D.he number is impressive: companies in Germany saved around eleven billion euros due to canceled business trips due to the corona pandemic in 2020 alone, according to a study by the Institut der Deutschen Wirtschaft (IW). “Many meetings now take place in the virtual world,” reports Inge Pirner, Vice President of the Association of German Travel Management (VDR). The travel managers of companies in Germany are organized in it. “The companies now trust the use of digital technology after it has proven itself in the Corona crisis,” adds Pirner. However, meetings on Skype or Zoom are not a substitute for every business trip. Especially since, according to the IW study, the absence of business trips also damages business and is reflected in some personal success stories.
“Especially with new customers, employees in sales and distribution want to go to the customer because the deal can be concluded more quickly on site,” says Pirner. “If you hardly know the other person, a conversation in the same room will give you more information,” confirms social psychologist Rolf van Dick from Frankfurt’s Goethe University. For example: Nobody notices in Zoom whether the other person is smiling or just pretending to be, but more likely on site – the real smile creates trust there. “At the same time, there is more to be seen than what lies above the surface in terms of factual issues,” says van Dick. “Underneath is what the other person wants from me, what their motives are: I also need the information for a targeted collaboration.” He advises – if Corona allows it – to meet in person to assess the reliability of a service provider before signing is. In addition, some things can be better balanced: “If I have to negotiate hard as a supplier, I can lean forward, smile and calm the situation.”