automate, and analyze.

Navan is that partner — one that can help you keep both travelers and C-suiters happy, control costs, and optimize ROI — so you can focus on more strategic work.

Read more in our series, The Travel Manager’s Journey:

• How to Launch a Career as a Corporate Travel Manager
• Career Advancement Tips for Corporate Travel Managers

See what Navan can do. Book a demo now!