Travel has always fascinated you from your early days. You decided to not only travel but find a job that lets you do just that. For many companies, business travel was more of an option a few years ago but these days for some it has turned into a necessity with the trend of globalization sweeping across the business world.
Even though, advancement in technology has helped small to mid-size businesses to save money on business travel by offering them other communication channels but nothing can come close let alone replace the value of face to face interaction and large-scale enterprises knows this very well. This is why they tend to spend thousands of dollars on every business trip.
The question is that how can small to mid-size organization who are strapped on cash or have a small travel budget can reap the benefits of face to face meetings without putting a big dent in their bank account. Then there are hurdles that make business travel stressful such as delayed or cancelled flights, fear of losing your luggage or waiting in long queues at the airport security check.
Here are four tips to help you resolves these challenges:
Be Prepared
You spend thousands on business trip and make handshakes, meet people but came away without making long term relationship with them - a terrible outcomes. So if you are on a business trip, make sure you make the most of it. Be prepared for all the meetings, presentations and conferences well in advance. Focus on growing your network and use your business trip as an opportunity to promote your brand and products to a different audience.
Keep the samples, business card and other materials ready that you want to share. Whether you have digital and hard copies of your business card with you, share with every new person you meet. The more prepared you are, the better results you can extract from your business trip. You don’t want to be coming to a business meeting with little or no preparation as it could land you in hot waters and conveys a negative image about your business to key stakeholders. Even if they are interested in signing a business deal with you, they will change that mind after a poor presentation and slipups during meetings. And if you can, set aside a a day for leisure (when in Dubai, for example, consider yacht rental!)
Lend Your Ears
Always listen more than you speak - after all, God has given you two ears and just one tongue. Many people might have told you this before, but I can bet that you have ever taken this advice seriously. Pay attention to what other stakeholders are saying especially when you are on a business trip or trying to grow your network. The main reason why you are traveling for corporate purpose is that you want to make new connections.
For this, you will have to show interest in what others are saying. Ask questions whenever you don’t understand something. What’s more is that listen actively does not cost you anything but also enables you to make an impact. This will make other parties believe that you are showing keen interest in what they are saying.
Stay Focused on Your Purpose
Most business traveler feel that they are preoccupied with meetings, presentations and conference so much so that they could never lose focus and sight of the big picture. Contrary to their beliefs, things are a lot different. You can easily loose your way while traveling for business purposes without realizing it. Even if you are on a business trip, make sure that you stay focus on the primary, secondary and tertiary goals. It could anything from making new connections to meet with clients and other stakeholders, discuss future plans for your business or how to expand your business to different regions of the world.
Use Corporate Credit Cards
Last but certainly not the least, carry corporate credit cards. Make purchases using these cards and it will help you avail yourself of discounts as well as help you collect reward points that you can use in future. Similarly, you can collect air miles, which could entitle you to enjoy a free flight back home especially, if you have collected enough air miles already. Do carry some cash as well as it will come in handy if you are in a remote location where credit cards are not accepted. Do desert safari booking with credit card and you might get a surprise discount.
What is the most important thing you remember when going on a business trip? Feel free to share it with us in the comments section below.
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