In this 2017 survey, only 34% of business travellers responded that they like to travel to see new places, with 66% saying they travel for career development, for the money, or that they outright don’t like it. Only 34% travel because they want to?

Table of Contents

International business travel - Here there and everywhere.

The work of travelling sales is more than just meeting and selling. It takes a huge amount of effort to do a job which involves monthly travel. Aside from the logistics of checking in and out, endless hotel lobbies and fast food joints, the majority of salespeople travelling internationally will be working around the clock, conducting face-to-face meetings with existing clients and new prospects, reporting meetings, scheduling and responding to their email.

It’s a hectic day. Small wonder there’s burnout for travelling sales teams.

Whilst living life out of a suitcase, business travellers also need to be at their best when they get to their meetings. These meetings directly impact bottom-line, these guys are at the coal surface of the business, and they will be jet-lagged and tired when some of these meetings take place.

Facing this, HR has a lot to consider to make sure this unpredictable part of a business runs smoothly, and that sales reps are motivated and ready to clinch key deals even when they would rather just drop.

The international business travel hinges upon the ability to make meetings quick and concise, with charisma and challenges, met. And your sales team are the guys that need every support in getting this crucial part of the business right. An unhappy travelling salesperson could be a serious issue company wide.

Keeping your staff motivated - International travel is both hectic and lonely

So how to make things as pleasant as possible to keep your team bright-eyed for their critical meetings?

If you haven’t considered the following list, you probably should:

  • Health and well-being best practices and support
  • External travel consultancy
  • Extending trips
  • Air travel perks
  • Free time/family time
  • Preferred hotel installations

Without going into the minutiae of this list, everybody should be implementing strategies for health and wellbeing. Hotels should have the amenities requested by your team; if the guy likes a spa, get a hotel with a spa. Too pricey? See point 2.

You can shed some of the load by getting industry people to help out. Take a clear look at the cost/benefits of working with an agency, are they going to save your business money and free you, internal team, up?

The lives of international salespeople can change quickly, keep others in the loop

Travelling sales staff face a raft of things that can affect their work. You may have the perfect sales rep whose wife gets pregnant, whose mojo disappears, who just gets damn tired of the air miles. So a constant treadmill of training and travelling companionship will bring newer team members to the forefront and able to step in with little impact on business.

If team members can join others in meetings, it actually settles the client, because when that rep next steps into the room on his own, he’s a familiar face.

Of all the professions for people to drop out off a little warning, business travellers must be somewhere near the top.

It’s HR’s job to make sure that younger reps are being constantly trained by their experienced colleagues, not only in their sales techniques but also in the little details of how to make a job in travelling successfully; Sleep disruption? Earplugs. Long hours? Yoga. Bad diet? All of these things can be prepared for with good training, making for a better work environment.

Training for training: International business travel

HR can help with this training by offering support in international business travel to experienced reps in making sure new travellers take care of themselves and learn to love the adventure.

So longer breaks in cities can be great for newer reps. Ever bought a Durian on Jalan Petaling? Go, enjoy it, well try at least. Have your reps make the most of their paid time abroad. It will give them a different perspective, a fonder respect for the countries they are working in, and crucially, a better report in those critical meetings.

Nothing’s moving on the tech front

In almost every area of every business, automation and technology is taking over. Not so in travel, folks. 93% of respondents in the same survey stated that face-to-face interaction is still preferable to webcam conversations. They probably would, but when you consider the miles they put in to get to those meetings, it’s a big statistic.

According to Linking the World CEO Mina Chang:

“The beauty of communication is found in the nuance that’s only felt in face-to-face conversations,”

So International business travel is here to stay, and not stay but grow. Make sure your reps have got what they need, don’t rely on any massive changes in technology, and have them travel and work together occasionally to spread sales techniques and strategies across the business.

Globexs offers a wide range of flexible tempory expat rentals in all price ranges.

Share:

Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn

The Globexs experience

At Globexs we all agree that our job is making people feel welcome. Globexs is, in essence, a people-company: people working for people. Us working for expats. We are the little tap on your shoulder and the voice whispering in your ear that everything will be allright 👌.