When a travel company is looking to expand its transportation network to serve international clients in Vietnam, selecting a supplier should not rely solely on information found online.
While website details, price lists, service descriptions, and even customer reviews can provide useful points of reference, they do not necessarily indicate whether a supplier truly aligns with your specific operational needs.
Every travel company has unique needs, service standards, and target customers. A supplier that works well for one company may not necessarily meet the requirements of another.
Therefore, rather than relying exclusively on a supplier’s claims or readily available online information, you should test their services through actual bookings before entrusting them with a significant volume of clients.
Therefore, rather than relying exclusively on a supplier’s claims or readily available online information, you should test their services through actual bookings. This allows you to see how they perform before entrusting them with a significant volume of clients.
Below is the method Vietnamdrive uses to test transportation suppliers in Vietnam based on real-world experience. You can apply this process to evaluate a specific supplier and determine whether they are the right fit for your company’s needs.
How to test a transport supplier
Step 1: Test a simple transfer
Start with a simple transfer that you can easily manage and monitor.
For example: Hotel to destination, such as Da Nang to Hoi An, or Airport to hotel
For an airport transfer, it is often better to use a domestic flight for your representative, as domestic arrivals are generally easier to monitor and manage during a test.
You may want to check:
- Response time: For a booking request that is not urgent and is sent via WhatsApp during normal working hours, Vietnamdrive considers a response within 15 minutes fast, 16 to 60 minutes reasonable, and more than 60 minutes slow.
- Booking confirmation
- Driver details
- Pickup arrangements
- Vehicle
- Punctuality and timing
Choose a test that is relevant to the type of travel business and clients you normally serve.
Step 2: Test a more complex itinerary
Make a real booking for a more complex itinerary, such as a city tour with multiple stops or a full-day journey covering more than one destination.
For example: a private car itinerary from Da Nang to My Son and Hoi An, returning to Da Nang
Check:
- Route understanding
- Waiting arrangements
- Itinerary flexibility
- Driver and operator communication
- Additional stops
Step 3: Test what happens when something changes
Make a small change to the booking, such as changing the pickup time, adding one stop, or extending the trip.
This helps you understand how the supplier communicates with the guest and how quickly and effectively they can adapt to changes.
Step 4: Review the final invoice
After the service is completed, check:
- Agreed price
- Additional charges
- Invoice
- Payment process
If the supplier performs well across these tests, you can consider adding them to your Vietnam transport partner network under an appropriate category, such as:
* Preferred Supplier
* [City] Transport Supplier
* Standby Partner
Assessing Compatibility Before Establishing a B2B Partnership
When contacting transportation service providers, some travel agents often ask for a price list right from the start. While this is a common approach, a price list only reveals the cost of specific services or routes. It does not show how the provider actually operates.
At Vietnamdrive, we generally do not initiate a B2B relationship solely through the exchange of price lists. Instead, we prefer to start with one or two actual bookings. Whether the partner is a large corporation or a small travel agency, these initial bookings serve as a trial phase, with the service handled much like a B2C booking, both operationally and in terms of pricing.
Through these real-world bookings, both parties can evaluate aspects that a price list cannot convey, such as response speed, coordination capabilities, communication, handling of changes, payment reliability, and actual service delivery.
Crucially, this process is not just for international companies or travel agencies to evaluate a Vietnamese transportation provider. The local provider and the Vietnamdrive team also need to understand how the partner operates:
- Is the booking information complete?
- Is communication clear?
- Is the payment process reliable?
After all, when asked, most providers will claim that their service is excellent. Similarly, travel agencies might claim to have a large client base or high booking volumes. However, such information remains generic. Only actual operational experience truly reveals the capabilities and compatibility of each party.
That is also why Vietnamdrive generally does not prioritize B2B partnership inquiries that begin simply with a request for a standard price list. Each travel company has its own itineraries, specific transportation needs, and unique service standards. A long-term B2B relationship only becomes truly meaningful once both parties understand each other’s working methods and determine that the partnership is a good fit for both sides.
Looking for a transport partner in Vietnam? Talk to Vietnamdrive.
