You love to travel, but your job keeps you stuck between four walls at least five days a week. Sure, you get some paid time off, yet, wouldn’t it be amazing if you got to do what other people do and travel for your company?
In some roles, travel is an integral part of the position. The benefits of destination work might be a little less obvious in your situation, but they’re there.
With these four strategic research statistics and the right communication, you can convince your boss to integrate travel into your role so you can keep exploring the world.
1. You’ll Build a Deeper Network
Communicating with clients and suppliers over the phone and online creates superficial connections. It’s easy for the other party to walk away from the relationship when something better comes along.
But a deeper connection is forged when you travel and meet with those in charge of the decisions face-to-face. You see each other as human beings. You interact and express emotions, which eventually builds trust and loyalty.
Once this bond is established, it’s the oxygen that feeds the flame of your professional relationship. Your connection will become stronger and grow, and the other party is more likely to send others your way.
2. You’ll Meet Random (Potential) Clients
How can you network and spread the word about your business if you’re stuck in an office daily?
Every time you meet new people, you have a chance to engage in word-of-mouth advertising. If you’re comfortable striking up a conversation with random strangers in the airport, hotel elevator, or any other public place, you’re an excellent walking marketer.
Anyone you meet is a potential new client. Without exposure to your business, they don’t know it exists. All it takes is the right customer, and the return on your boss’s investment for your corporate trip more than pays for itself.
3. You Can Do Much of the Legwork the Work Yourself
Planning a business trip is complex. It involves following (or creating if it’s a new thing) company policies, getting budget approvals, finding transportation and lodging, and handling things like per diem or reimbursements.
Luckily, you live and work in the 21st century, where technology makes so much of this streamlined and simple.
If your boss is concerned about booking travel and lodging, offer to do the work yourself. You can use a virtual company credit card to pay the travel expenses and stick to the limit you’re given. Hotel booking platforms make it simple to plan lodging near your meetings and ensure there are ample transportation methods to and from the airport if necessary.
When you do the work yourself, using the company’s credit card, there’s no need for per diem or reimbursement expense reports. Another benefit is knowing exactly when you’re traveling, where your hotel is, and what you’re getting into overall. You’re not walking into the situation blindly, as you would if someone else planned the trip for you.
4. You Can Be a Better Worker
Traveling is an integral part of networking. It can also make you a more valuable employee if you head out to engage in training.
As you meet others in your industry, you learn about technology and ideas coming down the pipeline. Chatting with others helps you see how they’re doing the same job as you, and you can capitalize on the methods you think would work well in your company.
Some industries change faster than others. If you jumped into your job headfirst, you likely haven’t had time to get to know the role on a deep level. With hands-on and in-person training, you’ll learn the skills you need to do more than the bare minimum and self-taught aspects.
The knowledge you’ll bring back with you from your travels can significantly boost the business’s productivity and bottom line. When you focus on this factor, your boss may see corporate travel as a substantial way to get a solid ROI while improving employee morale at the same time.
Conclusion
Getting what you want out of management is all about knowing how to present it the right way. With these tips, you’ll be clearly showing your boss how corporate travel isn’t an expense but an investment.
As a bonus, if it all works out, your colleagues will appreciate that you nearly single-handedly established a business travel policy in the company that they can enjoy, too.