How to Build Business Relationships With Face-To-Face Meetings and Events
With more and more businesses making the changeover to remote work, which involves online meetings, we are starting to forget the importance of making a real connection with business partners, stakeholders, and our own co-workers. The art of the meeting and in-person conference is slowly being erased by the prospect of being able to do everything from home, and as a result our business relationships are suffering.
There are a number of benefits to holding face-to-face meetings and events that we believe should make them the focus of your business strategy. Many would agree that face-to-face business meetings(1) are important for building business relationships and inspiring interest in your team and clients through physical interaction.
In Japan, we like to take the traditional approach when it comes to meeting clients and organizing events. Social media and technology aren’t used as widely here as in a lot of Western countries which helps us to build important business relationships without technology to distract us. Ensuring that your meetings and events grow these positive relationships and are engaging for your participants is what we do best at JTB Communication Design (JCD).
Here’s how we make meetings and events effective and why we think that face-to-face business meetings should be at the forefront of your business strategy.
When it comes to planning your business meeting or event, JCD does the bulk of the work using our intelligent strategic meetings management. This means we organize every detail of your meeting or event to make it the most cost-effective and efficient way to grow your business.
Through strategic meetings management, we design a customized program that creates high-quality events and meetings to give your attendees the best experience. We take care of everything from data analysis and creating payment solutions to developing policies. With this help, you can concentrate on the content of your business meeting or event without worrying about the administrative details.
There are several factors that you should take into account for event planning to make it as engaging as possible. If you are planning a meeting, make sure that the purpose is made clear to participants and develop an agenda that makes it easier for stakeholders or clients to follow along. You can send this agenda to them beforehand or lay it out at their seats when they enter the meeting so they can peruse the content.
At JCD we have a lot of experience in what makes an event special. Think about the theme of your event and make sure all the details tie into it. From decoration to location, we organize the perfect event to show off your business style. Take our Chiyoda City Sakura Festival for example. We worked with Chiyoda City Tourism to manage several areas of the Sakura Matsuri which celebrates the coming of spring and cherry blossoms in Japan.
One reason why we think these meetings should be at the core of your business strategy is because they allow you to form real and lasting business relationships with your team, your clients, and your stakeholders. These relationships are the beating heart, so to say, of any company and will make your employees feel more motivated, happier, and more enthusiastic about attending your events and meetings in the first place.
There are several ways you can build meaningful and lasting business relationships and the top of that list for us is holding regular face-to-face meetings and events. Events can also be used to show your appreciation to your clients and coworkers. During our special event for corporate clients, we secured a famous temple for the venue with the help of our thorough event planning team and their organization.
In-person events are the perfect time to build strong business relationships with your team members and clients. Without the constant focus of work, events provide a great opportunity for sharing common interests. Simply relying on office interactions - which may or may not be remote - just won’t cut it when it comes to building real business relationships.
Business meetings give you the chance to keep your team involved and make them feel valued. You can make your team feel appreciated by encouraging them to ask questions during business meetings and present their own ideas.
Encouraging your team members to participate during business meetings will inspire them to do more for your company. By giving them autonomous responsibilities, you’ll help them to feel enthused about meetings and the business itself. During the meeting, give everyone goals to achieve that will help move your business in the right direction. At the next meeting, highlight how they have achieved their set goals and praise them for their hard work.
Making your team a key part of your business meetings inspires teamwork and further helps to build meaningful business relationships between you and them. It will also show clients and stakeholders that you are a strong and supportive company and someone who they would be glad to work with.
There are many more reasons why face-to-face meetings are important, so let us help you plant them firmly at the heart of your business strategy.