Four tips to consider when travelling for business
Some small businesses require you to travel, to get word out, to meet potential clients and to enter meetings with those you hope to start partnerships with. There are all forms of mobile businesses. From mobile barbers to those selling a product, to marketers or those who represent a brand. Going out to find your own business can sometimes be as important as waiting for it to come to you. In our online world, sometimes the personal touch can be welcomed, adding an air of authenticity to the usual flow of your business life.
While it might seem like a comfortable gig to do something like this, it can be worthwhile to keep in mind a few simple pointers to ensure the scope of your workday is something comfortable for you, yet worthwhile for your business and clients. Remember, you are one of the most important assets here. Your personality and personal attitude both contribute deeply to this affair, as you’re more than a simple messenger. You were chosen or have elected yourself for a reason.
Thankfully, considering the following six tips can help you as far as matters like this are concerned. We wish you nothing but the best in your general business activities:
Punctuality
It’s always important to give the right impression. When scheduling a meeting with anyone, even those who may not translate to material revenue for your firm, it’s essential to be on time, earlier if you can make it. You need to act as a brand ambassador from the jump in order to represent your business in the best light. Punctuality not only respects the time of the person you’re to meet, but your own time, and can help you factor in a comfortable schedule throughout the day. Imagine that you’re heading to a local outlet to show samples of your product for potential sale. You have the best pitch in the world. You have an amazing product. You have every chance of earning plenty, as does the outlet you have chosen.
But you’re ten minutes late to the meeting. This sours things. This can quite rightly dissuade an investment or a purchase. If you’re ten minutes late to something so important now, who’s to say that the next important date you won’t be delayed further? Of course, there are always justifiable reasons for cancelling an appointment. But never be late. Never allow yourself even in the slight potential of this happening. This can help you make the strongest first impression.
Conversely, consider who you might be meeting with. The same rules apply to them. Lets say your product is something that might bring an outlet plenty of money if a deal is made, but they are 30 minutes late to the meeting. Does that show adequate respect for your presence? Does this signify how the future business relationship could be soured? It all depends on your viewpoint, but we would say that you value yourself, and expect the high standards from others that you set for yourself.
Route planning
Route planning is important when traveling for your business. This isn’t only to save time, to avoid heavy traffic, and to make use of the aforementioned punctual state of mind. It can also be utilized to help you meet more business partners in one given day. You may drive down a coast with the intentions of hitting three appointments, but the extra time you’ve allowed yourself through proper planning might warrant you time to refine your pitch, to drop into certain outlets unannounced with a smile on your face, or to simply spend more time with each person on your journey.
Ensure mobile utility
You need to ensure that you have mobile utility when moving from place to place. Just because you’re ‘out of the office’ so to speak shouldn’t be too much of a hindrance in today’s world. Sure, you may not be able to bring with you your entire paper filing system, but with cloud based services and digital backups, you will likely be able to access all the files you need. Good workflow management can help you save time here, especially in deep talks with potential business partners.
We would also recommend the use of an excellent VPN to keep your internet traffic encrypted on the road, lending heightened security to your overall venture. We would also suggest that carrying a mobile card reader could help you process orders immediately with an instant point of sale functionality. All of this can help the fundamentals of your business intent work as smoothly as possible, giving you the ability to focus on the things that can generate those sales, that interest, or those connections in the first place.
Tailor your approach
Meeting with potential business connections isn’t a one-size fits all solution. Often, there is nuance to how you wish to proceed. Understanding this can help you achieve the best results on a case by case basis. For example, throughout your day you may meet many different people of different professional backgrounds, education regarding your industry, and even various cultural leanings.
Tailoring your approach can work well. For example, Muslim businessmen abroad are known for their desire for socialization before the talk of business can begin. In some Middle Eastern countries it is considered rude to go straight to business when attending the appointment, but rather to speak kindly to one another, to learn about the other, and to even grant gifts to the other person. We might wish that was more of a commonplace ideal in our own countries. Tailoring your approach and going in to the meeting as informed as possible could help you strike all the right notes, but be sure you’re sincere and not simply using this as a tool to manipulate the conversation in your favor.This is how a skilled businessperson can craft business contacts for life. It’s not hard to see how useful this could be in the long term.
With this advice, we hope we’ve taken out the sting from traveling for your own business, and instead have given you the confidence to take this route with vigor.
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