Why are face-to-face meetings so important?

Virtual communication is a lifesaver for global businesses, keeping employees connected across time zones, but around one in four Americans are fatigued by the amount of time they spend on video calls, and 63% find it harder to build trust with others when working remotely.  

But, on the other side of the coin, managing the work travel that comes with in-person meetups can be a financial and administrative burden that, on the surface, feels unnecessary when you can just hop on a video call.

Let’s examine some of the barriers to face-to-face meetings for businesses and the consequences of a video-first communication strategy.

Why are face-to-face business meetings so important?

Several modern studies, including research by the US Travel Association,   suggest that face-to-face meetings can be linked to increased revenue, better business relationships and more impact during critical interactions. This means that travel for work can be viewed as a growth driver rather than an expense to reduce. 

Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of in-person meetings in a business context.

Revenue generation

Research by the US Travel Association and American Express Global Business Travel says that more than four in five decision-makers agree that travel for work directly leads to increased profit and revenue. Additionally, 88% of survey respondents said that face-to-face meetings while traveling for work increased their engagement, 84% said it increased their productivity, and 82% said it made them more empathetic people.

Perk’s own research backs this up too. C-suite leaders attributed a third (34%) of their company's total sales growth in 2023 to in-person meetings facilitated by travel.

Deal closing success 

Workers expect to generate approximately 36% more revenue and close 37% more deals if they can conduct all of their high-priority meetings in person, according to a study by Accor.  Of those surveyed, 40% highlight the importance of in-person meetings for their work, and 38% feel that the time and cost investment is worth it.

Strategic impact and relationship building 

Face-to-face settings can provide an extra dimension to those high-stakes, business-critical moments, such as contract negotiations and presentations. A survey from the American Hotel & Lodging Association found that 86% of business travelers feel face-to-face interactions are important for maximizing company success, and 77% agree that in-person meetings and business travel foster collaboration in a way virtual meetings can’t.

Deeper communication 

Harvard’s Program on Negotiation recommends in-person meetings to build rapport and interpret tone through gestures, facial expressions and other body language. In-person conversations could reveal additional micro-expressions that might just tip the balance in a business context.

Better ideas

When teams collaborate in the same physical space, they generate more and better ideas. A 2013 study showed that face‑to‑face pairs generated 30% more ideas on average than virtual pairs, with a “marginally higher” quality and a greater variety of ideas compared with phone or video chat.

When to invest in a face-to-face meeting

In light of the above evidence, businesses should switch their perspective from “should our team travel for in-person meetings?” to “which meetings should our team prioritize traveling to?” This means executing an efficient travel plan and deciding which meetings have the potential to deliver the highest ROI. 

Consider the following factors to determine if a trip is worth the investment in travel costs:

• Deal value - Is the potential contract value or customer lifetime value high enough to justify the cost of the trip?

• Relationship stage - Is this a new customer, a renewal conversation, or resolving an issue?  Reserving in-person travel for high-impact milestones

• Collaboration - Does the project require intense brainstorming that could benefit from in-person contact?

• Churn risk - Is the customer account showing signs of friction that need to be nurtured face-to-face?

The following table identifies which types of communication are best suited to in-person and virtual meetings, respectively.

The limitations of relying on virtual meetings

While virtual meetings kept business running during the COVID-19 pandemic and remain highly efficient for quick catch-ups and routine work today, a strategy that’s reliant on digital communication only can introduce significant roadblocks.

Virtual meeting fatigue

Extended periods of back-to-back video calls can cause physical and mental stress, termed "zoom fatigue.” Being “always on”, waiting for a potential new video call to come in, can be draining, particularly for more introverted colleagues.

Stilted collaboration

The lack of visible body language in a video call can make it tough to take a temperature check on the atmosphere or pick up any subtle cues of hesitation or confusion. Some also argue that a virtual environment stilts spontaneous conversation and is therefore less engaging.

Barriers to in-person meetings and how to manage them

Some senior leaders are hesitant to approve travel for work because of the perceived list of administrative and financial hurdles in their travel management process. All of this builds up to a hefty burden of shadow work, lengthy and distracting tasks that keep workers from their core duties.

These hurdles include:

• Budget controls and the risk of bookings that bypass company guidelines

• Limited visibility of who is traveling and why

• Wasted productivity during the travel booking process

• Managing delays or disruptions 

• Chasing expense receipts at month-end 

• Unpredictable travel spend

It’s easy to see why companies might fall into the trap of prioritizing virtual meetings over business travel. But by simplifying how your teams travel for work, many of these friction points can be solved.

Maintain spend control and visibility

Centralize your company’s work trips in one place, so you have real-time visibility at any time. Avoid digging through multiple spreadsheets and invest in a travel booking platform that lets you view travel spend by team, project, or customer.

Preset approval workflows

Prevent out-of-policy trips by presetting your travel policies within your booking process. Using a travel management platform allows businesses to automatically apply travel rules at checkout, making compliance management easier.

Access the most competitive rates 

With Perk, customers can access a huge inventory of exclusive deals on flights, hotels, train tickets, and car rentals. This means travelers can book pre-negotiated cheap rates with major airlines and hotel chains while avoiding the shadow work of combing through comparison websites.  

Integrated itineraries and support

Make supporting traveling colleagues easier by consolidating all travel details into a central itinerary with real-time travel alerts. When things don’t go to plan, Perk’s customers have access to round-the-clock customer service,  24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Connected expenses 

Stop managing expense reporting manually and use Perk to automatically capture travel spend, match them with digital receipts, and integrate directly with your accounting software.

Turning business travel into an opportunity

Don’t allow operational friction and time-consuming manual processes to keep your team from making human connections when it really matters.

Eliminate travel shadow work, protect your budget, and turn travel for work into a competitive advantage with Perk. Schedule a demo to learn how you can empower your team to get on the move.