In today’s consumer-driven market, customers don’t just appreciate a tailored experience – they expect it. Personalization helps organizations improve employee loyalty and engagement, and fosters the kind of positive association with corporate travel normally reserved for personal apps and websites.
In business travel, it’s the practice of using traveler data to deliver each individual travel services according to preferences. The goal? To ensure that services are aligned with their specific needs.
The traveler inputs his or her preferences to receive information and services that match their interests. Technology then captures travelers’ patterns and behavior to proactively offer them options they like. By taking that extra step to understand and assess data at a high level — you’re equipped to deliver a relevant, pleasurable experience.
As part of our mission to drive our best ever experience, we are introducing many new features to personalize business travel for your employees.
Collecting accurate information from travelers is crucial, as these key details allow travel management companies to offer each individual targeted offerings.
For example; do they have a favourite hotel group or airline? This information helps target travelers with the right options for them. It also means that travel management companies can connect the right hospitality or airline loyalty programs to each person, ensuring they aren’t missing out on their loyalty points. Some travelers might even have more specific preferences, such as having a forward or backward facing seat on a train, or a window seat instead of an aisle seat on a plane.
Alongside understanding preferences, a personalized program can ensure that travelers are compliant with your company’s travel policy. If they are not authorized to travel in first class, they will only be shown business and economy class flights. Personalization also ensures that costs are kept to a minimum; if there is a cheaper flight that requires a connection, we’ll offer it to travelers first.
As part of CWT’s personalization movement, we’re building a single platform that provides a 360-degree view of your employees, allowing any of our travel counselors to visit previous history and record any interactions made with each individual traveler. There will also be an array of tools added specifically for the travel manager community, with advanced analytic platforms that will demonstrate CWT’s direct connection to your company.
We’re also evolving our content display to ensure it is tailored to each individual user. By learning more about your travelers, we will curate the best choices to each of their needs. This will be provided through our experiences and online booking tool partners.
Just a few examples of traveler-specific preferences that we want to understand better are dining preferences, choice of technology — such as Mac or PC for example, important dates to your travelers — for both business and pleasure, and entertainment preferences. This will help us ensure a more curated assortment of products and services are available to them before, during and after a business trip.
Our methods of personalization are implemented to ensure your employees have an enjoyable experience on their business trips, and by extension a positive relationship with their employers. As a result, satisfied employees are better equipped to achieve your company’s business goals.