With videoconferencing, “a face-to-face meeting is no longer the same thing as an in-person meeting,” notes Express Virtual Meetings. Few would disagree with that assessment, as the Covid-19 pandemic limits in-person business-to-business meetings.
What remains to be seen is how behavior persists once the threat of the pandemic recedes from memory. The question is likely not whether use of videoconferencing grows, and is used at a higher rate than in the past. Many would argue usage has been growing steadily for a couple of decades.
The bigger question is how much usage will remain when the “next best thing to being in person” is not absolutely required, when in-person activities are possible again.
For better or worse, sales, training, education, customer support and internal organization meeting activities that once were conducted face to face now are, at least temporarily, going to be conducted by substitute means, perhaps often by videoconferencing.
Almost every organization will find that videoconferencing is a necessary substitute for collaboration when travel is not possible or recommended. Some might even go so far as to argue that trade shows and in-person conferences will often not be possible in the future. That will be quite challenging, if it happens at any significant level, for many sales professionals in any business-to-business markets.
The issues are especially pointed for sales professionals selling business to business, which traditionally has required face to face meetings, not so much for technical presentations or customer support, but to build trust and rapport when a substantial purchase has to be made.
As always, correlation is not necessarily causation, as when it is argued that closed deals are higher when videoconferencing is used at some point in the sales process. It might be that firms using videoconferencing routinely also have better sales prospecting, development and support processes in general, including use of video support.
“At the very beginning of a business relationship, it can be beneficial to meet in person in order to create a strong basis for an ongoing relationship,” says Express Virtual Meetings.
“Touch builds trust,” says René Shimada Siegel, president and founder of High Tech Connect. “That’s why job interviews and project pitches generally need to be done in person.”
“In-person business meetings let attendees develop transparency and trust in ways that are not always possible with other forms of communications,” says Dr. Richard D. Arvey, a psychologist and professor with the National University of Singapore.
One member of a corporate team wrote in an online forum that although her team had held many virtual meetings and work sessions, she only felt truly comfortable with the other team members after finally meeting them face-to-face. She said her deadlines now take on greater importance for her, because the project is no longer just a voice on Skype or a person writing an email — but a friend and colleague who is now real to her.
Given that both videoconferencing and face to face meetings have advantages, “the first stages of an engagement or project should be handled by face to face meetings, so the most important details can be discussed and then follow up meetings can be done virtually ,” argues
EZTalks. “The final meeting should also be done in person.”
While better than audio conferencing or email, even videoconferencing is “not as good as in-person communication” for many meetings, argues Scott Edinger is the founder of Edinger Consulting Group.
But it is logical to assume that curtailing face to face meetings and trade show attendance will cause softness in the pipeline, despite vigorous efforts to use videoconferencing as a substitute for face-to-face meetings.
That is likely going to be an issue for business-to-business sales in a variety of industries ranging from pharmaceutical sales to network capacity sales.
It might be logical to argue that videoconferencing will eventually be seen as more effective for internal functions; less effective for garnering new business; more effective as a retention tool. One study of Norwegian travelers shows the heavy use of videoconferencing for internal organization communications or information exchange.
Face-to-face meetings were more often used for conferences, seminars or education, as well as project work.
“One sales leader has directed his sales force to divert all attention to existing accounts and stop pursuit of new logos,” said Randy Illig, FranklinCovey global leader of the sales performance practice. His thinking is simple: trust is required when a customer has to choose between suppliers.
“And it's going to be hard to establish trust during this time with somebody you don't know,” said Illig.
And though it is too soon to predict whether such trends will remain in place once the pandemic is over, there is at least some reason to believe that physical face to face meetings will return.
A study by Oxford Economics found that 85 percent of corporate executives perceive web meetings and teleconferences to be less effective than in-person meetings with prospective customers, while 63 percent believe virtual meetings to be less effective than in-person meetings with current customers.
That does not necessarily mean such attitudes are correct, or unchangeable. But not many would likely argue that videoconferencing is a full and effective substitute for face to face sales activities.
Face-to-face requests are 34 times more likely to result in a donation to a cause than sending an email request, two researchers find. With the caveat that a firm such as Virgin and the U.S. Travel Association have a vested interest in getting business people to invest in travel, 28 percent of executives and business travelers believe they would lose 28 percent of their current business if prevented from face-to-face meetings.
And with the caveat that some “face to face” interactions can be conducted using videoconferencing, “more than half of business travelers stated that five percent to -20 percent of their company’s new customers were the result of trade show participation, according to the U.S. Travel Association, citing a study conducted by Oxford Economics.
There is no contradiction between growth of videoconferencing in business-to-business sales processes, at least for the next several years, when there are likely to be strong pressures to limit in-person interactions, and in-person meetings.
Logic suggests videoconferencing will be most valuable for retaining clients, while in-person meetings will be vital for getting new clients. “You can’t really trade travel for face to face communication,” says Vyopta. “If you could, cell phones, email, digital cameras, computers, and the internet would have all reduced travel drastically by now, but instead, we’ve seen a steady increase in all types of travel.”
“Travel is the ultimate way to connect, and that will probably never change, especially for business,” Vyopta argues.
An existing customer already has a level of necessary trust. That will not be so easy with new potential clients.
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