In a world driven by big data and statistics, business analytics is one of the biggest areas of focus for those looking to improve their brand. Adjacent to this pile of numbers is another labeled “Travel Analytics.” While one side of the business world is worrying about where and how they can do better, their travel department is struggling to make use of their own mountain of numbers.
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In all analytics, there are metrics that can be tracked and analyzed. These metrics fall into two categories, the first being helpful and useful (Actionable), and the second, superficial (Vanity). For those in the travel sector, such as travel managers, there are going to be certain metrics and KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators) that are more important and useful than others. Preparing reports and analyzing data effectively relies on using the right metrics and forgetting about the others, as much as they may seem interesting.
Metrics: What are They and How are They Useful
Klipfolio defines a business metric as “a quantifiable measure that is used to track and assess the status of a specific business process.” These metrics are statistics and numbers representing any part of a business that can be measured, such as website traffic and customer turnover rate.
Metrics are an important part of the business world. Tracking and analyzing these numbers allows a company to review its progress, see where it needs to go in the future, and implement changes and improvements.
Metrics for the travel manager will inevitably be different than those analyzed by someone in the marketing department. While other employees are gathering data about conversion rates and how well the marketing campaign is working, the travel manager will be looking at a different set of metrics that will inevitably help the business save money while keeping its road presence high.
Actionable Metrics: The Numbers that Count and What to Obtain from Them
[icon name=”desktop” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] Trip Quality
Keeping track of the happiness and wellbeing of your traveling employees is a big task for the travel manager. A very important metric, trip quality, can be used to find out what the company can do better and where changes need to be made in the travel policy. In our introduction to Travel Analytics for travel managers, we discussed the challenge of tracking employee satisfaction.
While making sure trip quality numbers rise, other metrics (those that are causing problems) will begin to decrease. Focus on this metric and witness the growth of your travel sector rise.
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[icon name=”desktop” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] Travel Risk
Managing the travel risks of a trip, combined with the overall destination risk will provide a very useful metric that will help to drive trip quality up, and improve performance. Analyzing prospected destinations along with those previously visited will give a clear picture of where to go and where to avoid. In today’s state of global politics, the fluctuation of where you can and cannot go is constant.
Travel risk optimization will give your employees the peace of mind that they will be safe, and or will be able to get help in a timely manner. Understanding this metric will not only make trips more productive, but it can narrow down places that are ineffective and time consuming.
[icon name=”desktop” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] Ineffective Trips Rate
Staying in constant contact with employees about overall trip ratings is an important part in analyzing this metric. Finding out the percentage of ineffective trips will help planning and save money by eliminating trips that are not productive.
Speak with your employees and ask them as many questions as necessary. Obtaining enough information is a key factor in finding out where you can improve.
[icon name=”desktop” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] Traveler Attrition
A decline in the number of road warriors along with employees refusing to go on the road will drive traveler attrition up. Finding out how many employees are dropping off can give insight into what the company, or travel sector, need to do in order to keep their employees happy. Improvement is always the highest priority. If attrition is high, find time to speak to your employees, especially those traveling, and figure out what can be done to improve their work environment.
[icon name=”desktop” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] Travel Expenses vs Revenue
Keeping track of expenses is a big job that may take some time and effective planning, but it is one of the most important. Analyzing the numbers of travel expenses against company revenue can give a clear perspective about how the company is doing.
No company wants to spend more on travel than they should, especially if it is unnecessary. Focusing on this metric, along with the others, will help to narrow down changes that need to be made. This can also highlight a helpful statistic to promote the company, if the numbers are positive.
Vanity Metrics: How to Recognize Superficial Numbers
Similar to how a startup or website might track its overall site traffic, a travel manager can track stats such as the number of employees who were sent out on the road in the past year. Both of these statistics, while they may seem interesting, will most likely not provide any real qualitative data.
Vanity metrics are deceiving. While they might provide some interesting numbers about the company, they will not help to achieve any goals or improve productivity. The number of employees sent on the road perils in comparison to a statistic like money spent on travel compared to yearly revenue.
Don’t be fooled by vanity metrics. Analyzing data should be useful to the company and its growth. When you notice a certain metric working towards your advantage, you will know it isn’t purely a vanity one.
Make Analytics Easier: Helpful Services and New Technology
The job of a travel manager can incorporate a wide array of responsibilities and new projects. With the business world growing and new technology being introduced, jobs are either becoming thinner or growing in size. For the travel manager, it all depends on what they use to achieve their goals.
Dealing with lists of metrics that hold large amount of numbers can pull a travel manager away from their other tasks. Focusing on traveling employees, their safety, their footprint, and their compliance are all heavy tasks. Why not combine these by using a service that not only helps plan trips more effectively but also keeps all data tracked and easy to access?
Claire is an artificial intelligence corporate travel tool that can incorporate elements of a travel manager’s job into one easy-to-use system. Breaking through into new territory, Claire focuses on the travel manager’s job and makes it that much easier through automation and intuitive machine learning.
Booking flights, incorporating travel policy, and keeping track of travel preferences while learning about you and your company, are just some of Claire’s features. Not only will Claire help you and your employees stay up to date and organized but she can also help improve your business efficiency overall.
[icon name=”check” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] Reduce travel expenses
[icon name=”check” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] Save your team time
[icon name=”check” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] Increase safety
[icon name=”check” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] Improve policy compliance