Trade fairs, congresses, sales: nothing is the same anymore
A study by the Contact-Center-Network captures important consequences of the Corona pandemic for sales: Executives in customer dialog were asked how things will continue in the wake of the relaxations and after the Corona crisis. Will everything remain as it was before the crisis or will everything change?
"Lockdown and home office have led to a lasting and permanent change in our everyday business life," says Markus Grutzeck, Chairman of Contact Center Network e.V. (CCN), when presenting the results of a study conducted among German executives in May 2020. The most important result: business travel is also being significantly reduced in the long term. This has consequences for sales appointments as well as for trade fairs and congresses.
In person or online - How do you keep it after Corona?
Almost 70 percent of the executives surveyed from German companies want to reduce their own travel, while only 32 percent want to use public transport in the future. By contrast, 52 percent of respondents said that they would prefer to use their own car. The results are also clear when it comes to events: 67 percent of respondents plan to take part in online events, webinars or virtual trade fairs. Only one-third of respondents plan to attend face-to-face events organized by associations or industry trade shows. This is one of the reasons why the CCN recently announced its intention to develop its own future-proof digital event format.
Pessimism for sales
The assessment of sales appointments is also very clear: Only 14 percent of those surveyed assume that their own sales force will return to normal travel activities after the Corona crisis. According to their own statements, every tenth company intends to completely dispense with sales travel in the future, while half of the respondents will at least reduce their travel activities.
The results are similar for in-house meetings and conferences. 57 percent of respondents aim to reduce face-to-face meetings. However, face-to-face exchanges are important. Only 10 percent of respondents can imagine holding exclusively online meetings in the future. The future will probably bring a hybrid meeting culture - with a mix of online and face-to-face meetings.
Involuntary digitization push
"Companies, management and employees have experienced that digital communication works. For some, it was an involuntary digitalization push. But it's clear that digital has taken hold and will be a very important pillar for networking and information exchange, for collaboration and teamwork in the future," summarizes Grutzeck.
Source and further information: Contact Center Network
