With a myriad of options available in the market for your business or individual needs, picking the right travel management company can be a little complex. Travel management companies can be big, small, targeting a particular niche, large scale corporates, or simple family-run businesses. This implies that with such a wide range of variety to choose from, it is mandatory that you know how to pick the best according to your needs.

Market research
Mostly all good travel management companies are listed online. If you do not want to trust the Internet, look for recommendations from networking professionals or even family and friends. Once you have your eye set on one company, do some research online and look for any complaints lodged against them. Make sure that you do not consider the companies that have any negative reviews on the Internet. Opt for the companies that have been appreciated by people in the online community.

List down your needs
If you are hiring a travel management company to cater to your business needs, it is very important that you make no mistakes while making the decision since a substantial investment will be for the same. There will be a long list of services offered by travel management companies. But it is important to remember that you may not need all those services just because the companies are offering them. For this, list down your needs first. Make a list of problems that you are currently facing. Talk to other stakeholders in the company. This will give you a better insight into the needs of the company. Once you have the list ready, do a business need analysis and prioritize accordingly.

Learn the benefits of partnering with one travel management company
The travel management company that you pick will largely depend on the size and culture of your business. This is why there are many corporates that partner with more than one travel management company to cater to their different needs. But, before you move forward in that direction, make sure you are well-versed with the advantages of picking a single travel management company. When you bring a single travel management company on board, it is only one single source of information, single traveler tracking, and lesser negotiations on the supplier. Having a single supplier means that you will only have to brief about your needs once. It saves a lot of time and also gives the supplier the accountability of facing the challenges of the company together.

Budgeting is important
For big corporates, the number of frequent fliers can be high. Thus, the need of having a travel management company representative stationed at their office is a necessity. However, this can incur some really high and extra cost. Therefore, if you think you cannot afford to bear those extra costs, look for companies who are easily accessible over phone and email. Also, negotiating on the cost offered by the agency is vital.

Ask questions
Once you have shortlisted the prospective travel management partners, meet them and ask them questions. One of the most important questions to ask will be about value addition. At this stage, it is important to ask them about the value that they will add to your company other than just making travel bookings. It is a standard practice for all good travel management companies to offer an experienced account manager to the corporate. So, it is important that you look for these services while choosing the right vendor for your business. Most travel management companies will make tall claims about meeting your targets with their services. However, make sure that you don’t fall for these promises and ask for innovation and some value-added services.

Do not fall for the sales pitch
A sales representative will do whatever it takes to convince you. You might even be shown a flowery picture by being offered services which the travel company might not be able to fulfill later. Therefore, make sure you do your research before agreeing to the company. Look for any awards that they have won. See if they have any experience of working with a client of similar requirements. Reach out to their customers and take their feedback on their experience with the travel management company. To get a better insight into the ethics they follow, get a closer look into the company’s values and social responsibility policies. Having a discussion without doing your homework can be tricky sometimes. Therefore, before you go ahead with a collaboration, make sure that you know the company thoroughly.