Ever since the pandemic hit, my team at work has stopped visiting our clients in person. Now that we're entering a period where Covid is becoming endemic, I think my boss could be convinced to let us travel again if I were to make a compelling list. Here it goes!
(NB. my interest in traveling again stems from more than just the business case... I also just love traveling and seeing new places!)
1. To strengthen bonds with the client POC
This is probably the most important reason. Meeting people in-person creates stronger bonds than virtual connections do alone. It allows people to feel more comfortable around each other, increasing focus and collaboration, in addition to relationship-building. All of this would positively impact our projects and increase our likelihood of delivering impactful results.2. To increase the chances of renewals, upsells, and cross-sells
It's easier to sell most things in-person.
Plus, it's easier to sell when we've cultivated a champion among our client teams, and this is easiest to do when meeting people live.3. To make our company brand more well-known and widespread
We can even wear our swag while we travel. Anything to make us catch the attention of more people. We're facilitating the job of our marketing team!4. To make ourselves accessible to other people at the client's company
We work with many Fortune 500 companies. As such, in many of these companies, different departments can be completely separate from each other and can have different purchasing authority and purchasing processes. If we can be present and make ourselves known to people throughout big companies, this increases our brand's recognition and our likelihood of a sale.5. To better share knowledge and convey the strength of our work
It's easier to have open dialogue and strong Q&A sessions when we aren't talking over each other because of a video lag or constantly apologizing because of a poor internet connection.6. To increase the likelihood of inadvertent, serendipitous contact and occurances
We maximize the potential for serendipity by increasing the surface area of our connections.7. To show other clients we can travel if needed
Having an in-person presentation maybe be important to some clients, but they might not know it's a possibility.8. To provide a good source of content to our media teams
A picture or a video of our teams working in-person is much more compelling than a screenshot of a Zoom presentation.9. To increase the comfort and experience of our team
Delivering presentations in-person is a crucial skill. The more our team practices, the better we'll get. This has at least three positive effects: 1) we get better at our jobs; 2) we further develop our interpersonal skills and can apply them when working with clients and external parties in general; and 3) employees get the opportunity to build new transferable skills10. To provide a job perk to employees
Job perks serve as a great employee retention tool.
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