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Importance of face time? Worth five video conferences
Meeting-goers and business people rely on technology for just about everything, so the question remains – can apps, emails and video chats replace old fashioned face time with clients?
According to a new Embassy Suites’ survey, the answer is no.
Respondents indicated it would take an average of five video conferences, 10 phone calls or 20 emails to replace one hour of face-to-face contact with a client.
“We think it’s important to take the pulse of America’s business travelers each year to validate current travel trends and uncover new ones,” said John Lee, vice president, brand marketing for Embassy Suites Hotels, Hilton Worldwide.He added:
“As 60 percent of our guests are business travelers, it’s a priority to ensure that we are consistently providing an offering that makes each and every business trip even better.”
The Embassy Suites Hotels’ Third Annual Nationwide Business Travel Survey found that 97 percent of business travelers think face time is the most important part of developing and maintaining strong client relationships and over half (53 percent) of business travelers reported having more in-person meetings with clients than in previous years.
“Face-to-face meetings are irreplaceable when it comes to the health of client relationships,” says business travel strategist Joel Widzer. “We connect with our clients better when we are able to meet in person, which certainly makes it worth taking that business trip on a regular basis.”
In fact, 76 percent of business travelers who had less face time with clients in the past 12 months reported it had a negative impact on their business relationships.
For those still skeptical about planning a trip for the next business meeting, the survey found that almost 1-in-5 (18 percent) of business travelers reported losing a project because they were unable to travel to see a client and 17 percent say they lost the client altogether.
According to Embassy Suites’ survey, business travel is on the rise compared to 2010. While business travelers are on the road again, it’s clear they are still looking for value when it comes to booking hotels (27 percent, up from 24 percent in 2010).
By David Wilkening
David
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