If you travel regularly on business, there are a couple of things you crave more than anything – not the comfort of your own bed, but ease and convenience.
The success of Netflix and Amazon Prime shows we value experiences that make life easier and more convenient, giving us more time to do the things we want to do.
Business travel is no different. If you are on the road regularly, you want a slick consumer experience, and expect it wherever you are and whenever you need it.
Inevitably, in a demanding and competitive professional world, business travel sometimes eats into your personal time. Yet there is no reason why your business travel experience should not match or exceed your personal one.
It is all about attaining work-life balance – something that you are prepared to change jobs for to achieve.¹ It is also why trips that blend business and leisure are growing in popularity, meaning consumer expectations are increasingly influencing business travel decisions.
We make it easy to travel, so our clients can focus on getting their job done
Reed & Mackay has been helping business travellers achieve just this balance for more than five decades, delivering extraordinary service to those working in law, finance, professional services and other demanding sectors.
“We look to alleviate the pressures faced by business travellers. We hone in on the friction points – delays, dead time, payment concerns, cancellations. We make it easy to travel, so our clients can focus on getting their job done instead of worrying about how they are going to get there,” says group chief executive Fred Stratford.
“Our travellers aren’t new to this. Improving experience is about really understanding why they are there in the first place. Lounge access to complete a presentation last minute, fast tracked security because they’ve been held up, a familiar seat on the plane because it’s the only chance they will get to rest and a really slick app that means all they need to remember is their passport.”
Employers value this focus on keeping you happy too, not just for your own wellbeing and productivity, but because it is good for business. It helps them recruit and retain the best talent. The GBTA Foundation says half of European travellers look at travel policy when changing jobs.2
Reed and Mackay’s extraordinary service does not happen by itself; it leverages a suite of integrated technology, from online booking tools to mobile apps.
The company has reimagined its R&M/mobile app for tomorrow’s business travellers, integrating booking, itinerary management, traveller-tracking and trip approval.
Product development director Fahim Khan says: “We wanted to deliver the go-to app for business travellers and to do that we spent a lot of time understanding what makes an app great. The intelligence to share the right information with the traveller at critical points in their trip, in addition to the ability to make a booking, were key.”
The app also brings positive news to the traveller, letting them know when Reed & Mackay has secured an upgrade or saved them the cost of a hotel cancellation penalty.
Cutting-edge, convenient-to-use technology that helps you maintain your work-life balance and be productive for your company is one thing, but not enough to deliver extraordinary service.
Mr Stratford says: “Business travel is personal. Technology is fantastic, but it can’t replace the value of a human being at the end of the telephone when you really need them. Our out-of-hours team are there to deal with any travel crisis at any hour with empathy, experience and speed.”
Ease and convenience are at a premium in our ever-busy lives. By providing consumer-grade technology and personalised support, companies can empower their travellers with choice while protecting their safety, and personal and data privacy without affecting the bottom line.
1 UK Salary and Recruiting Trends 2018, Hays
2 Creating a Frictionless Travel Experience, GBTA Foundation
For more information please visit reedmackay.com
