Spend money to make money, report says

Spend money to make money, report says
By admin


Companies which continued to invest in travel during the Global Financial Crisis were rewarded for their bold approach with higher profit growth than firms which cut costs, a new study has found.

Almost six out of 10 business leaders admitted that reducing budgets when the GFC took hold damaged the performance of their company. Only 4% claimed that tightening the belt was the right policy and was “helpful”.

The study, The Role of Business Travel in the US Economic Recovery, also found that face-to-face meetings remain critical to not only winning business but keeping existing clients.

Business analyst Oxford Economics studied data from 61 industries from 2007 to 2011 and found that sectors which spent the most on business travel during that period posted higher profit growth and expanded faster than firms which scaled back.

The study also appeared to question the growing propensity of companies to hold video conferences rather than pay for staff to travel.

Almost 75% of frequent business travellers said “in person” meetings with clients “delivers a high impact on customer retention”.

It also found that face-to-face talks are twice as likely to “convert prospects into customers”.

A further 42% actually said they would lose customers if they didn’t make the effort to talk to them in person.

Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

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