Monday, January 30, 2012

In-Person Meetings a Great Tool for Building Strong Relationships

It is true that companies and enterprises need to implement stricter rules and tougher policies to cut down superfluous spending by any means. But it should never be at the cost of company’ profit margins. What looks like superfluous spending may turn to be the most significant means of expanding business. Therefore, it is highly necessary to crosscheck sufficiently the pros and cons before taking any decision of budget cuts.

In the corporate world, business travels are considered as unnecessary and needless expenditure. Many people in the corporate sector share this perspective, as they believe that with the technological advancements made in the communication field, face-to-face meetings are sheer waste of time, money and effort. Therefore, when the global economy crumpled almost all companies and organizations went forward with the decision of cutting budgets for business travel management in order to tide over financial crisis. Though such a move helped them to reduce business travel expenses it meant letting go of opportunities of business expansion.

Today everything from meetings, conferences to conventions is done virtually. It is definitely a great time and money saver but is it effective enough to erase face-to-face meetings completely? The answer is no.

The foundation of any successful business is the ability to create and sustain strong relationships. Without good business relationships, no business can hope to survive, let alone grow and expand. That is where face-to-face meetings come helpful. Its greatest advantage is the human elements ingrained in it. This makes it a great tool for building strong and robust relationships.

The essential ingredient for developing strong relationships is trust. And trust can be generated only through personal interaction. The eye contact, different postures, body language go a long way in assessing the trustworthiness. According to a study co-authored by Kevin Rockmann of George Mason University and Gregory Northcraft, a professor of executive leadership at the University of Illinois “High-tech communications like e-mail and videoconferencing have fewer cues like eye contact and posture for people to rely on — strip away the personal interaction needed to breed trust.

Technology has made us much more efficient but much less effective. Something is being gained, but something is being lost. The something gained is time, and the something lost is the quality of relationships. And quality of relationships matters."

Hence, instead of cutting down budgets, companies should implement effective travel expense management software to control expenses.

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Monday, January 2, 2012

Things to look for When Selecting Travel Expense Management Software




With fears of another global recession looming large, companies and organizations who have already cut down their business travel budgets are in a fix as to how to achieve better travel spend analysis  without further budget cuts. Enterprises and organizations can no longer close their eyes to its immense benefits as studies and researches have proved time and again the positive effects of face-to-face meetings on businesses. To be brief, business meetings lead to business deals and business expansion, which lead to increased job opportunities, which finally culminates in better economies. Hence, with recession in the offing, companies would be taking a huge risk by reducing business travel budgets as a means to cut down superfluous spending.

Instead of taking pointless decisions that bring forth huge losses than gains in the long run, companies and enterprises should look at ways to better their business travel management. Any enterprise or company is concerned about how to lower direct travel costs, accelerate employee’s travel administration, and ensure strict adherence to internal rules and policies. Earlier it would have been a difficult task but today the availability of travel expense management software has made things much easier.

However, with myriads of options available to enterprises and companies, selecting the perfect one is a bit of a chance.  Therefore, let’s look at the fundamental aspects that need to be looked at before taking the pick.

Ease of Use
·         User-friendly interface
·         Anytime, anywhere access via browser
·         Seamless integration with other systems such as HR and accounting
·         Personal language choices

Enhanced Control
·         Compliance with laws and tax regulations
·         Strict adherence to company’ travel policies
·         Management of the entire travel-related purchase-to-pay process
·         Follow up for effective cost control
·         Role-based information for authorized users
·         Real-time information
·         Company and traveler profile management

Improved Customer Satisfaction
·         Preintegrated network of travel-related suppliers such as credit card companies, banks, travel account providers, international booking systems, hotels and hotel sites, travel agents, airlines, rail companies, car rental companies, and taxi companies
·         Fast practical analysis and reporting
·         Faster turnaround time for business travel expenses
·         Automated reconciliation and accounting of travel account invoice data with travel provider invoice/delivery note data
·         Faster travel claim approval process
·         Process purchase transactions from credit cards
·         No time consuming repetitive manual tasks

To be brief, select effective travel expense management  software that helps to achieve end-to-end visibility and control of travel management and business travel expenses.

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