Last week at the Global Business Travel Association, Southwest Airlines announced a new travel portal called Southwest Business Assist. The new self-service tool is powered by Salesforce Experience Cloud and Tableau, and enables corporate travel buyers and travel management companies to more efficiently and conveniently manage their business travel programs with Southwest Airlines while also tracking important data points, including their carbon footprint.
Why it’s important: As travel restrictions abate, corporate travel is making a slow but steady comeback. In fact, global business travel is expected to total $933 billion this year and hit $1.47 trillion in 2026 – back to pre-pandemic levels.
Launching today, Southwest Business Assist provides business customers and partners access to real-time information, reporting, and benefits to improve efficiencies and communication as corporate travel needs rebound. Specifically, the on-demand tool enables:
- Simplified management of travel funds
- Enhanced insight into contractual benefits, account performance, and dashboards
- Automated sustainability reporting
- Increased automation with real-time capabilities, and service
The Southwest perspective: Dave Harvey, Vice President of Southwest Business, said:
- “Southwest Business Assist is a transformative tool for corporate travel buyers and business travel decision makers. It makes back office operations more efficient and helps them track their sustainability reporting – a huge win.”
- “With Southwest Business Assist now available, the Southwest Business team can spend more time providing next-level hospitality while continuing to welcome more business travelers to Southwest Airlines.”
In-depth: This announcement marks the most recent development in Southwest Airlines’ relationship with Salesforce and partnership with Slalom Consulting, who was chosen last year to develop the travel portal. A Salesforce customer since 2007, the carrier uses several products to help power its digital transformation:
- Service Cloud enables Southwest Airlines to consolidate 15 systems into one view and drive greater productivity. Additionally, AI-powered chatbots and self-service tools enable customers to get simple answers quickly, while leaving more complex cases to be handled by agents.
- Sales Cloud helps the airline track accounts, leads, activities, and opportunities for business customers and travel agencies to better understand what it needs to do to secure healthy margins.
- Signature Success Plan provides continuous monitoring and proactively alerts Southwest to any potential issues that could affect system performance or the customer experience.
Explore further:
- Read more about how Southwest Airlines is using Salesforce productivity tools to supercharge its customer service.
- Watch this video on how Service Cloud is helping Southwest deliver accessible tools to all of its customer service representatives.
- Check out this post to learn more about how Southwest designed its customer service with inclusivity in mind.
- Read more about global consulting firm Slalom and their partnership with Salesforce.
