Name: From EA to VP: executive travel that works for everyone
Uploaded: 2025-04-30T18:46:04.845Z
Duration: 30 min 8 s
Description: From EA to VP: executive travel that works for everyone

Transcript for "From EA to VP: executive travel that works for everyone": Hello, everyone. Welcome to our webinar today from EA to VP, executive travel that works for everyone. My name is Cleo Tarka. I'm a b two b content manager here at Uber for Business, and thanks so much for joining us. If you're new to Uber for Business, we bring the best of Uber to organizations across the world. With integrated solutions and exceptional service, we empower companies of all sizes to streamline their business travel, reimagine employee well-being, and elevate the customer experience all while enabling their employees and customers to use the Uber they know and hopefully love and trust in their professional lives. Today, I'm joined by Emily Kennedy, who is one of our senior strategic operations associates for Uber for Business, and also Hazel Zhou, a senior product manager on the tech side for Uber for Business. While we give people a few seconds to get logged in, we're gonna break the ice and get to know our speakers a little bit. And I'm very excited to hear our answers from our panelists. Very on brand icebreaker today. Which fictional character would you hire as your EA? The choices are Siri from thirty Rock, Lloyd from Entourage, Gary from Veep, or Andy from The Devil Wears Prada. And, Emily, I'm gonna kick it over to you first. Thanks, Cleo. I would definitely say that Andy is one of my favorites. I think she had a great, character development throughout the movie, and I live in New York as well, so I think I relate to her. Nice. Hazel, what about you? I have to go with Andy too. I think she just became the perfect EA at the end of the show, but she still kept her character during it, which I really respect. Yeah. Totally agree with you. And if you're, in the chat, feel free to drop your answers in as well. So before we dive into our content, a few housekeeping notes. When you register for the session, we allowed you to ask some questions. We will answer some of them at the end of this call. But the ones we don't get to, our team will do the best to follow-up, after the session. If you're interested in just learning more about Uber for Business, you can explore some of our related content under the docs tab. And if you'd like a platform demo, there's a get demo button at the top of your screen where you can request one, and we'll follow-up with you after the webinar to get that set up. And lastly, please do your best to stay until the end of the session so you can fill out our post event survey. We'd love to you to take the time, give us some feedback. We use it to make sure these future webinars are the best they can be. And now we're gonna dive right in. So today, we're gonna cover why executive travel matters to your organization, how to streamline it by making the management of it easier, and how you can offer your team on demand luxury. So to kick us off, Hazel is gonna shed a little bit of light on why premium travel is so important. Thanks, Cleo. So we all know how stressful business travel can be. Thirty four percent of business travelers say that they experience anxiety and stress, and thirty percent of them say they experience homesickness while on the road. This is especially amplified when we're talking about executives who often travel on weekends and on off hours to get to the important events on time. Comfortable, reliable transportation can go such a long way in reducing that travel stress. So think quicker in and out, more space, and less people. When you can count on having professional and reliable transportation, travel time actually transforms from being a tone sink to becoming efficient. That same time that was used for managing travel can now be used to prep for that upcoming meeting, taking on the road calls, or just, you know, relaxing and recharging in that space. When execs travel too, they may bring their own expectations of luxury and convenience. And when we're talking about luxury, it's not always about feeling fancy. Sometimes it's about maintaining that consistent professional experience that your travelers are used to through the entire journey. Thanks for setting that stage, Hazel. We're gonna give Emily the floor now to talk through some of the challenges of managing executive travel. Definitely. Thanks, Cleo. So executive travelers executive assistants are the backbone of an organization. They spend a lot of time managing transport and logistics for the executives they support. And as we've heard from a number of different customer interviews, we know that that process is not always seamless. A smooth journey for the executive means a success for the EA, and it's a really tough job. EAs have to adapt to multiple different changes such as last minute scheduling conflicts, gaps in communication that may exist between the driver, the rider, and themselves, as well as juggling multiple different service providers. On top of that, the travel management tooling available in the market today is not always built with the EA in mind. Many rideshare apps have outdated technology and UX that can cause friction. EAs want visibility at every phase of the journey, so having the ability for them to track trips in real time is really crucial to give them peace of mind. And then additionally, billing, expensing, and receipt management, we know can be a huge headache and EAs are asking for easier ways to automate this whole process. So as Hazel and Emily eloquently put for us, there's a lot of things at play here. And knowing how challenging it can be to manage executive travel, we wanted to build something to empower those who are on the front lines of managing it, and those are our EAs. And that's where delegate profiles comes in. So delegate profiles is a newer feature that allows EAs to request rides on behalf of their executives directly in the Uber app by gaining access to their executives' Uber business profiles. If you've done this before, previously, to delegate profiles, it was super complicated. Either the exec had to manage all of the communication or the EA was stuck playing middleman or woman passing along every update on the ride status. And beyond that, this functionality was not something Uber or Uber for business were designed to do before. So with these updates and this feature, it's basically as easy as booking a ride for yourself and allows the EA and the exec to monitor the ride yet every step of the way from wherever they are. And for the exec, the experience is exactly the same as if they booked the ride for themselves using their own Uber app. It's the same Uber magic they get, just made even easier for both parties. And to give you a better look at how this works, how EAs can get set up and book start booking rides for executives, we're gonna show you a brief walk through. Become a delegate on your executive's Uber business profile and manage their transportation with ease. Open the Uber app and select account. Next, tap wallet. Scroll down and tap manage business rides for others. Tap get started. You can send your executive a request via email, phone number, or QR code. For this example, we'll use email. Tap add contact by business email, enter your executive's email, and proceed to the next step. If you're part of multiple business profiles, choose one and tap send request. Your executive will now receive an email where they can choose to approve access, and you'll officially be a delegate. And that's it. As a delegate, you'll be able to request or reserve rides for your executive, track trips, contact the driver, and get receipts for easy expensing, and much more. Make your exec's day every day with Uber for Business. So now that you've seen how easy it is to get set up with delegate profiles, we just wanna hit home the point that this whole effort is really about making things easier for EAs across the board by streamlining their workflow. Delegate profiles saves time for the EAs by allowing them to manage both everyday and luxury travel within the same Uber ecosystem. It also takes away the need to play telephone with the exec to make sure things are going smoothly, no back and forth texting, it's all gone. It also provides the peace of mind with features you've come to expect from Uber. So that is professional drivers if you're booking a luxury ride type, reserving rides in advance, getting ride updates in real time now both for the EA and the executive, And easy integration into expensing systems which means no more manual receipt tracking. And, we're gonna talk a little bit more about some of these features in our next section when we introduce Uber Business Black. Now normally, we don't dive so deep into product. But we really wanted to take a second and shout out our amazing team and talk a little bit about what went into making delegate profiles possible. Hazel, can you walk us through that? Thanks, Cleo. We get asked a lot about how we bring that Uber check magic into our products, so I would love to speak a little bit more to that. So think about your typical Uber trip where you are both the requester and the rider of that trip. That means you are the only person receiving information about that trip. So think emails, you know, app notifications, receipts, and you're the only one that can edit the trip. So think things like editing your drop off or your pickup. In delegate profiles, we wanted both of our travel heroes, the executive assistant and the exec, to have all the tools at their disposal for a seamless trip. So for the executive, this really means user experience continuity. Even though their EA is the one booking the ride, we want the executive to feel like they booked the ride for themselves, maintaining that same Uber magic throughout without any disruption. And then for the EA, that meant control and visibility. We wanted to provide EAs with the ability to fully manage the ride, including the flexibility to modify or cancel trips and communicate directly with both the executive and the driver. So what did that mean in terms of engineering challenges? There were a ton of challenges, but there were a few big ones I want to highlight. So first, it meant updating our communications infrastructure. This starts with ensuring booking reservations get to both the EA and the executive, and then continues through the journey, keeping both individuals informed on when the driver is arriving, what the trip status is, and when the trip ended. Our end goal was to free the EAs and executives from meeting needing to message back and forth while to keep track of where the executive is. Second, it meant making billing changes across our entire stack. We know that seamless billing is a huge lifesaver for EAs. We kept the seamless Uber for business billing integration into delegate profiles. So if you're an EA who manages multiple executives, you can confidently book trips for them and trust that we will expense it correctly for you. And then finally, we ensure that delegate profiles works with our elevated business travel products like Uber Business Black, which Emily is going to talk to soon. So these are the highlights, but so much more went into the product. The total effort spent 30 different services and five different platforms, and I do wanna give a quick nod to Sheikha Kaur, our senior director of engineering, David Parashar, our senior staff engineer, and our entire engineering team for all the work that made the problem. So just to wrap it up, why did we do all of this? One is we know it's important. Two is we know it's high stakes for the people who use it. And third, as always, we absolutely wanted to get it right. And speaking of getting things absolutely right, we know that the ride experience is important for execs and for everyone. Emily, I think you're now gonna talk us through one of our new ride offerings that might be a great fit for executives. Yeah. Definitely. I'm really excited to introduce our new product, but I'll give a little bit of background first before I do that. So you you may have heard, but over the years, Uber for Business has built a reputation of being a reliable transportation provider for any occasion that may arise during your normal business day. We know that for executive travelers, the stakes are even higher to have a comfortable and reliable experience to get where you need to go. That is where Uber Business Black comes in. We designed our new product to meet and exceed the high expectations of executive travelers who need a hassle free and comfortable experience in order to do their very important job effectively. So you might be asking what sets Business Black apart. First of all, Uber Uber Business Black is available on your phone and desktop, so riders get the same magic Uber experience that they're used to whether they booked the trip themselves or it was booked by someone else. But that's just where things start. Business black and Uber Business Black SUV feature professional drivers who are commercially insured and have ratings of 4.85 or above. We've also updated our requirements to offer better, newer luxury vehicles that combine comfort and sophistication. You can see here we have Uber Business Black, but we also have Uber Business Black SUV. If you have, you know, need more room or you're traveling with a larger group. So when you call a ride, your actual vehicles may vary. But vehicles some of the vehicles that qualify for Uber Business Black are Audis, BMWs, Lexus, Rivian, and Tesla. Next, we wanted the act of booking Uber Business Black to give users confidence in critical moments. We're so confident in our reserve capabilities that for Uber Business Black that we're backing it up with on time pickup protection, where we will offer up to $120 in Uber cash if your ride is late or gets canceled. We also will be offering dedicated phone support, to riders for up to seventy two hours post trip. And that's just to ensure that, you know, everything is going smoothly and you have a real human to talk to if needed. Another great benefit is that for every business black trip, we include up to fifteen minutes of wait time, plus up to sixty minutes of wait time is included when you reserve an airport pickup trip. And lastly, we wanted the product to be as easy to use as possible. So we have a variety of flexible booking options that I'll talk through in the next slide. Cool. So our flexible booking options include on demand rides, which, you know, are used when you need to get somewhere right away. We also have reserved rides for when you want to plan ahead. You can plan up to ninety days in advance. And then we also have the ability for executive assistance to book business black rides on behalf of their executives, which Hazel already spoke to a little bit earlier. Plus, all of these options are available on both Uber's very very easy to use app as well as our desktop website for when you're working at your computer. Thanks, Emily. So now that we know what Uber Business Black offers, can you walk us through how to set up a program so executives can start using it? Yeah. For sure. Doing this is super easy, actually. So we know that, you know, features from Uber for business aren't great unless you use them. And we also know that you might not want everyone in your organization taking Uber Business Black trips for all of their travel. So I'm gonna walk you through how you can set up a program that allows your executives to use Uber Business Black as part of their travel routine. So if you're familiar with the Uber for Business dashboard, it's the same easy friendly workflow that you'd use to create any other program. But I'll walk through the details just in case this is a little bit new to you. So first, what you'll do is go to business.uber.com, then you'll select programs on the left. Once you've done that, select the program that you need to create rules for, or if you don't have a program, you can create a new one. So once you've done that, underneath rules, select the rule that you want to establish. And some examples of these may be, you know, restricting locations so your organization only gets billed when a ride is going to or from a specific location, or you can choose whether to partially or fully cover an employee's ride. Those are just a few options but in this example, we will build a program that gives executives plus their EAs the ability to book Uber business black rides for any of their business travel. So doing that is super easy. Just add the executives that you want included on that program, then you select the ride types that that group of employees can use. In our example, you will select Uber business black, but you can select any other ride type that that is applicable. And then once you've done that, you know, add all the rules to your program and then just click save and you're good to go. So it's pretty easy and, you know, to sum it all up, Uber Business Black allows you to deliver excellent travel experiences for your executives who have high standards while you still get to benefit from all the great features that you're used to with the Uber for Business dashboard. Thanks, Emily. And thank you, Hazel. So now that we've had a quick look at delegate profiles, Uber Business Black, and kinda how they work together to really level up executive transportation, we're gonna take a look at some of the asked us during registration, and our panelists are gonna answer them. So our first question is, do our VIPs have to find the ride share area for pickup, or can they be right outside baggage claim? And this one's done with. Yeah. I can take this one. Thanks, Cleo. So the answer to that one is that it can it really depends on the airport. Certain airports, you may be able to be picked up right at curbside. Other ones, you may have to walk a little bit to a certain lot. So, you know, it it will tell you that in the app when you're booking your trip. So it it will depend. And how far in advance can rides be scheduled if you're using Uber reserve? Yeah. So for Uber reserve, you can schedule up to ninety days in advance, which is great, for, you know, planning ahead. So that's you can do it one day, ninety days, just depends on your needs. And this one's for Hazel. Can the VIPs access this service directly from their Uber apps? Yeah. A %. We know in a lot of cases, EAs are booking travel well in advance. But for those, like, short term notice travel, you need a trip right away. For execs, the on trip experience is is exactly the same whether they're booking a trip for themselves or whether the EA is booking for them. Perfect. And for Emily, how can Uber ensure that employees' drivers pick them up on time? Yeah. That's a great question. You know, we know that you have places to be and you want to be able to trust that you'll get there on time. Uber knows that that's a top priority, and we've made a lot of progress on our reliability over the recent years, and we will continue to make sure that that is a top priority. So, you know, with with booking a trip, booking with reserve in advance, those are the that's the most reliable way to book trips. In The US, we have a reserve reliability score of 99%. But in the rare instance that your driver may be late or cancels, with Uber Business Black, we will provide up to a hundred and $20 in Uber Cash as part of our on time pickup protection. Great. And where, internationally are Uber Business Black and delegate profiles offered? Yep. So Business Black for now is available in The US, UK, and Brazil, but we plan to start expanding into additional markets sometime next year. As for delegate booking, that is available in all countries where Uber operates with the exception of India. And one last question. Is there an additional cost for waiting if a flight gets delayed? Yeah. That's a good question. So when you book with reserve, and you book an airport pickup trip, there's a really cool feature that allows you to input your flight information during the scheduling process. And Uber's flight tracking technology will actually, you know, help ensure that you have a ride ready for you when your plane lands even in the event of a delay. And I've used this personally. It's a really helpful tool. So, you get sixty minutes of wait time included in your reserve fare from the time that your plan lands. So if you get delayed two hours, your driver will be dispatched two hours later in order to match up with that timing. So, if you haven't tried that out, definitely give it a try. It's super helpful. Amazing. Thank you both for answering those questions. We're gonna wrap up today's question. To alright. Starting over. Thank you both for answering those questions. We're gonna wrap today's session, and thank you all again for joining us. After today's event, you will get a link to the recording. So if you'd like to revisit the content at a later date, you can feel free to do so. And if you'd like to learn, about today's material or anything else about Uber for business, head to our website, uber.combackslashbusiness, or you can contact our team at the link you see on the slide to get a custom demo or ask any more questions about our platform. And again, thank you so much, and we hope this session was helpful for you.