New Research by Lola.com Says Companies Are Losing 15% of Time and $12K per Employee Each Year with Outdated Travel Management

https://www.lola.com/news/-new-research-says-companies-losing-15-of-time-and-12k-per-employee-in-one-year-with-outdated-travel-management

Inflexible tools, opaque processes, and lack of on-demand support make 44% of employees think of quitting and 55% seeing negative impact on productivity

CHICAGO and BOSTON – GBTA Convention – Aug. 5, 2019 – Lola.com, the Agile Travel Management™ company that provides a super simple way to manage, book, and report on business travel, today highlighted new research by Kickstand Communications that showed business travel management needs an immediate rethink. It drew a strong correlation between business travel and business success. It also showed that inadequate tools lowered bottom lines and saw employees leaving. Specifically, the study uncovered the cost to businesses, including loss of up to 15% of employees’ time and up to $12K per year per traveler on travel-related admin tasks.

“This research interlinks travel with business success,” said Mike Volpe, CEO of Lola.com. “In fact, 94% cited that well-managed business travel is 'critical’ for company success. But despite its importance, companies are failing their employees with a lack of tools and support, and these inefficiencies are costing big time and money. In some cases, it is also making it difficult to retain their most valuable talents. All of this is why Lola.com sees huge potential in helping companies reinvent corporate travel.”

Major gripes from the 714 frequent U.S.-based business travelers surveyed included outdated policies and poor tool design. So, 64% used consumer sites for their business travel management. The same percentage also felt that they were wasting time, while 55% saw a negative impact on job productivity.

Meanwhile, the 619 travel arrangers surveyed said the problem lies with no single platform and support. Half of the travel arrangers (49%) said their companies did not provide any tools. Two in five (39%) noted that the tools lacked support, so almost two-thirds (64%) relied on spreadsheets and documents for travel management.

More than half of business travelers (53%) felt their company’s approach is wasting money. Half of them (50%) saw it affecting bottom lines. More than two-thirds (67%) of travel arrangers also shared similar conclusions.

The impact was most significant at SMB companies. While 70% said travel management influenced job satisfaction, 14% more agreed at SMBs. More than half (59%) said related inefficiencies made them "less happy," with 12% more at SMBs saying the same. Further, 44% indicated that they might even look for other jobs with the number increasing by 29% at SMBs.

The research underscores Lola.com’s approach to business travel management, offering a single method for both business travelers and travel arrangers that is both simple and transparent.

“Using Lola.com gives me peace of mind to ensure my reps get to where they need to be at the right time,” said Alex Mackenzie, Director of Sales, Allego. “Half of the travel we booked previously would have at least some type of minor issue. And now that is almost extinct.”
Lola.com also gives business travelers the flexibility and convenience they want -- an important issue as the bleisure (combining business travel with leisure time) market grows.

“We had all this data outside of the platform, and users who were unhappy,” said Steve Isom, Vice President of Finance, Flywheel. “Now we solve both of those things with phenomenal support. And all of the data is in one place, so I have complete visibility into the spend.”
Lola.com is part of Innovation Row in booth #17 at the GBTA Convention, taking place on Saturday, August 3 – Wednesday, August 7, 2019 in Chicago, IL. Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) is the world’s premier business travel organization with more than 9,000 members managing more than $345 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually.

For more research findings, visit: https://www.lola.com/the-cost-of-doing-business-travel

All trademarks recognized.
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Tracy Wemett
BroadPR, Inc. for Lola.com
250 Summer Street
Boston MA 02210
+1-617-868-5031 (office)
tracy@broadpr.com

About Lola.com
Lola.com makes Agile Travel Management real by providing a super simple way to manage, book and report on business travel, saving employers and travelers time and money. Happy employee travel experiences within a policy can be set up in five minutes. Lola.com uses machine learning and 24/7 support to help travelers easily book trips, while empowering managers to create policies, view budgets and expenditures, and monitor their globetrotting team efficiently. Based in Boston, the company was founded in 2015 by Paul English, co-founder of the travel booking site KAYAK, and is led by CEO Mike Volpe, previously CMO at HubSpot. For more information, visit https://www.lola.com/ and connect on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.