Why face-to-face still wins: Rethinking the ROI of travel

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Why face-to-face still wins: Rethinking the ROI of travel

By Brett Copeland, Director, Customer Success

The conversation around travel has changed—but maybe not in the right ways.  Budget scrutiny is sharper. Virtual tools are better. And for many organizations, the instinct is to treat travel like a cost to be minimized. But here’s the hard truth: when businesses over-index on saving, they risk starving the very activities that drive growth.

Travel isn’t just a line item. It’s a strategic lever—and still one of the most powerful tools for accelerating revenue, retention, and internal alignment.

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Relationships don’t scale over Zoom

Trust is a currency. And while we’ve all adapted to the efficiency of virtual meetings, trust rarely deepens on a screen. Whether you're trying to close a deal, solve a customer challenge, or rally a distributed team, presence matters.

In-person engagement brings nuance. It creates space for the side conversations, the unscripted moments, the gestures that don’t translate on video—but that stick in memory and strengthen relationships. These aren’t soft benefits. They’re competitive advantages.

A Harvard Business Review study found that face-to-face requests are 34 times more successful than those sent by email. When it comes to influence, speed of decision-making, and long-term loyalty, proximity still has a measurable edge.

Travel smarter, not smaller

This doesn’t mean going back to 2019 volumes. It means making every trip count.

We’re seeing the most effective companies reimagine their travel strategy, not retreat from it. They’re bundling meetings in the same region. They’re scheduling longer, less frequent trips to maximize facetime. They’re prioritizing travel that moves the needle—customer engagement, high-value prospecting, critical internal alignment.

In short, they’re traveling with intent, not inertia.

This approach isn’t just more efficient. It’s more impactful. The return isn’t only in dollars—it’s in momentum.

Real growth needs real presence

When organizations pause to reevaluate their travel through the lens of ROI—not just cost—they unlock opportunities others miss. Deals close faster. Relationships deepen. Teams move forward together.

But that’s not the full picture.

High-impact travel isn’t just about clients. It’s also a chance to rethink, reconnect, and learn. Meeting vendors face-to-face opens the door to tighter collaboration and better long-term strategy. Visiting remote teams builds alignment that video calls can’t replicate. Even investing in shared, in-person experiences pays off—teams that trust each other stick around longer.

The businesses gaining ground aren’t just flying in for pitches. They’re using travel as a tool to drive growth across the board.

That’s why they’re not asking whether to travel. They’re asking how to do it better.

And that’s where your travel strategy becomes a competitive weapon.

Tactical trips don’t move the needle

The real question isn’t whether travel is necessary. It’s whether you’re using it to your advantage.

It’s easy to cut trips when line items are under the microscope. But the companies leading their markets aren’t trimming for the sake of optics. They’re doubling down on the touchpoints that build credibility, earn trust, and shorten sales cycles. They know that big outcomes often hinge on small, in-person moments: reading a room, walking a plant floor, sharing a coffee before the pitch.

Face-to-face builds context. Context builds confidence. And confidence closes deals.

That’s what separates tactical travel from strategic travel. The ROI isn’t just what you spent versus what you saved. It’s what you set in motion. A shared whiteboard session that unblocks a stalled partnership. A site visit that uncovers a latent opportunity. A handshake that shifts a maybe into a yes.

Intentional travel doesn’t just justify its cost. It proves its worth.

Don’t let presence become your blind spot

In today’s fragmented, hybrid world, face-to-face engagement has never been more valuable—precisely because it’s more rare. When your competitors are staying home, showing up becomes a differentiator.

So, as you revisit your travel plans, I encourage you to shift the question from “What does it cost?” to “What does it deliver?”

Because the businesses showing up intentionally are the ones pulling ahead.