There is a lot of value to be gained from creating standardized business processes, and this is also amplified by delegating the work to a dedicated assistant. By recruiting help to make sure you have help throughout your next business trip, you can just focus on the tasks at hand.
The best assistants go above and beyond just booking flights and submitting expenses, and their help can ensure that you and your team truly get the most out of any excursion. With an expert admin at your side, you can expect to realize a number of benefits: you can significantly reduce costs, better use downtime, eliminate frivolous travel expenses and rack up mileage, all while keeping things as simple as possible for you and your team.
1. Reduces Costs
Even something as simple like scheduling an in-person meeting in the wrong time zone can cause business travel costs to skyrocket. Eliminate these extra expenses by establishing standard expense boundaries. When there is standardization in booking trips and deducting travel expenses, it leads to peace of mind and a stable bottom line.
In addition, you can rack up frequent-flier miles and loyalty points that can actually save the company some money, but this only works if you're consistent. Make sure both you and your employees know which companies to book through and which credit cards to use to pay for travel expenses, so that everyone can benefit great perks like extra nights at select hotels, free flights and free rental car upgrades.
2. More Effective Use of Your Time
How much time are your employees spending on travel research and bookings? Too much, especially when they could be spending time on their primary work. While it's a smart idea to leverage an assistant to do the travel research for you, a great assistant will tell you which leads and clients are nearby for you to meet in person to make your downtime more productive. In addition, that same assistant can go above and beyond by attending your in-office meetings for you and take notes while you're en-route or attending other meetings abroad so you never miss a beat in the office.
3. Simplicity for Your Team
There are lots of great apps out there that can help you organize your receipts and submit expenses. But, no one wants to be using dozens of apps, especially if your colleagues are using something totally different. Instead, firmly establish one or two as the go-to apps for everyone to use, to keep things simple. Providing your support team with someone who can support their efforts by managing their apps for them can go a long way. Consider the idea that a sales assistant can ensure your CRM is up to date after a conference or networking event,and how much easier it will be to follow up with all the new contacts and leads you made afterwards. By leveraging an assistant, and laying down standard processes, you allow the team to focus on their primary responsibilities and give them the opportunity of make their business trips significantly more productive than before.
While assistants can create itineraries, schedule bookings, and help out if cancelations or delays come up, it would behoove you and your team to leverage this support more wisely. A great assistant who goes above and beyond and acts as an extension of you while you are abroad, offers a lot more value to you and your team. By ensuring that best practices are followed at all times, creating intelligent itineraries that leave no time unused, taking notes during meetings you can't attend, ensuring that CRM solutions are properly filled out and so much more, an assistant truly ensures that everyone gets the most value possible out of a business trip.
