"What Goes Around, Comes Around"

Can everyone believe it's almost September?! Time is flying and as usual there are changes going on all around us...

With almost everything nowadays, what we are seeing, we have seen before. In fashion, you walk into the hottest stores and the jacket hanging in the store window looks like the jacket you wore when you were in high school - what goes around comes around. For the most part, this is happening in the business world as well. During Richard Branson's NBTA Speech in Houston a few weeks ago, he mentioned that face to face meetings are coming back into the realm. In the recent years, we have become very accustomed to emails, text messages, quick voicemails, and conference calls. All of these are great ways to stay connected to people, but the time has come to go back to the "old fashioned" face to face meetings with your team. Although, there may be times where the face to face meetings can't happen, but the efficiency and profitability of these meetings are astounding!

Here are some statistics from Harvard Business Review, NBTA, Oxford Economics, and The U.S. Travel Association:

• Every dollar invested in business travel generates $12.50 in incremental value
• 17% of US business profits would be lost if all business travel cancelled and it would more than 3 years to recover
• 40% of prospects became new customers as a result of face-to-face
• 28% of current business would be lost without a face-to-face meeting
• 95% of survey respondents said face-to-face meetings are essential for long-term business relationships
• The average business would have to increase an employee’s base pay by 8.5% to achieve the same impact of incentive travel trip
• 1.5% minimum amount of economic growth that would result from a 10% increase in business travel spending

Get out there and see your customers and talk to your colleagues - the results will likely show in your favor!