Case studies

Clearlink Case Study: Reduce Travel Costs and Increase Visibility

“TravelBank has provided us with excellent visibility into our employee bookings. We are able to see spend as a whole and within departments, reduce travel costs, and easily see issues such as users booking flights less than 7 to 14 days out.”

– Kandi Phillips, Office, Perks and Events Manager

Clearlink Data

At a Glance

The Customer

A leading provider of digital marketing and conversion services for consumer and business brands.

The Challenge

Employees booking travel online resulted in minimal insight and control.

The Solution

The Results

The Customer

Clearlink combines the best people with the smartest technology to provide intelligent marketing, sales, and data science solutions for the world’s leading brands. Established in 2003, Clearlink employs more than 1,700 professionals.

The Challenge

Clearlink employees were individually booking their travel online, resulting in minimal insight and control. “We lacked an efficient way to track compliance with our travel policy and hold people accountable. We couldn’t tell if they were exploring other options and getting the best rates available, or paying more due to club membership preferences. Managers also lacked visibility into bookings. Every three to six months, the accounting team conducted an analysis of travel expenses, but it was a time-consuming, manual process.

“We needed a system to help us with the transition to a new, comprehensive travel policy. Particularly as the number of employees traveling for day to day business continued to increase, we realized this was an area of opportunity to reduce travel costs and provide more guidelines,” stated Kandi Phillips, Office, Perks and Events Manager, Clearlink.

The Solution

Ms. Phillips researched and evaluated  a variety of travel management service providers and solutions, some of which could interface with Concur. After narrowing down to TravelBank and TripActions, Clearlink selected TravelBank due to the user-friendly platform and the ability to reduce travel costs, as well as the lack of any implementation or annual fees.

“The sales experience was great. Because TravelBank was the last product we considered, we knew what we were looking for and asked questions rapid-fire, and TravelBank facilitated our accelerated evaluation. Our sales rep was a big part of why we wanted to work with TravelBank. She was honest and genuine, and you could tell she really loved the product and stood behind it,” stated Ms. Phillips. A glowing reference from an existing TravelBank customer also helped confirm Clearlink’s decision.

The Results

“We have found the system to be extremely user friendly, intuitive, and easy to navigate. TravelBank’s goal is to have you book a flight from start to finish in under a few minutes, and the process is streamlined to take the headache out of booking travel. Aesthetically, the software is clean, well-organized, and visually pleasing,” stated Ms. Phillips.

Quick and Easy Launch

Adding users to TravelBank is simple with mass uploads, and deactivating employees is just as easy. Two TravelBank employees conducted onsite training sessions for Clearlink. The company recorded the training sessions on Zoom so employees would have access to training in the future.

Ease of Use and Flexibility

Users now find it easy to book flights and hotels on their own, without a lengthy, tedious research process. TravelBank is also flexible to accommodate Clearlink’s unique policies. For example, if employees attend a conference that provides hotel discounts, they can book outside the system. Travel expenses also are compiled automatically for reconciliation in Clearlink’s expense management system, saving employees’ time.

Save Money by Rewarding Employee Travelers

“We’ve also invested in rewards and the feedback has been great. Employees are motivated by the incentives to book more discounted flights. As our travelers become more educated on what they’re booking, we continue to see savings. Being able to book Airbnb has also been helpful, particularly for employees staying in our Scottsdale, AZ location for a week at a time.”

Improved Visibility

“TravelBank has provided us with excellent visibility into our employee bookings. We are able to see spend as a whole and within departments, and easily see issues such as users booking flights less than 7 to 14 days out. This visibility also provides us with the information we need to provide due diligence in safety and care of our traveling employees.”

After implementing TravelBank, ClearLink quickly saw an increase in trips booked further in advance, resulting in reduced costs.

Ongoing Enhancements

“TravelBank is continuing to develop new enhancements to their system, like rental cars. It has been convenient and helpful to have everything in one system.

“As a company that has a high annual travel spend, we can already see we will rely heavily on the upcoming features. As a newer travel platform in an industry that hasn’t seen much change or innovation to travel, we’re excited to see the enhancements that are being made by TravelBank,” concluded Ms. Phillips.

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