Don’t we just love Dilbert and his irreverence? Yet, despite Dilbert’s claims, business meetings remain incredibly relevant, even in this digital era. In fact, research reveals that since the beginning of the 21st century, business meetings have increased by about 10%, says Cornerstone Dynamics. Meetings are the most effective way to cement relationships with key business partners and clients.
The problem arises when business meetings aren’t run smoothly, adhering to the meeting etiquette best practices. Did you know that poorly organized meetings could cost US business a whopping $399 billion and UK businesses $58 billion in 2019? This is what Doodle’s 2019 State of Meetings report revealed. Wish they also had done some research on the Indian scenario, given that we have our unique set of etiquette and challenges!
The Indian Business Meeting
Here’s a scenario you might identify with. You invite an influential representative from a client firm for a meeting at your premises. Your aim is to completely floor them with a smooth and seamless meeting, during which you extoll the virtues of your company’s offerings. Except things go wrong right from the start.
Your visitor braves the traffic to reach your office premises, except that we Indians are infamous for keeping Indian Standard Time, which means that your visitor is more often likely to be late than on time. Then, when they do arrive, you find that the meeting room is already in use, so there’s nothing to do but kill time and make small talk. Not the best way to create a positive first impression, is it?
And, what about your front desk? Is it well equipped to provide valuable visitors a red-carpet welcome, with amazing brand experience, right from the doorstep? Or, does a harrowed receptionist have to juggle between physical registers, trying to reach you on the phone when your visitor arrives, while answering questions for other visitors?
The Digital Era Requires Digital Solutions
A little planning can go a long way in ensuring the best business meeting etiquette at your premises. Yes, as we promised right at the start – the way to win friends and clients. Business etiquette starts right at the entrance to your office premises. You don’t need to be Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk to provide a red carpet welcome, a smart visitor management system can do that for you.
Imagine this: you have an iPad check-in kiosk at the reception, reflecting images and videos of your picturesque office or brand-new marketing campaign. When you invite someone for a meeting, all you need to do is send out an invite to their smartphone, with a QR code. Your invite even gives them GPS coordinates to your premises. So, they are seamlessly navigated to your workplace and when they arrive, they simply scan the QR code and a visitor badge is instantly printed for them. Even better, a guest Wi-Fi password is automatically created and shared with them. All this in under 30 seconds! Also, their key information is recorded and stored on the cloud to access whenever you might need to in the future.
Now, what if your visitor management software could go one step further and sync all elements of having someone visit your premises. For instance, it could help you book the meeting room, alter booking if the timings change, notify you of the arrival of your guest, so that you can welcome them in person, even remind your visitor well in time regarding the meeting. That’s what we call a smooth and seamless experience.
When you treat a visitor as someone special and valuable for you, you’re already well on your way to building a strong relationship. This is exactly what Veris allows you to do, while ensuring highest levels of security, with a real-time dashboard that offers advanced analytics and custom workflows, such that you get to manage a wide variety of visitor categories with ease.
Business meetings aren’t just about what you discuss during the session. The impact that you leave on your guests starts right from the moment you invite them to your premises. Make sure you are well-equipped to give them a memorable experience.We Indians value our traditions. But it is technology that today allows us to follow traditions like Atithi Devo Bhava with élan and this is the Veris Promise.
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