Face to face still best for businesses

Even though advances such as video conferencing and widely available free broadband have revolutionised the business world, most leaders still value physical contact in order to cement working relationships, according to a poll by leading serviced office provider officebroker.com.

The company asked 400 leading business men and women how valuable they considered meeting in person was to their business relationships compared to using exclusively non-direct methods such communicating over the phone or on email.

A staggering 98% of those polled said they found it to be invaluable, with just 2 per cent stating they saw no extra benefit in taking the time out to meet in person.

Sixty per cent of those questioned said they believed meeting face to face was essential in improving working relationships, with a further 38% saying they believed the activity was of value to their business.

A spokesman from officebroker.com said he believes the findings will come as a surprise to many.

He said: “There are more ways than ever for companies to interact and with tools like Skype, email and online meeting programmes there’s no reason why you couldn’t do business with somebody across the other side of the world without ever meeting them – as an online broker we are living proof of this.

“However, our research clearly found that most people in business still preferred to get a feel for the people they were doing, or intended on doing business with, by meeting them in person.

“It’s always nice to put a face to a name and whilst using email or talking on the phone can save firms time and money it seems people really value building a personal connection with the view to developing a long-term business relationship.”

One senior businessman said he made a point of meeting all prospective partners in person before engaging in business with them.

He said: “I’ve always believed that business is built on strong long-term relationships and whilst technology can increase efficiency and make things simpler day-to-day it doesn’t give you the opportunity to get to know the person you’re dealing with.

“We always find that after meeting with somebody, even if it is only once, you can both understand and trust each other more – making it much easier to pick up the phone to discuss things afterwards.”

He concluded: “I thought I might be a little old fashioned in my ways but it seems the majority of people in business agree with me. Technology is great and certainly improves the way in which we work, but nothing beats shaking a hand and getting to know someone over a coffee.”