Okay, we promise we won’t tell this to anyone but did you know you’ve been planning corporate travels completely wrong all this time?
If it isn’t very clear already, booking business tours is much more than just few simple clicks on the computer. There’s a pool of factors that needs to be considered—even more for companies who are limited in their finances. And the task becomes more tedious with all the evident false claims of countless ‘Average-Joe’ corporate tour organizers.
If you really think those boldly advertised corporate holidays packages labeled “cheap” are cheap, you’re likely living in a la-la-land. Because beyond the farce of “cheap” is really the unknown extravagance that can burn your pockets (and heart).
So here comes the most important question—how do you plan your corporate travels?
Given the process is quite significant financially and experience-wise, there’s also a big room to make mistakes. And chances are that you’re possibly making a few mistakes here and few mistakes there.
In fact, here are 5 ways you’ve always been planning your corporate tours completely wrong:
- Picking peak-season dates
This is no less than a sin—travelling during peak season when price of literally everything soars high. Of course, the dates of meetings are often inflexible—meaning there could be less litheness in the corporate travel. However, in our experience, we have found that companies can easily manage the dates of even the most important business travel with advanced planning.
Solution: Plan ahead and avoid peak-season travelling.
- (Unnecessarily) Booking 5-Star Hotels
You’re in different city or country for business purpose and not on a vacation. Do you really need to book that extra-extravagant 5-star hotel that costs a bank? Learn to draw a line between luxury and unnecessary; because beyond a point, luxury becomes unnecessary. The lower-end hotels aren’t bad. With good room setup and decent room service and add-ons, they can easily deliver you a nice experience.
Solution: Avoid expensive hotel chains.
- Not taking good care of health
During such business travelling it’s easy to let go of your rigorous habits to get an escapade from those healthy foods, morning jogging and proper sleep. And when this happens, it’s even easier to fall sick. Needless to say, travelling for an unwell individual is costlier than for a healthy person. You’re going to have to go see a doctor, extend your stay, and risk not delivering on business goals.
Solution: Take good care of your health.
- Ineffective Time Management
Time management is a backbone of every successful and affordable corporate tour. If you aren’t strict in your schedule, it could possibly affect your budget. Maybe you miss your flight, have to pay extra for your overstay in the hotel, or that flight at 6 is much cheaper than that in late night. When you effectively manage your time, you liberally steer the direction of your budget. And this is very important.
Solution: Have a time management strategy for your corporate travel.
- Doing it all by yourself
Are you an expert in planning and booking business travel? Likely not! You don’t exactly know how to optimize the experience and lower the cost of such tours—but experts do. So it is always advisable that you, instead of trying to do everything alone, hire a good travel agency. These days, a handful of top agencies offer very affordable corporate tour packages. You can easily strike the cheapest deal.
Solution: Have a travel agency by your side.
BONUS
- Not doing post-travel analysis
Here’s something that majority of companies doesn’t do—doing post travel analysis. After every trip, it is very important to evaluate how rewarding the trip was, did you achieve what you wanted to, what was the source of unnecessary expense, and could you avoid such (if) fruitless trips in the future?
Solution: Find answer to the above mentioned questions.
These are 5 (+1) possible ways you’re planning your corporate travel completely wrong. Follow the accompanying solutions and fix these wrongs today. You won’t necessarily save a fortune in a week. But down the line you’ll feel the difference in your bank account.
AUDIO VERSION:
You’ve Been Planning Corporate Travels Completely Wrong: Here’s why!